Collection of winter nursery rhymes, folk songs, and children's songs. Includes fun winter hand-play songs too.
Do you like winter?Although winter is very cold, there are many unique ways to enjoy it: you can see a beautiful silver world created by pure white snow, and you can feel a special kind of warmth you can only experience in winter, like hot pot dishes or sitting in a kamakura snow hut.There are also lots of fun events like Christmas and New Year’s!Children are probably looking forward to making snowmen, having snowball fights, and enjoying Christmas presents and cakes, aren’t they?In this article, we’ll introduce nursery rhymes, folk songs, traditional children’s songs, and hand-play songs themed around various aspects of “winter.”There are many songs that will turn a winter that’s “just cold” into wonderful memories, so please give them a listen!
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Collection of Winter Children’s Songs, Folk Songs, and Nursery Rhymes: Fun Winter Hand-Play Songs Too (91–100)
Winter’s GiftKashi: Kimoto Keiko / Sakkyoku: Ike Takeshi
It was released in NHK’s “Okaasan to Issho” as the song for December 1999.
From the intro, it already feels like Christmas! Although it’s a children’s song, it has a vibe that somehow calls to mind Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” It’s a sparkling pop tune that makes even adults feel giddy with excitement.
Tonight is a happy Christmas.
Aramaki Shake’s “Tonight Is a Joyful Christmas” is a hand-play song filled with Christmas items that get kids excited.
It also features fun words related to colors like “red,” “white,” and “brown,” as well as words that describe shapes such as “triangle” and “round.” It can be fun to add your own second and third verses and tweak the parts that describe colors and shapes.
With its relaxed, simple melody, it’s easy for little ones to learn—so give it a try!
Quiet Christmas
The songs by the duo Toshihiko Shinzawa and Hirotaka Nakagawa are filled with masterpieces that warm the listener’s heart.
This piece, included on the album “Happy Kids X’mas! Christmas Song Best ~With BGM for Parties~,” released by King Records in November 2019, gently portrays a quiet Christmas night.
The lyrics, which describe various people drifting off to sleep—such as shepherds, a shoeshine boy, and the little match girl—leave a strong impression.
Coupled with its calm melody, it brings peace to those who listen.
It’s often sung at Christmas events in nurseries and kindergartens, and singing it together with children will surely make for wonderful memories.
Song of the Four Seasons
Even in the winter chill, this song offers a warm light.
It’s perfect for nursery and kindergarten teachers to teach their children.
Singing it with family will make for a lovely time to share the changing seasons.
Since it was included in a music textbook compiled by the Ministry of Education in 1971, it has been loved by many people.
Through this piece, why not discover the joy of music and learn about Japanese culture?
A Town Where It SnowsSakkyoku: Nakada Yoshinao
Yuki no Furu Machi o is a song whose lyrics were written by imagining oneself walking alone through a snow-covered town.
The melody, which quietly moves forward over an accompaniment that evokes steadily falling snow, conveys the chill of winter, yet in the final section it hints at the coming of spring.
It is a classic of the Showa era, where the words woven by playwright Naoya Uchimura and the melody composed by Yoshinao Nakada are beautifully matched.
The earliest one first thing in the morningSakkyoku: Koshiji Nobuyoshi
It’s a song that Osamu Sakata and Yuko Kanzaki sang on “Okaasan to Issho.” It lists jobs that start work in the morning, and at the end there’s a funny punchline about someone who oversleeps.
It’s really hard to get out of bed in winter, isn’t it?
Bear Cub in FebruarySakushi: Hirai Tamiko / Sakkyoku: Ichikawa Toshiharu
Koguma no Nigatsu (Little Bear in February) is a song that expresses how a bear feels as it tries to emerge from its den on a cold winter’s day.
Its simple melody, often performed on piano or harmonica, has made it widely loved.
It has also appeared in elementary school music textbooks, so some people may already know it.
You can picture a bear poking its face out as pure white snow falls.
At about 50 seconds long, it’s a short piece that’s perfect as a child’s first nursery song.
Give this winter song a listen—it will make you look forward to spring.
