Recommended children's songs and hand play songs for October! Music time in childcare that feels like autumn.
The season of children’s songs that warmly embrace the heart in October has arrived.
Crimson dragonflies at dusk, cosmos flowers, golden rice ready for harvest, and children going out to collect acorns and fallen leaves… Scenes that color autumn in Japan are beautifully depicted in the lyrics and melodies of these songs.
In this article, we introduce autumn children’s songs beloved in early childhood settings, as well as seasonal finger-play songs you can enjoy with kids.
Please sing these autumn songs—cherished across generations—together with your loved ones, children and adults alike!
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Recommended Nursery Rhymes & Fingerplay Songs for October! Autumn-Themed Music Time in Early Childhood Education (21–30)
Shopping at the bakery
Here’s a fun hand-play song for autumn: “Buying Bread at the Bakery”! In this game, players split into customers who buy bread and shopkeepers who sell it.
The customers shop while naming the breads they want.
Can the shopkeepers sell all the requested breads without making a mistake? It’s a hand-play song that kids love—give it a try!
I want to scribble on the sky.
“I Want to Scribble on the Sky” is a song that conveys a child’s pure feelings.
Many of us spent our early years looking up at the sky and imagining, “I want to ride on a cloud” or “I want to fly.” Likewise, the protagonist of this song wishes to “draw pictures in the sky.” Since autumn is often called the season of the arts, why not sing it before drawing time? The lyrics were written by Michio Yamagami, and the music was composed by Taku Izumi.
Recommended children's songs and hand play songs for October! Music time in childcare that feels like autumn (31–40)
Mysterious Pocket
A dreamy song where biscuits keep multiplying just by patting your pocket.
At first there should have been only one biscuit inside, but every time you pat your pocket, they increase more and more.
Surely some kids have admired that magical situation and tried to imitate it, right? But in reality, if you try it, the biscuits just crumble to pieces, and you end up getting scolded by your mom afterward…
rabbit
Autumn is the season for moon viewing.
Many nursery schools and kindergartens probably enjoy making crafts with motifs like the moon, rabbits, and moon-viewing dumplings.
“Usagi” is a traditional Japanese children’s song that lets you savor the atmosphere of moon viewing through singing.
The song does not depict a rabbit on the moon, but rather a rabbit gazing at the moon.
By sharing episodes related to moon viewing and singing together with friends, or doing hand-play while singing, children can feel the customs of autumn more closely.
maple leaves
The Japanese children’s song Mōmiji, with lyrics by Tatsuyuki Takano and music by Teiichi Okano, was included in the 1911 edition of Elementary School Songs for the second grade.
When we sing it as children, the meaning of the lyrics may not sink in very much.
But listening to it again as adults, both the melody and the words are truly beautiful.
It’s one of the nursery and school songs we’d love to see passed down from childhood.
The Takano–Okano duo also left many other masterpieces, such as Furusato and Haru ga Kita.
Little Sumo Bear
This is “Sumo Bear,” where you wrestle with a little bear.
The song includes actual calls used in sumo matches, so it’s perfect for listening while you practice sumo with your friends! Speaking of wrestling with a bear, that brings to mind Kintaro—a boy so strong he could beat a bear in sumo, yet kindhearted.
May you grow to be strong and gentle like Kintaro.
gluttonous gorilla
This song is a hand-play tune popular at nursery schools and kindergartens, featuring a gluttonous gorilla who keeps eating different foods one after another.
Because it also lets you express how the food is eaten and what it tastes like, it’s great as a teaching tool for young children.
At the end, there’s a punchline where an onion appears—but it’s all peel, so you can’t eat it.
You can incorporate any edible item into the lyrics and keep adding your own original verses, so it’s a good idea to include the child’s favorite foods.
