Music is a great way to help kids develop language, motor, and memory skills. Here are eight silly preschool songs that kids are sure to enjoy, and that will make you giggle right along with them.
We love music at our house. My boys may think I’m crazy when I’m rocking out to Disney songs or randomly burst into song while folding laundry, but they love a good song as much as I do. Little Man actually has a funny little tradition at bedtime of asking me to make up songs about the books we read. A lot of them are pretty lame, but he loves it.
Besides just being fun, music is a great way to teach kids, especially kids who struggle with language delays. The rhythm of the music and the repetition of the same words over and over again help kids build vocabulary and give them the confidence to try sounds they might be uncomfortable attempting in normal speech. And all kids can benefit from the memory and motor skills they develop while singing and doing fingerplays. Read more research on that here.
Little kids (or at least my little boys) think anything gross or destructive is super funny, so their favorite songs involve weird foods, crashing, burping, and the like.
Here are some of my preschooler’s favorite songs. Enjoy!
8 Silly Preschool Songs Your Child Will Love
1. Do You Like Broccoli Ice Cream?
This silly song asks kids to think about what would happen if they combined some of their favorite (and not so favorite) foods. Do you like pizza? Do you like popcorn? What about popcorn pizza? Eww! We love making up our own food combinations, too, so it’s great for stretching kid’s brains as they try to see who can be the most outlandish and disgusting (again…boys). It’s one of approximately a bazillion videos made by Super Simple Songs. My boys love watching these on You Tube.
2. Slippery Fish
If you don’t know this one, you MUST learn it. I was trying to keep my boys awake in the car the other day and so I started singing this with them because I know it’s one of their favorites. They were CRACKING up in the back seat and asked for it again, and again, and again. I think it’s pretty cute, too. You can watch the video above with them, and if you want to learn some hand motions to go along with the song, watch this video (or just make up your own…ours are a little different than the ones from Miss Nina in the video).
3. Hickory Dickory CRASH!
This is a fun variation on the traditional song Hickory Dickory Dock. In this version, lots of different kinds of animals take turns going up the clock until the elephant comes along and smashes the clock to pieces. Little Man loves to act this one out by building a “clock tower” out of blocks and then having his toy animals go up the “clock” as I sing. of course, his favorite part is knocking the whole thing down when it’s the elephant’s turn. It’s a great song for learning because kids can practice counting as the clock chimes, and it develops vocabulary as you identify different animals.
4. If All the Raindrops
Okay, the only music video I could find for this next song features Barney. Don’t hate me! And don’t skip this song just because the thought of that purple dinosaur makes you cringe. I learned the song from my sister, and it’s so fun! If I could spare you Barney and just have her teach you, I would, but it really is a super cute song about what would happen if all the rain drops turned into candy. There are other fun verses, too, including my favorite one, which isn’t in the Barney version…so I’m including the lyrics here:
If all the blizzards were candy-coated lizards
oh what a blizzard it’d be!
I’d stand outside with my mouth open wide
singing Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh (shake your head “no” this time)
If all the blizzards were candy-coated lizards
oh what a blizzard it’d be!
5. Down By the Bay
This a classic kid song that I remember singing in elementary school, and you probably do, too. It’s a great song for teaching about rhyming words (see a fun game we play with it here). I taught Little Man the song, and then he likes to make up our own verses by telling me an animal and seeing if I can come up with a rhyme to finish off the verse. Ridiculous and fun!
6. Sticky Sticky Bubblegum
This is a song Little Man learned at preschool and it took me forever to figure out what he was talking about and find it online! But, now that I have solved the mystery, I think it’s such a cute song. It’s great for practicing listening skills and following directions because kids need to pay attention to where the bubblegum is getting stuck.
7. Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree
This song about some monkeys who get what’s coming to them after they tease Mr. Alligator that he can’t catch them. My boys love making the “SNAP!” of the alligator’s mouth. It’s a great little song for counting (it follows the same pattern as the monkeys who jumped on the bed), and the easy actions are good for developing fine motor skills. In fact, we just sang this song at story time this morning, and all the kids got SO into it.
8. Going on a Lion Hunt
I learned this song a few months ago when we did a rain forest unit for our home preschool. It’s essentially the same as the “Going on a Bear Hunt” song that my son learned at preschool. It is simple, and it’s great to focus attention and get out wiggles when kids get crazy.
BONUS: Sweet Zoo
Okay, this isn’t one you will probably teach your preschooler to sing because it’s complicated. But…it’s a fabulous song for dancing along to. It’s an oldie but super goodie. Make sure you listen to the end. The last line is the best part of the whole song. We had a record with this song on it when I was little, yep, a RECORD, and it still makes me smile to listen to it. I showed the above video to my boys yesterday, and they were completely entranced.
I love this post! I am going to play all of these songs for my kids tomorrow! They love to dance. We like a lot of the Veggie Tales Silly Songs with Larry. I Don’t Have A Belly Button is one of our favs!
I hope your kids enjoy these songs, and thanks for the suggestions! I haven’t listened to Veggie Tales in a long time, but I remember them being funny.
Tooty ta is a favorite! We can’t help by laugh seeing each other do the silly movements. It was always a favorite with my preschool classes before I had my own kids too. So fun! This is a great list. Thank you! Pinning!
Jaimi, I’m glad you enjoyed the list. I had never heard of Tooty Ta, but I just looked it up, and I’m sure my little boys will love it. Little Man loves making up nonsense words and being goofy as much as possible, so this one is right up his alley. Thanks!
I just came across this and played the first few for my four year old and she was indeed cracking up. She loves the first one especially. Thanks for this and I will share on my Facebook page.
Glad your little girl enjoyed them so much; we sing them all the time! And, thanks for the share, too!
Greg & Dteve’s animal action songs , Aikendrum (Raffi), ducks like rain (Raffi) are also favorites at our house! We play a humming game, one of us hums a song and the other has to guess the name. It’s a lot of fun going around the table during dinner. 🙂 develops great listening skills.
I’ll have to check out those other songs. Thanks for the recommendations, Lucia. And that dinner game sounds like fun. We used to do something similar growing up, but I haven’t done it with my own kids yet. I’ll have to try it.
We love getting super silly when singing! Thank you for including a couple of our songs on your list. We crack up every time we sing the Broccoli Ice Cream song. We’d love to hear some of your boys’ ideas. 🙂
What a fun idea to act out Hickory Dickory…Crash! with blocks and toys. Watch out for the elephant.
Thanks for singing with us!
Sara
Super Simple Learning
Welcome to my blog, Sara! I’m so glad you found my silly songs article. My boys really do LOVE all the Super Simple Songs, so thanks for creating such fun, creative music for my boys to enjoy! I’ll see if I can think of any more of the broccoli ice cream combinations they’ve come up with and send them to you. 🙂
Check out Carol Stephens at Macaroni Soup! Active Music for Kids
http://www.macaronisoup.com/ Her version of Sticky Sticky Bubblegum is great !!! And her other recordings are not only silly but also based on best research of music /movement
on brain development. Fun for the young and young again alike !!!!!
Thanks for the recommendation, Sue! I just checked out her website and it looks awesome! I think I now have a great idea for a good Christmas present for my boys!
I teach preschool and my kiddos love the hokey pokey shake as well as The Goldfish song by Laurie Berkner Band. Super cute and so funny! Can’t wait to try some of these with my class! Thanks for posting these!