Baby Action Songs

Baby Action Songs Develop Many Skills.

Fingerplay songs have existed for many years and have been passed down from generation to generation. These songs, often used in early childhood, capture children’s attention by pairing movement with the singing of simple songs like nursery rhymes. Engaging your child in a fingerplay song is a simple way that you can help them develop and work on their fine and gross motor skills.

Other skills include:

Auditory perception
Rhythm
Counting and other concepts (with number rhymes)
Rhyming and syllables
Vocabulary
Memory

Open Shut Them

Singing and moving to “Open and Shut Them” will give your child a chance to practice finger dexterity and grasping. This song can also be used as a tool to get children settled in their spot if you’re doing it with a group.

Open shut them Open shut them

Give a little clap

Open shut them Open shut them,

Lay them in your lap

Creep them, creep them Creep them, creep them,

Right up to your chin

Open wide your little mouth,

But do not let them in

Then you can sing it a little bit faster.

Pat A Cake

“Pat-a-cake” is a classic nursery rhyme that children have been playing for generations. This fingerplay song address crossing mid-line, hand-eye coordination, body awareness, and encourages social interaction. Use this simple song to engage your child in developing fine motor skills.

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,

Bake me a cake, as fast as you can;

Pat it, prick it, and mark it with B,

Put it in the oven for baby and me.

Wheels On The Bus

The “Wheels On The Bus” is a great song to work on fine motor skills like body awareness and crossing midline. This song has a lot of verses, which means you can do as many or few as you’d like!

The wheels on the bus go round and round

Round and round, round and round

The wheels on the bus go round and round

All through the town

The wipers on the bus go “Swish, swish, swish,

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish”

The wipers on the bus go “Swish, swish, swish”

All through the town.

The people on the bus go, “chat, chat, chat,

Cha,,chat chat,chat chat ,chat

The people on the bus go, “, chat,chat,chat

All through the town.

The horn on the bus go “Beep, beep, beep

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep”

The horn on the bus go “Beep, beep, beep”

All through the town.

The baby on the bus go, “wah, wah, wah!

wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah!”

The baby on the bus go, “wah, wah, wah!”

All through the town.

The mummy on the bus go, “ssss sh,ssss sh,ssss sh,

“”ssss sh,ssss sh,ssss sh

The mummy on the bus go, “”ssss sh,ssss sh,ssss sh”

All through the town.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

Round and round, round and round

The wheels on the bus go round and round

All through the town.

Roll Over

This song, also called “Roll Over”, is a simple fingerplay that will help your child practice fine motor skills like body awareness and hand division. This song may also assist in developing memory and reinforce counting. Depending on the attention of your child, you can count down from ten or five.

There were five in the bed

And the little one said, “Roll over, roll over”

So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were four in the bed

And the little one said, “Roll over, roll over”

So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were three in the bed

And the little one said, “Roll over, roll over”

So they all rolled over and one fell out

There were two in the bed

And the little one said, “Roll over, roll over”

So they all rolled over and one fell out

There was one in the bed And the little one said,

“Goodnight”

Itsy Bitsy Spider

“Itsy Bitsy Spider” is a commonly known song that tells a fun story which will engage your child’s attention. The repetition of the motions will help your child learn them even faster. It is great for demonstrating fine motor skills and gross motor skills whilst engaging in some science.

The itsy bitsy spider

Went up the water spout.

Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain.

So, the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

Baby Bumblebee

This is a fun story song that you can sing with your child to practice and reinforce fine motor skills. Sing “Baby Bumblebee” to engage your child’s silly side! There are many different versions.

I’ve got myself a baby bumblebee,

Won’t my mummy be so proud of me?

I’ve got myself a baby bumblebee,

Ouch! He stung me!

I’m squashing up my baby bumblebee,

Won’t my mummy be so proud of me?

I’m squashing up my baby bumblebee,

Oh no, it’s all over my hands!

I’m lickin’ up my baby bumble bee

Won’t my mummy be so proud of me?

I’m lickin’ up my baby bumble bee

Oh no, I feel sick…

I’m throwing up my baby bumble bee,

Won’t my mummy be so proud of me?

I’m throwing up my baby bumble bee,

Oh no, it’s all over the floor!

I’m mopping up my baby bumble bee,

Won’t my mummy be so proud of me?

I’m mopping up my baby bumble bee,

Oh look! A butterfly!

FIVE GREEN AND SPECKLED FROGS

This song will spark your child’s imagination and engage them in reinforcing various skills like counting and memory recall while encouraging the use of fine motor skills like wrist stability.

Five little speckled frogs,

Sat on a speckled log,

Eating some most delicious bugs.

Yum yum!

One jumped into the pool,

Where it was nice and cool,

Then there were four green speckled frogs.

Glug glubg!

Four little speckled frogs,

Sat on a special log,

Eating some most delicious bugs.

Yum yum!

One jumped into the pool,

Where it was nice and cool,

Then there were three green speckled frogs.

Glug glug!

Three little speckled frogs,

Sat on a speckled log,

Eating some most delicious bugs.

Yum yum!

One jumped into the pool,

Where it was nice and cool,

Then there were two green speckled frogs.

Glug glug!

Two little speckled frogs,

Sat on a speckled log,

Eating some most delicious bugs.

Yum yum!

One jumped into the pool,

Where it was nice and cool,

Then there was one green speckled frog.

Glug glug!

One little speckled frog,

Sat on a speckled log,

Eating some most delicious bugs.

Yum yum!

He jumped into the pool,

Where it was nice and cool,

Then there were no green speckled frogs.

Glug glug!

Baby Shark

This song went viral with kids and adults across America! “Baby Shark” is a fun song which will grab your child’s attention and help him or her develop various fine motor movements through the use of different motions in the song. Be careful with this one…. It’ll be stuck in your head for days!

Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Baby Shark

Mommy Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Mommy Shark

Daddy Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Daddy Shark

Grandma Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Grandma Shark

Grandpa Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Grandpa Shark

Let’s go hunt, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Let’s go hunt

Run away, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Run away (ah!)

Safe at last, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

Safe at last (phew)

It’s the end, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo

It’s the end

Two Little Blackbirds

This song is great for practicing fine motor skills while also learning about opposites! Your child can sing about differences such as “quiet” and “loud”, “near” and “far”, and “slow” and “quick”. You can add some fun to this song by using dramatic vocal changes between the two opposites in the verse.

Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill.

One named Jack and one named Jill.

Fly away Jack, flay away Jill.

Come back Jack, come back Jill.

Two little blackbirds flying in the sky.

One named Low and one named High…

Two little blackbirds sitting on a pole.

One named Fast and one named Slow…

Two little blackbirds sitting on a gate…

One named Early and one named Late… More Opposites

Playing in the snow, one was fast and the other was SLOWWWW…

Sitting on the ice, one was mean, the other was nice…

Out on a date, one was wobbly and the other was straight…

Sitting on a lilly, one was serious, the other was silly…

Sitting on a mop, one named bottom, one named top…

Sitting on a car. . .Near/Far

Sitting on a cloud. . .Quiet/Loud

Sitting on a mast. . .Slow/Fast

Squirrels

Two little squirrels sitting on a gate

One named early and one named late.

Run away early.

Run away late.

Come back early.

Come back late.

Penguins

Two little penguins sitting on a hill,

One named Jack and the other named Jill.

Slide away, Jack (wheeeee!)

Slide away, Jill (wheeeee!)

Come back, Jack

Come back, Jill

Birds

You can also do this song with birds of different colors. Just repeat the original version but change the colors of the birds (Two little blue birds, or red birds, or green birds, etc.). It’s fun to do with felt birds and let the children call out the colors as you hold them up.

Two Little Pumpkins

Two little pumpkins sitting on a hill.

One named Jack and one named Jill.

Roll away Jack, Roll away Jill.

Roll back Jack, Roll back Jill.

Row Row Row Your Boat

Row Row Row Your Boat Is a great activity to help strengthen core muscles, arm and neck muscles, plus help with balance.

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream,

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.

Row, row, row your boat, gently up the creek,

If you see a little mouse, don’t forget to squeak!

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream,

If you see a crocodile, don’t forget to scream!

Row, row, row your boat, gently to the shore,

If you see a lion, don’t forget to roar!

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the river,

If you see a polar bear, don’t forget to shiver!

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream,

If you see a butterfly, don’t forget to smile!

Older Babies

As children get older, action take on whole body actions, like the song of the 5 little monkeys jumping on the the bed. These assist children to develop their:

Gross motor skills
Listening skills and ability to follow instructions
Concentration
Balance and coordination

Research has shown that during the preschool years, activities that are play based such as singing songs, doing creative art and playing games are far more beneficial than pushing academics such as worksheets and rote learning.

Five Little Monkeys

FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS “Five Little Monkeys” is a repetitive fingerplay that addresses simple skills like moving individual fingers up and down while also reinforcing memory and counting. Once you teach it to your child, have them sing it you while you’re driving or getting them ready for bed to really build those skills.

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.

One fell off and bumped his head.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,