[Children's Songs] Cute songs recommended for childcare. List of popular nursery rhymes.
Kids love to sing!
Singing is a form of exercise, nurtures interest in language, and helps develop expressiveness and a sense of rhythm.
It’s also said that singing releases “happy hormones,” making it effective for relieving stress.
Bring plenty of music into daily life and sing freely together with your children.
This time, we’re introducing popular children’s songs we’d love you to sing and play with your kids!
We’ve collected everything from classic nursery rhymes passed down through the years to the latest hit songs.
You can search songs by category—animals, vehicles, food, and more—so you’re sure to find the perfect tune for your children.
If you add simple choreography or hand-play motions as well as singing, the kids will be thrilled!
Be sure to explore a variety of nursery rhymes and enjoy happy times with your children!
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The Food Song (1–10)
Five melon buns
This song lets you study math while singing a hand-play song.
There are five melon breads, and then the children buy one, then another.
You can have fun while thinking about how the five melon breads decrease in number.
It’s highly recommended because you can enjoy learning while singing.
This song might help children overcome their dislike of math.
Try singing it together with your child before they start elementary school.
It could also be a good review for children who are already in elementary school.
Vegetable Song
Vegetables that we tend to push to the edge of the plate without thinking.
Many kids don’t like vegetables, right? This one is also a fingerplay song, so try singing and playing along as you encourage them to take on those tricky veggies.
Furu Furu Fruit
As the title suggests, the song features the names of many fruits.
It includes familiar ones like apples and peaches, as well as fruits children might not know yet, such as kiwis and papayas, so it’s very educational.
There’s also simple choreography that goes along with the song, so try learning it and dancing together.
It’s great for singing at home, and it would also be perfect to perform at a kindergarten or preschool recital.
It’s a highly recommended song because kids can move their bodies while building knowledge.
Food Song (11–20)
Gluttonous GhostSakushi: Murata Sachiko / Sakkyoku: Fukuda Wakako
This is a fun, humor-filled song that depicts a ghost peeking into the refrigerator in the middle of the night.
Its lyrics incorporate food shapes in a quiz-style format, and the bright, rhythmic melody is memorable.
Created by Sachiko Murata and Wakako Fukuda, the piece was also broadcast on NHK’s “Okaasan to Issho” and is beloved by many children.
It’s a great song to sing with two-year-olds while imitating the ghost’s gestures, moving your body, and using your hands to show different food shapes.
It can also be used as a sketchbook theater activity in nursery schools and kindergartens.
Bento sausagesHanada Yuuichirou, Nagata Maya
Obento Wiener is a fun song that depicts wieners anxiously waiting to see if they’ll be included in a field-trip lunchbox.
It was the January 2024 song on NHK’s Okaasan to Issho.
The lyrics and music were written by musician Wataru Hirano, who also contributes songs to other NHK children’s programs such as Inai Inai Baa! and Otousan to Issho.
The lyrics portray the wieners nervously waiting to find out whether they’ll be placed in the lunchbox along with other side dishes.
It’s a song that may spark children’s interest in food.
Fruit TarōHanada Yuuichirou, Nagata Maya
A whole bunch of different “Taros”—like Peach Taro, Banana Taro, Strawberry Taro, and Cherry Taro—show up, jostle each other shoulder to shoulder, and end up in tears.
Those tears mix together to become mixed juice and special juice in this energetic and humorous song.
This is “Kudamono Taro,” which appeared as the May 2022 monthly song on NHK’s Okaasan to Issho.
The lyrics and illustrations are by picture-book author Yume Okuhara, and the composition is by BearGround, also known for the music in the puppet show “Garapiko Pu.” With its vividly colorful visuals and upbeat, fun melody, it’s a track that really grabs children’s hearts!
Five melon breads at the bakery.Sakushi: Nakagawa Hirotaka / Sakkyoku: Igirisu dōyō
Shall we sing a fun fingerplay song themed around a bakery’s melon bread together with the children? It’s an adaptation of a traditional English nursery rhyme, arranged to be familiar and appealing to Japanese kids.
The fingerplay involves counting with fingers in time with lyrics that show the bread being sold, nurturing children’s imagination.
It’s often used in early childhood settings, and this work—through which you can enjoy playful counting with children via song—is sure to be a big hit both at home and in nursery or kindergarten!