English Songs for Kids

Here are some songs that I learned when I was a kid. Thought I might share them with you…

You can also download a pdf file of all of these songs.

Pretty Songs

Edelweiss

Edelweiss, edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to greet me
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever

Morning has Broken

Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlight from heaven Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God’s recreation of the new day

Where Have all the Flowers Gone?

Where have all the flowers gone long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls picked them everyone
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone to young men everyone…
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone to soldiers everyone…
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards everyone…
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers everyone…

You are my Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don’t take my sunshine away
The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamt I held you in my arms
When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and cried

Rounds

Kookaburra

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
Gay your life must be

Rose

Rose, rose, rose, red
Will I ever see thee wed?
I will marry at thy will, sire
At thy will

(Here is a second verse according to http://wulfae.livejournal.com/155586.html.)

Ding do-ong, ding dong.
Wedding bells on an April morn’.
Carve your name on a moss covered stone
On a moss covered stone.

Row, Row, Row your Boat

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

Silly songs

Alice the Camel

Alice the camel has five humps.
Alice the camel has five humps.
Alice the camel has five humps.
So go, Alice, go.

Alice the camel has four humps.
Alice the camel has three humps.
Alice the camel has two humps.
Alice the camel has one hump.
Alice the camel has no humps.
…Cause Alice is a horse of course!

Apples and Bananas

I like to eat, I like to eat, I like to eat, eat, apples and bananas
A lake ta ate, A lake ta ate, A lake ta ate, ate, apples and bananas
E leke te eat, E leke te eat, E leke te eat, eat, epples end benenes
I like ti ite, I like ti ite, I like ti ite, ite, ipples ind bininis
O loke to ote, O loke to ote, O loke to ote, ote, opples ond bononos
U luke tu ute, U luke tu ute, U luke tu ute, ute, upples und bununus
I like to eat, I like to eat, I like to eat, eat, apples and bananas

Old MacDonald

Old MacDonald had a farm – E I E I O
And on his farm he had some – E I E I O
With a ____, ____ here
And a ____, ____ there
Here a ____, there a ____
Everywhere a ____, ____
Old MacDonald had a farm – E I E I O

cats – meow
dogs – woof
pigs – oink
cows – moo
sheep – baa
frogs – ribbit

My Eyes are Dim

My eyes are dim
I cannot see
I have not brought my specs with me
I have not brought my specs (spectacles) with me

There are __________,
In the store, in the store
There are __________,
In the corner masters store.

Pajama Song

I wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it’s hot
I wear my flannel nighty in the winter when it’s not
But sometimes in the springtime, and sometimes in the fall
I jump into my little bed with nothing on at all!

That’s the time you ought to see me!
That’s the time you ought to see me!
That’s the time you ought to see me!
When I jump into my little bed with nothing on at all!

Songs with actions

BINGO

Farmer Brown, he had a dog
And Bingo was his name, oh!
B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O
And Bingo was his name, oh!

Father Abraham

Father Abraham
Had seven sons, sir
Had seven sons, sir
Had Father Abraham
And they didn’t laugh
And they didn’t cry
All they did was go like this…

With the left
And the right
And the left
And the right
And the head
And the bottom
And the eyes
And the tongue

I’m Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor

I’m being swallowed by a boa constrictor
A boa constrictor, a boa constrictor
I’m being swallowed by a boa constrictor
And I don’t like it at all

Oh no! There goes my toe!
Oh shoot! There goes my foot!
Oh laugh! There goes my calf!
Oh gee! There goes my knee!
Oh my! There goes my thigh!
Oh haste! There goes my waist!
Oh fiddle! There goes my middle!
Gosh darn! There goes my arm!
Oh heck, There goes my neck!
Oh Fred! There goes my head!
Gulp!

Little Rabbit Fufu

Little Rabbit Fufu
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And bopping ’em on the head

Then down came the good fairy

And she said:
Little Rabbit Fufu
I don’t want to see you
Scooping up the field mice
And bopping ’em on the head
I’ll give you three chances
And if you don’t behave
I’ll turn you into a goon!

Little Rabbit Fufu
Hopping through the forest
Scooping up the field mice
And bopping ’em on the head

Poof! You’re a goon!
And that just goes to show:
Hare today, goon tomorrow!

Swimming

Swimming, swimming in my swimming pool
When days are hot, when days are cold
In my swimming pool
Breast stroke, side stroke, fancy diving too
Oh don’t you wish you never had anything else to do but…

Waddly-aka

Waddly-aka, waddly-aka, doodly-do, doodly-do
Waddly-aka, waddly-aka, doodly-do, doodly-do
It’s a simple little song and there ain’t much to it
All you’ve got to do is doodly-do it
I like the whole song but the part I like best is
The doodly, doodly, doodly, doodly, doodly, doodly-do, yeah!

Clapping Songs

Cici, My Playmate

Cici, my playmate
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies, three
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more
More, shut the door!

So sorry, playmate
I cannot play with you
My dolly has the flu
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
I have no rainbow
I have no cellar door
But we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more
More, shut the door!

Eenie, Meenie, Decimeenie

Eenie, meenie, decimeenie
Ooo, walla, walla, meenie
Education, liberation
I like you

Down, down baby
Down by the rollercoaster
Sweet sweet baby
No place to go

Caught you with your boyfriend
Naughty, naughty
Didn’t do the dishes
Lazy, lazy
Stole a piece of candy
Greedy, greedy
Chucked it out the window
Silly, silly

Eenie, meenie, decimeenie
Ooo, walla, walla, meenie
Education, liberation
I like you

Miss Sue from Alabama

Miss Sue, Miss Sue, Miss Sue from Alabama
Sitting in a rocker, eating Betty Crocker
Watching the clock go, ‘tick, tock, tick, tock, scha walla walla’
Tick, tock, tick, tock, scha walla walla
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
Wash those spots right off of me
Moonshine, moonshine, moonshine, freeze!

Stella

Stella, oh-la, oh-la
Clap, clap, clap
Say, ess, cheega, cheega
Cheega, cheega, chap
Say, ess, cheega, cheega
Velo, velo, velo, velo, velo
Say, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Repetition Songs

Bear Song

The other day
I met a bear
A great big bear
A way up there

He looked at me
I looked at him
He sized up me
I sized up him

He said to me
“Why don’t you run?
I see you ain’t
Got any gun.”

And so I ran
Away from there
But right behind
Me was that bear

Ahead of me
There was a tree
A great big tree
Oh Lordy me!

The nearest branch
Was ten feet up
I had to jump
And trust my luck

And so I jumped
Into the air
But I missed that branch
A way up there

Now, don’t you fret
Now, don’t you frown
Because I caught that branch
On the way back down

This is the end
There ain’t no more
Unless I meet
That bear once more!

And so I met
That bear once more
But now he’s a rug
On my bedroom floor

Down by the Bay

Down by the bay
Where the watermelons grow
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say:

“Did you ever see a bear with long underwear
down by the bay?”

Hello, My Name is Joe

Hello,
My name is Joe
I have a wife and a dog and a family
One day
My boss came up to me and said
Hey Joe!
Are you busy?
I said ‘nope’
(Turn the crank)

Old Hirem’s Goat

Old Hirem’s goat
Was a-feeling fine
Ate three red shirts
Right off of the line

Mrs. Murphy, the cook
She beat him black
And tied him to
A rail road track

Singing ‘Au revoir’
But not goodbye
For that old goat
Wasn’t doomed to die

He coughed and coughed
In mortal pain
Coughed up those shirts
And flagged the train

But the engineer
Was colourblind
Thought those red shirts
Were the go-ahead sign!

Soon to come:

Alouette gentille Alouette
Animal Fair
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baby bumble bee
Brother John
Found a peanut
Frere Jacques
Great green gobs
Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
Here we go ’round the mulberry bush
Hokey Pokey
Hot cross buns
If you’re happy and you know it
I’m a little teapot
Itsy bitsy spider
I’ve Been working on the railroad
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
Mary had a little lamb
Miss Lucy had a steam boat
Oh where has my little dog gone
On top of spaghetti
Pop goes the weasel
Ring around the rosie
The ants go marching
The bear went over the mountain
The farmer in the dell
The wheels on the bus go round and round
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
This little piggie
This old man (knick-knack paddy-whack)
Three blind mice
Three Fishermen