Top 10 Action Songs For Preschoolers

Fun fact about me: I teach Preschool PE. 

Yes, it’s totally a thing. And yes, it’s as fun and as crazy as you would think.

It is no secret that preschoolers are tiny balls of energy that you have to keep moving and engaged at all times. One thing my kids LOVED are action songs that I would find on YouTube to get them up and moving but that also told a story or taught them something. 

With summer just days away and school being out for 3 months, most mamas are stressing about ways to keep their children active so that they won’t be bored. And since weather and your sanity can’t have you out and about 24/7 this summer it’s a good idea to have an arsenal of activities to do at home. These action songs are awesome for preschoolers and also are great mini workouts for mama.  Plus if you do them all this is a solid 45 minutes of keeping them busy. 

 

Action Song #1 – The Stretching Song – This is a great song to get the day started. Everybody stretches out nice and slow and you can work on following directions and teaching your kids left and right. 

Action Song #2 – Freeze Dance – Kids LOVE this one. It has a great beat and is better than the typical red light, green light or other freeze dance games. It again works on following directions while also allowing the kids to move and dance freely until the music yells FREEZE. My students always, always beg for this one. 

Action Song #3 – The Hokey Pokey Shake – Similar to the normal Hokey Pokey this is an upbeat and fast action song that all my students love. It gives different instructions and differs from the original song but it a lot of fun. There is a part in this song where it asks you to “Put your Back side in” and shake it all about which obviously is referring to your bottom, but my 4 and 5 year old students always did great with it and found it silly and fun. 

Action Song #4 – Lion Hunt – This is a nice one to gather in a circle for a little less movement. Kids can pat their legs and act out the story. They love the part of getting into the cave and of course the end part can get quite loud so if you have little ones that scare easily this may be a song to listen to first before deciding to share it with them. 

Action Song #5 – Jumping Jack Song – Another great movement song to keep them really active. I find this is best for older preschoolers as they do ask for you to do jumping jacks for quite some time, as well as walk it out, skip, hop etc. 

Action Song #6 – The Goldfish Song – Laurie Berkner can do no wrong in my book. This is a great song that the children love to act out and find super silly. Have your students lay down and pretend to sleep when she calls all the fish to the rock. Then they can pop up and act out the next part before returning to the circle to “sleep”. 

Action Song #7 – Tooty Ta Song – A slower paced song that gets a little bit faster. The kids love this silly song and it is great and getting them to listen and follow directions. 

Action Song #8 – Head Shoulders Knees & Toes – This is an oldie but a goodie. It does get faster and faster, which the kids love and again is great for following directions and just getting all the sillies out.

Action Song #9 –  We All Fall Down – Similar to ring around the rosie, this song gets the kids moving and trying new ways of traveling in a circle. From walking to galloping – they always seem to really enjoy this one.

Action Song #10 – Do You Like Pickle Pudding – This song is a sit in a circle and be silly together song. We always did a thumbs up when it asked if you liked something and a thumbs down if not. There are several variations of this song and every single one the children loved and thought were oh so funny. It’s a good one to settle everyone back down and relax.

And there you have it. Some great songs to keep your kids active and learning over the summer and perhaps get mama up and moving as well. 

What are some of your favorite action songs? Anything I should be adding to my list?