Nursery Rhymes, Songs, and Fingerplays for Kids
Round and round the garden
Goes the teddy bear
One step, two steps
Tickle under there!
Directions: pretend your fingers are the teddy bear and use them to “walk” around either the child’s tummy or back, then tickle under their chin or their armpit at the end. This is a great rhyme for building anticipation as little ones know what is coming and can get very excited for the end tickle.
(Tune: “The Farmer in the Dell“)
The sun is shining bright,
The sun is shining bright,
Oh, how I love the warmth,
The sun is shining bright.
The rain is falling down,
The rain is falling down,
Oh, how I love the sound,
The rain is falling down.
The flowers start to bloom,
The flowers start to bloom,
Oh, how I love the sight,
The flowers start to bloom.
One little kite in the sky so blue,
Along came another and then there were two.
Two little kites flying over a tree,
Along came another and then there were three.
Three little kites, watch them soar!
Along came another and then there were four.
Four little kites taking a dive,
Along came another and then there were five!
(Tune: “The Farmer in the Dell“)
A camping we will go.
A camping we will go.
The great outdoors is so much fun,
A camping we will go.
We’ll sleep in out big tent.
We’ll sleep in our big tent.
The great outdoors is so much fun,
We’ll sleep in our big tent.
We’ll make s’mores at night.
We’ll make s’mores at night.
The great outdoors is so much fun,
We’ll make s’mores at night.
Six little fireflies blinking in the night
Looking at the glow of each other’s light.
Whoosh went the wind.
And whistle went the breeze.
Then out went a red light
With a great big sneeze!
Aaaaaachoooooo!
Five little fireflies blinking in the night
Looking at the glow of each other’s light.
Whoosh went the wind.
And whistle went the breeze.
Then out went an orange light
With a great big sneeze!
Aaaaaachoooooo!
Four little fireflies blinking in the night
Looking at the glow of each other’s light.
Whoosh went the wind.
And whistle went the breeze.
Then out went a yellow light
With a great big sneeze!
Aaaaaachoooooo!
Three little fireflies blinking in the night
Looking at the glow of each other’s light.
Whoosh went the wind.
And whistle went the breeze.
Then out went a green light
With a great big sneeze!
Aaaaaachoooooo!
Two little fireflies blinking in the night
Looking at the glow of each other’s light.
Whoosh went the wind.
And whistle went the breeze.
Then out went a blue light
With a great big sneeze!
Aaaaaachoooooo!
One little firefly blinking in the night
Looking at the glow of his very own light.
Whoosh went the wind.
And whistle went the breeze.
Then out went his purple light
With a great big sneeze!
Aaaaaachoooooo!
Six little fireflies no longer blinking in the night
Flew off with each other in the pale moon light.
1-2-3-4-5-6
Bye, fireflies!
Original rhyme by Amber Passey
Five little insects
Talking late one night,
The first one said,
You gave us quite a fright!
The second one said,
Was it when I went bright?
The third one said,
No, I don’t think that’s right.
The fourth one said,
Not when there was light.
The fifth one said,
When you were out of sight!
Oh no! Said the Firefly,
Try as I might,
I can’t stop blinking
My little light.
(Tune: I’m a Little Teapot)
Original words by Amber Passey
I’m a little Firefly
Dark and bright.
You’ll see me appear
On a warm summer night.
First I am gone and
Then I shine bright.
All because of
My blinking light.
Summer is a season of growth: growing plants, growing produce, growing children. I’ve collected some summer nursery rhymes to use in your laptime programs to help growing bodies to also grow their minds.
Five fat peas in a pea-pod pressed,
One grew, two grew, so did all the rest.
They grew, and grew, and did not stop,
Until one day, to pod went pop.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle-shells
And pretty maids all in a row.
Little Robin Redbreast sat upon a rail,
Niddle, naddle went his head,
Wiggle, waggle went his tail.
Lavender’s blue dilly, dilly
Lavender’s green;
When I am king, dilly, dilly
You shall be queen.
One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on the right.
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.
One of my favorite books may have a bedtime theme, but it’s a fun play on nursery rhymes and elicits giggles galore. Sheep 101 by Richard T. Morris hit all the right notes to create an engaging and clever story that kids can enjoy over and over again.
Several crafts and activities would be a great addition to these summer nursery rhymes. Simple Everyday Mom shares a cute robin redbreast craft using construction paper and a child’s handprint. You can use the printable found with 5 Little Fish to make fish puppets for little fingers.
One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on the right.
Find more Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes here.
With summer warming up, we are enjoying blue skies, lazy days, and summer reading programs. I love how busy the library is in the summer with families coming for books, prizes and programs. Summer storytimes are always larger than my school year programs and they have a special buzz of energy. These summer song lyrics for your storytimes are sure to help keep those busy bees active and engaged.
When faced with crowd control for large groups of little energetic bodies, I have found that it is much more successful to direct that energy than to quell it. Using songs and movement at the beginning and middle of the storytime helps little ones stay engaged and helps keep the group attentive while reading stories.
To play an accompaniment to these summer song lyrics, just click on the title of the song you want. You’ll be taken to it’s page in the collection where you can play the music and sing along! Easy-peasy for getting comfortable with new lyrics to familiar tunes.
Sing a song of flowers, flowers all around.
Flowers that are growing, growing in the ground
Flowers of each color make a pretty view.
Red and orange and yellow.
And blue and purple, too.
The farmer plants the seeds
The farmer plants the seeds
Hi, Ho and Cheery-O
The farmer plants the seeds.
The sun begins to shine
The sun begins to shine
Hi, Ho and Cheery-O
The sun begins to shine.
The rain begins to fall
The rain begins to fall
Hi, Ho and Cheery-O
The rain begins to fall.
The plants begin to grow
The plants begin to grow
Hi, Ho and Cheery-O
The plants begin to grow.
The flowers smile at us
The flowers smile at us
Hi, Ho and Cheery-O
The flowers smile at us.
Here is the beehive
Where are the bees?
Hidden inside
Where nobody sees
Watch as the bees
Come out of the hive
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
I’m a little daisy, tall and slim (Stand on tiptoes)
Here are my petals (Place hands on side of head & wiggle fingers)
Here is my stem (Hold arms down at sides of legs)
When the sun comes up (Make sun with arms)
And the rain comes down (Flutter hands to floor like rain-end in crouching position)
I grow, grow, grow- up from the ground! (slowly raise up bring hand over head)
Curl up like a tiny seed,
A tiny seed, a tiny seed.
Warm sun is what you need.
Now you can start growing,
Drink the rain and start to rise,
Start to rise, start to rise.
Stretch up tall, arms open wide,
Now a flower’s showing.
Here are a few activities that expand the flower and summer theme of these summer song lyrics. Because Babies Grow Up has a fun flower garden craft that has easy prep work, inexpensive craft items and fine motor skill work for little hands. No Time For Flashcards offers a sticky wing dragonfly craft using contact paper, sequins, and a dragonfly cutout. And for a more hands-on activity, Natural Herbal Living shares how to plant a bee-friendly garden with kids.
