[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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Vehicle Song (1–10)
Go by Shinkansen! Go, go!Yokoyama Daisuke / Mitani Takumi
“Shinkansen Go! Go-Go!” is a song where kids can sing while pretending to be their admired Shinkansen driver or the cart-service attendant.
Many children look up to jobs related to the Shinkansen, especially the drivers.
This song lets those kids enjoy a mini work-experience.
Rather than just singing, we recommend fully getting into character—move like them, imitate the spoken lines, and play freely! This song might even inspire some children to turn it into their real dream for the future.
Songs of Vehicles (11–20)
Playing bus (pretend bus play)Sakushi: Kayama Yoshiko / Sakkyoku: Yuyama Akira
This lively children’s song by Yoshiko Kayama and Akira Yuyama captures the excitement of setting off on a trip in a big bus.
Set to a rhythmic melody, it gently portrays children enjoying pretend play with vehicles.
It’s a song you can sing while moving your hands and body, so it naturally brings smiles to children’s faces.
Long cherished in childcare and educational settings, it’s also used as a play song.
With spring outing season approaching, why not sing it together as a family before a walk or a day out? If everyone enjoys it while keeping the beat, it will surely create wonderful memories in children’s hearts.
Spring Song (11–20)
Japanese songs that make you feel spring!
Warm and pleasantly comfortable spring weather. It’s the perfect season for children to play outside, isn’t it? Here, we introduce recommended nursery rhymes that perfectly match spring scenery. How about taking a walk while humming traditional Japanese songs that have been passed down through the generations? Reference article:Nursery rhymes to sing in spring: a collection of classic songs you'll want to sing with your children
Spring Songs (1–10)
butterflySakushi: Nomura Akio / Sakkyoku: Supein min’yō
As a spring children’s song, “Butterfly” is practically indispensable—almost everyone knows it.
Like many nursery rhymes, it’s actually an overseas tune that later received Japanese lyrics.
The original is a German children’s song themed around a little boy named “Little Hans” who sets off on a journey.
While the first verse is by far the most famous, there are actually four verses: sparrows appear in the second, dragonflies in the third, and swallows in the fourth.
It’s one of those songs that instantly puts you in a spring mood the moment you hum it.
dandelionwarabeuta asobi
If you spot fluffy dandelion seeds floating on the spring breeze, here’s a traditional children’s song-and-game you’ll want to enjoy together as a parent and child! Its charm lies in how simply it expresses sending the fluffy seeds far away through rhythm and movement.
You can pretend to blow with a long “fuu,” flutter your hands and become the drifting seeds yourself, using your whole body to play.
This folk song has long been loved in places like Gunma Prefecture, and it continues to be cherished today—introduced in a video in April 2022 as part of efforts to connect nursery school play with activities at home.
With scarves or fabric, you can create a magical, floating-seed atmosphere even indoors! Try it not only when you find real dandelion seeds at the park, but also as a cozy, hands-on activity at home.
What color do you like?Sakushi: Sakata Osamu / Sakkyoku: Inui Yuki
In dazzlingly green May, many children are probably enjoying playing outside and drawing, don’t you think? Perfect for this season is this classic song that celebrates the fun of choosing your favorite colors with crayons.
Written and composed by Osamu Sakata and arranged by Hiroki Inui, the piece was broadcast in June 1992 as NHK’s “Song of the Month” on Okaasan to Issho, and has been beloved for many years.
The lyrics are charming, as they ask about colors like “red” and “blue,” as if completing a single picture.
It’s also included on the album “Donna iro ga Suki,” released in May 1992, the same year it aired, and has become a staple in early childhood settings.
If your child is starting to take an interest in colors, why not fill a whole sheet of drawing paper together with your favorite hues and have some fun?
FlowerSakushi: Takeshima Hane / Sakkyoku: Taki Rentarō
The spring classic “Hana” was composed by Rentaro Taki.
Its rhythmic melody conveys the buoyant feeling of spring! The lyrics depict the colorful, splendid scenes typical of the season.
Simply listening to the song while taking in the lyrics brings vivid springtime images to mind.
Because the Sumida River appears in the lyrics, Tokyo’s Sumida City has adopted the song as a beloved community anthem.
There is also a monument inscribed with the lyrics in Sumida Park along the Sumida River.
Take a cheerful stroll along a springtime path and sing along!
Come, springSakushi: Soma Gyofu / Sakkyoku: Hirota Ryutaro
Warm spring is a season many people eagerly await, isn’t it? Calling out for such a spring to come quickly is this song, “Haruyo Koi” (“Come, Spring”).
In the lyrics, those waiting with bated breath for spring are a baby who has just learned to walk and peach blossoms still in their buds, ready to bloom at any moment.
Beyond the baby and the flower buds, of course, there are many people who long for spring’s arrival for all sorts of reasons.
Why not sing this song—urging spring to hurry along—together with your children, or even as an adult returning to a childlike spirit, and wish for the joyful season to come soon?