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 (31–40)
Brr, it’s so cold.
The children’s song “Oosamu Kosamu” evokes the harsh cold of winter.
It depicts a child coming down from the mountain saying, “It’s cold.” If you take the lyrics literally, you might think the child is crying from the cold, but it actually expresses that the child has come down from the mountain while saying it’s cold.
Outdoors in winter feels cold no matter where you are, but it makes you wonder just how frigid that mountain must be if the child came down because of the cold! Although the lyrics don’t say the child is crying, in reality they might have been so cold and chilled that they did shed tears.
You can also enjoy it as a round, so give it a try!
snowMonbushō shōka
Isn’t this a song that everyone has heard at least once somewhere? When it snows, this tune inevitably comes to mind.
Many people might think “konko” is an onomatopoeia for falling snow, but it’s said to come from the imperative of “to come,” meaning “come, come—fall.” In the song, after the snow stops, there’s a line that suggests the withered trees disappear and the warm spring eventually arrives.
Even in the cold winter, let’s sing and look forward to the gentle arrival of spring!
Kantarō the North Wind KidSakkyoku: Fukuda Wakako
Kantarō the North Wind Kid, which was featured on NHK’s “Minna no Uta,” became a huge hit and continues to be sung by a wide audience.
The song was created when NHK director Yasuhiro Kondo, a lyricist, and a composer got together and discussed the idea that “it wouldn’t hurt to have enka for children.” It certainly has an enka flavor and is a song about “winter is coming,” yet for some reason its Western-style rhythm makes you feel upbeat.
Merry Christmas
Originating from an English folk song from the 16th-century West Country, the song “We (I) Wish You a Merry Christmas” celebrates the arrival of Christmas and the New Year.
In Japan, it is sung as “Omedetō Christmas.” Christmas songs by Disney characters like Mickey and Donald are well known, and in recent years, cover versions by the Disney Princesses have also been released.
Snow KobōzuSakkyoku: Fushō
This is a Japanese children’s song sung to the same melody as “The Spool Song.” The melody uses a traditional tune that is loved around the world, and when lyrics are set to this melody overseas, it is often sung as a song about spools or spinning thread.
In contrast, it seems that only Japan has set lyrics about snow to this melody.
Collection of winter children's songs, folk songs, and nursery rhymes. Fun winter finger-play songs too (41–50)
little foxSakushi: Katsu Tsuguo / Sakkyoku: Gaikoku Kyoku
This song is themed around a winter mountain where a little fox lives.
The lyrics describe how the little fox spends its days in the cold, snowy mountains.
The song was originally written as a German children’s song.
It became popular in Japan after the poet Katsuo Masao added Japanese lyrics.
Unlike the Japanese version, the original German lyrics are actually a bit scary.
In Japan, however, a pop-style melody was paired with cute lyrics.
On YouTube and other platforms, you can find videos of people dancing as if they were little foxes along with the song, so it’s also recommended to sing and dance to it as a way to warm up your body in the cold!
Wish Upon a Star
Originally titled “When You Wish upon a Star,” it was sung by Jiminy Cricket as the theme song of the 1940 Disney film Pinocchio and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
In Sweden and Norway, it is a Christmas song about the Star of Bethlehem.