babies – MagicTimeKids

When your little ones need a movement break, this is the perfect dance song! It teaches various locomotor movements, movements that go from one place to another. Perhaps more importantly, it teaches little ones to pause and stop. When they stop, different adjectives prompt their poses. It’s a song that my students and parents ask for over and over again!

Here are the lyrics. The music is available on Spotify.

Jump Jump Everyone by Kathy Kampa

Jump, jump, everyone! (3X) We are jumping!

Jump, jump, everyone! (3X) Get ready and stop. Make a big shape.

Substitute:

2. Walk, walk everyone . . . Make a small shape.

3. March, march everyone . . . Make a silly shape.

4. Gallop, gallop everyone . . . Make a happy shape.

5. (inside run) Run, run everyone . . . Make a tall shape.

6. Tiptoe, tiptoe everyone . . . Make a tiny shape.

7. Jump, jump everyone . . . Make your favorite shape!

Here is a short snippet of our Wirth Center for the Performing Arts families at our 2026 Spring Gala. The students are from our Music Play and Dance Play classes. They’re performing “Jump, Jump Everyone.” This is the very end of the song where they are facing the audience. We do most of this song moving together around in a circle. Look at the joy on everyone’s faces!!! Most of these children range in age from six months to four years. We have two student helpers who loved this dance, too!!!

How to teach this song:

Before I use the recorded music, we practice each locomotor movement and the poses.

“Let’s jump . . . when we jump, we need to use two feet to get up off the ground. Can you jump? “

Parents can help little ones by holding them under their arms and bouncing them along. They can also help them jump high in the air like the video. See the video.

“We can jump around the circle. Stop, then make a big pose.”

You can describe the way your students are making their poses. “Olivia is making a big pose with her arms up high. Griffin is making a big pose by stretching his legs out wide.”

Practice each locomotor movement around the circle, along with the poses.

Walk . . . you can pretend to walk your dog. Or your elephant. Or you can walk with a baby in a stroller.

March . . . let’s lift our knees up high.

Gallop . . . put one foot in front of the other. You can put your hands behind your back. Listen to the uneven rhythm. (clap a galloping rhythm.)

Run . . . When we are outside, we can run with big steps. But we are inside, so let’s be careful. Look at my “inside run.” I’m running fast, but I’m running with little steps. (model this to the students)

Tiptoe . . . can you lift your heels up? Let’s move quietly. Maybe the baby is sleeping. Or maybe your daddy!

Let’s jump again!!

Now move in a circle with the music. Here’s the link on Spotify.

When we finish an activity, I often end with a Celebration Chant.

How to do this:

Use your fingers to show the numbers. (or for very littles, just clap.)

Shake your hands on “Hooray for all the . . .”

Clap your hands on “things we’ve done.”

If you’re looking for songs and chants that build language skills as well as music and movement skills, check out my two albums on Spotify.

Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays is filled with songs and chants that celebrate special events–including birthdays, a loose tooth, and holidays throughout the year. “Skeleton Dance” has been one of our top hit songs, but all are well-loved by my students.

Jump Jump Everyone is filled with many happy songs that have grown in my young learner classroom. The songs encourage children to move. Many songs link to classroom content. Children can dance like falling leaves, bloom like a spring flower, move through the butterfly life cycle . . . . you’ll find LOTS of fun and magic in this album.There are useful transitional songs, too.

Why use songs by Kathy Kampa?

Kathy Kampa loves to bring joy to the world through her children’s music. She is passionate about making learning engaging for young learners. You’ll find more resources on Kathy’s YouTube page. Kathy seeks to nurture children’s imaginations and spark creativity through fun and engaging activities. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs. She believes music and movement should be a part of every young child’s education. Kathy’s Songs for Kids (Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone) are available on iTunes and streaming services like Spotify.

As a PYP teacher, Kathy uses a globally-minded and concept-based inquiry approach to teaching and learning through which students develop 21st-century skills. Kathy is an author and teacher-trainer with Oxford University Press. Together with her husband, Charles Vilina, they have written Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover, Beehive, Buzz, and now Blue Dot (2025). They have worked with Tokyo Shoseki to create wonderful songs for children learning English.

Looking for more songs to start your school year on the right foot. Check out these songs for cleaning up your space.

Happy Mother’s Day! These are our two sons. I’m spending Mother’s Day with them this year! It’s a blessing to have family who love and care for each other.

With many types of families in our schools, how will you celebrate Mother’s Day? Here in the US, we’ll celebrate Mother’s Day on May 12th.

Here are some songs that your young learners can share with moms, grandmas, or that significant person in their lives.

This first song is perfect for babies through toddlers. To be honest, even my 4-6 year olds still like it.

Peek-A-Boo

by Kathy Kampa, melody based on Skip to my Lou

Hold onto the corners of a scarf. Cover your face.

When you sing “boo,” drop the scarf down. Hug.

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Here’s a hug ’cause I love you.

Here’s a video demonstrating how to do this. I really love using juggling scarves for this song.

2. I shared “I Love You” earlier this year, but it’s a perfect song for Mother’s Day. Children might rock from side to side, hold a stuffed animal, or even get a hug. They can sing it for their mom, grandma, or caregiver.

For parents at home, this is a lovely lullaby to sing before your child falls asleep. When our two sons were little boys, we loved to snuggle up and sing lullabies to them.

Here are the lyrics to my song:

I Love You!

I love you, I really, really do! I love you.

I love you in the morning,

I love you at night,

I love you through the day when the sun shines bright.

I love you, I really, really do. I really love you.

Here’s the video.

I’ve been studying French with Duolingo. I started to wonder if I could write this song in French. With a little help from my French-speaking friends, we’ve created this version of the first verse.

Je t’aime. Encore, toujours, Je t’aime. (Or Je t’aime d’amour– pronounced: J’t’em d’a-mour)

Je t’aime. Encore, toujours, Je t’aime. (Or Je t’aime d’amour)

Je t’aime le matin. Je t’aime la nuit,

Et toute la journée quand le soleil sourit,

Je t’aime. Encore, toujours. Je t’aime. (Or Je t’aime d’amour)

3. I love to end an early childhood class with this lovely song.

May There Always Be Sunshine

composed by Arkady Ostrovsky, lyrics written by Lev Oshanin

May there always be sunshine,

May there always be blue skies,

May there always be mama/daddy/grandma/grandpa/someone,

May there always be me/ OR Who always loves me.

Here’s a beautiful video of Raffi singing this song.

As Raffi mentions, “May There Always Be Sunshine” (Russian: “Пусть всегда будет солнце!” or “Солнечный круг”) is a popular Soviet children’s song created in 1962. The music was composed by Arkady Ostrovsky and the lyrics written by Lev Oshanin. Korney Chukovsky, a writer and immensely popular children’s poet, later wrote that the inspiration for the song had been the four lines of the refrain, which were composed in 1928 by the four-year-old boy Kostya Barannikov. (source: Wikipedia)

If you’re looking for a simple craft, this one shared by Abby is inexpensive. Children trace around their hands and choose flowers for a bouquet. Paper flowers or stickers would work too.

Last of all, I want to share a favorite photo of my mom, Betty Kampa Miller. She visited us in Japan on four different occasions. Mom always encouraged me to write songs. Can you write a song for your grandma? How about a song for . . .? I thought everyone wrote songs. I continue to write songs that tickle the imaginations and hearts of little ones.

Songwriter Kathy Kampa is a passionate educator of young learners. She seeks to nurture children’s imaginations and spark creativity through fun and engaging activities. Kathy believes music and movement should be a part of every young child’s education. Kathy’s songs for kids (Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone) are available on iTunes.

Kathy uses a globally-minded and inquiry-based approach to teaching through which students develop 21st-century skills. She also supports the development of English language skills by creating songs, chants, and TPR/movement activities targeted to young learners’ needs. Kathy is an author and teacher-trainer with Oxford University Press.

For more kid-tested music and movement activities, check out more music on iTunes, Spotify, and Apple Music. Kathy has produced two music CDs for very young learners, Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays and Jump Jump Everyone, which build English language skills through music and movement while nurturing creativity and imagination. Grown and loved by real kids!

Check out Kathy Kampa’s YouTube channel here.

Tag: babies

Fun Dance Activities for Kids: The Ultimate Movement Break

Celebrating Moms