Embracing Winter: Engaging Children with Snowy Songs

It’s winter 2025 here in Minnesota. We’ve had a lot of snow already! And every time it snows, I start to sing this song in my head. (You might, too!)

A snowy winter is a dream for us here in Minnesota. And today–it’s been snowing all day long! I went sledding with my neighbor’s children. With about eight inches of snow, we have to say that it was a winter wonderland!

Look at this magical fort! I had a delightful time playing there with my great-nephew and my sister.

I started writing this song during our first snowfall in November 2024. I taught it to all my students last winter, and it quickly became a favorite. My cousin stopped by with her daughter and her granddaughter. I brought some toys for her to play with. We also sang this song with scarves. I gave each of them a scarf to take home.

This is what my cousin wrote: “We were checking to see if you had recorded it (Snow Is Falling Down) yet. We sang your song so much today that we honestly started searching for it so we could get a little break🤣🤪. Let’s just say the song and the scarves are a real hit with Lucy💝💝💝💝💝💝💝. “

Things you may notice:

-You’ll find repetition in the lyrics to help children learn the song quickly.

– I featured the /l/ sound to support ESL language development (especially for Japanese students) (la, la, la, la, la/ falling/ gently/ whirling)

-I taught this first as a seated song, then as a dance standing in one place.

-I added variety by inviting students to add playful movements with their scarves and dancing with the scarf on a different body part. Scarves are easy for young learners to manipulate.

You can add, Think, think, think, Think, think, think, what should we do? Let’s dance with the scarf on our elbows!

-Movements include toss/catch, crossing the midline with the scarf (standing), and vestibular (turning).

Here are the lyrics. You can choose which body part to put the scarf on.

You can find the Google slides here.

*Note: I use scarves like this for this song.

Snow Is Falling Down by Kathy Kampa

A: (Sit with children and toss scarves)

Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la, Falling gently from the sky,

Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la,

Falling to the ground. Falling on my head.

(Scarves cover the children’s heads, sit and move with continuous flow)

B. See it falling down, Whirling all around, Dancing on my head. (2X)

Peek-a-peek-a- peek-a-boo! ( Toss!!)

(Sit and toss scarves or stand and dance.)

2. Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la, Falling gently from the sky,

Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la,

Falling to the ground. Falling on my shoulder.

(Scarves rest on children’s shoulders)

B. See it falling down, Whirling all around, Dancing on my shoulder. (2X)

(toss it in the air . . . Whee!)

3. Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la, Falling gently from the sky,

Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la,

Falling to the ground. Falling on my hand.

(Children hold the scarf in one hand)

B: See it falling down, Whirling all around, Dancing in my hand. (2X)

(Sit and toss scarves)

Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la, Falling gently from the sky,

Snow is falling down, la-la-la-la-la, Falling to the ground.

Falling to the ground. (scrunch up the scarf, make a snowball, and toss!)

* Variation: Add other body parts.

*Try part or all of this song standing. Make sure that children have enough space to move.

Swing scarf across the body to feel the meter. (1-2-3, 1-2-3, this is a waltz.) End with the scarf on a named body part.
Make circles with the scarf. OR Turn slowly in one direction, then the other.
If you’d like to add instruments, try triangles, shakers, or jingle bells.

Here’s the notation. Enjoy!

Sheet music with notes and words

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A sheet music with notes

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Are you streaming music? Go to Spotify or Apple Music to find Kathy’s additional music. You’ll find these albums there.

Jump Jump Everyone, Kathy’s second album, 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.

This song will be on Kathy’s next album. If you have song requests, let her know.

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.

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, their new course Blue Dot will be released in 2025.

Happy Earth Day!

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Children planting plants earth day poster illustration

I often feel that every day should be Earth Day. Our planet is precious, and we can help children learn how to care for it.

Earth Day is now celebrated around the world on April 22nd. Since its inception in the US in 1970, it is now observed by more than a billion people globally every year. Earth Day is a day to take action and make changes. We can create global, national, and local policy changes to protect our beautiful planet Earth. UNESCO has created a list of Sustainable Development Goals. As educators, we can create a greater awareness in our classrooms by including activities from this list.

What can we do with our young learners? Our friend Patrick Jackson has started a movement with his materials called “Picker Pals.” You can help your students learn about ways to clean up our planet.

If you can’t get outside with your students, we can use music and movement resources that help our young learners recognize ways they can take action. Here are some of my favorites.

My students loved this song called Save the Planet. It teaches them some simple things they can do to protect our planet. Ms. Linky models some movements for the chorus. Write the letters EARTH on the whiteboard. My students really enjoyed spelling the word “E-A-R-T-H” by making shapes with their whole body. They had a lot of fun dancing in their own way on the “na-na-na” part. Have fun!

2. Protect Our Planet is a simple song with a short chorus. It gives children ideas of the actions they can do.

3. My song Hello Spring teaches children to appreciate the beauty of the world around them. Follow this link for the video.

Hello Spring lyrics by Kathy Kampa on Jump Jump Everyone

Hello bluebirds. Hello bumblebees.

Hello red tulips. Hello cherry trees.

Hello warm sun. Hello blue skies.

Hello little ants, and orange butterflies!

For Earth Day, students can sing this version, then think about the things that they appreciate about their world. Write your own class song called “We Love The Earth” by adding seven new ideas. My song has two sets of rhyming words: (bumble)bees and trees, skies and (butter)flies.

We Love The Earth

Your version:

We love _______________. We love _____________________.

We love _______________ and ______________________.

4. Ms. Katie has a fun episode with lots of songs, a story, and activities related to Earth Day. I have heard people compare her to Mr. Rogers. Enjoy!

5.One Earth, One World is definitely one of my favorite songs by children’s singer/songwriter, Linda Arnold! It reminds children that our earth needs people who can live together peacefully. I created this simple choreography for a workshop in Hiroshima where we celebrated world peace. We made concentric circles. The innermost circle started by performing the dance below. When they finished, the second circle began, and so on. After each group performed the dance, they walked around a circle holding hands. Circles walked in opposite directions to add interest.

You’ll find the lyrics followed by the audio track below.

One Earth, one world (make circle shapes with arms first in front of body, then overhead),

One home (keep arms overhead, bend elbows to look like a roof), for you and me (point)

Together we can learn to live (gesture to friends or turn in a circle)

Peacefully (fold hands together).

I’ve been singing and dancing to this song at the end of my volunteer lessons with children in Ukraine. They performed this song for an international music celebration. You can watch my video of this song from my online class. Perhaps the first step to having a beautiful planet is having peace.

There are many beautiful songs to help you celebrate Earth Day! I hope that you can help your children make a difference in the world.

You can find Kathy’s music at iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify.

Songs for the seasons, songs to transition, songs to move to . . . it’s all here in Jump Jump Everyone!

My second album 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.

Happy teaching!

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 that music and movement should be a part of every young child’s learning.

Kathy is the co-author of Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover, Beehive, Buzz, and Blue Dot (all published by Oxford University Press). Our new course Blue Dot helps students take action in the world.

Kathy has taught young learners in Tokyo, Japan for over 30 years. She’s also active as a teacher trainer, inspiring teachers around the world. She has currently returned to her home state of Minnesota in the US.

If you’re interested in more of Kathy’s work, check out her YouTube channel at Kathy Kampa. Kathy has collected numerous activities to link with her here on Pinterest.

Celebrating Moms

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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.

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.

Put On Your “Magic” Shoes!

What kinds of shoes do you have in your closet? Well, I have some unique shoes. Take a look!

When I brought these shoes to young learners’ classes, they wondered where they came from and searched for the country on our big rug map. I shared stories of the places I had traveled to.

In the Shoemaker’s Dance by the Shenanigans, it’s fun for children to imagine many kinds of shoes. What kind of shoes would you like to wear? I begin by suggesting something like popcorn shoes. I show picture cards, such as the images below from Magic Time (OUP), or realia of the items.

These are the questions I ask:

What do we know about popcorn?

What do you think popcorn shoes would look like?

How would you move in them?

For example, popcorn has round edges. It surprises us when it pops. It’s light and bouncy. So, popcorn shoes might have soft, smooth edges. When you put them on, you might jump or hop.

How about rainbow shoes? What do we know about rainbows? We know that rainbows are colorful–red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Rainbow shoes will be filled with color. When you put them on, you might leap or find pots of leprechaun gold.

How about dinosaur shoes? What do we know about dinosaurs? Most dinosaurs are really big and powerful. When you put dinosaur shoes on, you might powerfully stomp your feet.

Butterfly shoes? They might have delicate wings. When you put them on, you can fly (well, we have to pretend!)

Spaghetti shoes? They might have lots of wiggly lines. When you put them on, you start to wiggle all over.

Puzzle shoes? They might have straight and curvy lines. When you put them on, your feet jump apart and together.

Birthday cake shoes? We may have to mix up the batter and add sprinkles. When you put them on, you might want to skip or dance. It’s your special day!

Unicorn shoes–a favorite of almost every class! They might have lots of beautiful colors. When you put them on, you gallop and soar in the sky.

Well, anything is possible.

Pokemon shoes, race car shoes, pizza shoes, donut shoes, princess shoes, leprechaun shoes, star shoes, rocket shoes . . . .

I like to “play” with a lot of different ideas first. We explore Then children may want to choose one idea and draw their designs. They have a clearer image of what the shoes might look like and how they might move in them. Here are a few of my students’ shoe ideas from a recent program at Children’s Day Montessori.

Here’s the folk dance! Folk dances are so important to young learners’ education. Here’s what I’ve noticed.

-Children learn to work together in a group.

-They move their bodies in time to the music.

-They follow the musical form or the pattern. This one is ABC.

-They visualize the movement patterns in their heads. In this one children move around a circle or away from and back to their own space.

-They hear repeated language in the song. They describe their own ideas, too.

-The more children repeat the pattern, the more confident they grow.

-They’re happy!

This dance is by the Shenanigans on their album, Dances of Terra del Zur, Vol. 1. or Dance Music for Children, Level 1.

In Part A, children pretend to make shoes. They might pretend to paint, sew, pound, or make a shape. When we first do this, we all make the same idea, such as Dinosaur shoes.

In Part B, children do a little clapping or pounding pattern. I say, (ti-ti ta)

This happens eight times. If I’m making the dinosaur shoes, I might make a LOUD sound. If I’m making butterfly shoes, I might make a quiet sound.

In Part C, children pretend to dance around the space in their pretend shoes. I like to have the children move around a circle. Once they’re comfortable in their space, they can move freely and come back to their spot.

The three shoes I’ve chosen are:

Popcorn Shoes

Rainbow Shoes

Dinosaur Shoes

At the end, the children pretend to clean up.

Here’s a video of the Shoemaker’s dance.

Shoemaker’s Dance

If you’re looking for more songs for children to “move and groove to,” check out this Spotify playlist.

Lots of great songs for kids to move to!

Songwriter and educator Kathy Kampa seeks to nurture children’s imaginations and spark creativity through fun and engaging activities. Kathy believes that 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 has taught children in a Montessori/PYP school in Tokyo, Japan as well as in the United States. She 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.

Cover screen shot — Lots of great movement songs, transitional songs, and CLIL/content songs!

Children's songs for special events for pre-school, kindergarten, and elementary students — Children’s songs for special events for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students

Kathy Kampa’s Special Days and Holidays CD are filled with songs to celebrate special days in a child’s life–birthdays, a loose tooth, and lots of holidays. In addition, there are 23 engaging songs for kids on Kathy Kampa’s Jump Jump Everyone. It’s filled with movement songs, classroom management songs, and CLIL/content songs. These activities support English language development while developing global skills. Your young learners will love them!

These two CDs each include a handy attached booklet with lyrics and are available for teachers in Japan at ETJ Book Service. The songs are available for download through iTunes or on streaming services, such as Spotify or Amazon Music.

If you’re interested in learning more about creativity, check out this blog called “The Creativity Post.

Let’s Play In The Snow!

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I love the snow! I love the big snowflakes falling from the sky. I love the way it frosts the trees and makes everything look like a winter wonderland.

This winter has been warmer than usual here in Minnesota. On Valentine’s Day morning, we took a walk through the grassy fields wearing our sneakers.

When it snowed last night, I was excited to get outside today to sing this song for little ones who may be “snow lovers” like me. If you’ve read the book Froggy Gets Dressed ( by Jonathan London with illustrations by Frank Remkiewicz), you’ll see how a little frog wants to play outside in the snow. During the story, each time Froggy goes outside, his mother reminds him of the winter clothing he forgot to put on.

In this song, children can pretend to put on their winter clothing one piece at a time. My young learners LOVE this song! You can watch one video where I’m out in the snow. The other video is the pretend version for the classroom.

Let’s Play In The Snow by Doug Nichols

from the songbook “A Nichol’s Worth of Songs Volume IV “

Put on your boots and come with me.

Pretend to tug on boots. Gesture with your thumb to your chest.

Let’s go out. It’s snowing!

Stretch arms wide. Move your fingers downward to look like snow.

Put on your boots and come with me.

Pretend to tug on boots. Gesture with your thumb to your chest.

Let’s play in the snow!

Pretend to make a snowball. Throw it!

*Substitute each clothing item below into the song. Add your own ideas.

Students can also add their own ideas using my “Think, Think, Think” chant. What clothing items does Froggy wear in the winter? What do you wear? Long underwear? Ear muffs?

Think, Think, Think chant by Kathy Kampa

Think, think, think. Think, think, think.

What should we do?

Think, think, think. Think, think, think.

What should we do?

I know! Let’s put on our jacket!

If you’d like all of the images for this song, download the Google slides. You can see me putting on winter clothing items one by one. It’s fun for the students to put the slides in order and name the new item that was added. You’ll find the musical score here, too.

Here’s a video we took outside with the last item–the mittens.

This is a fun reproducible with Froggy’s clothing.

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 that 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 with Oxford University Press and has co-authored English language courses for young learners (Magic Time, Everybody Up, Oxford Discover, Beehive, and Buzz). Kathy conducts teacher training sessions around the globe.

This song hasn’t been professionally recorded yet. However, 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!

Here’s a playlist with songs for kids to move to:

Are you missing out on Kathy Kampa’s new videos?

Check out Kathy Kampa’s YouTube channel here and subscribe.

Let’s Celebrate Girls’ Day!

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Hearts and Lots of Love for Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day is a special time for us to express our love or friendship. Here are two of my new songs.

How do I write songs? Sometimes when I’m driving in my car or out for a walk, I’ll hear a song in my head. I’ll keep singing it until I have a place to stop and record it on my phone. Sometimes a song wakes me up from my sleep, and I’ll write notes on a sheet of paper next to my bed. Children often ask me to sing a song about something they are interested in. I’ll ponder that topic until their special song appears.

After a song is born, I use it with lots of young learners to see what works, what variations appear, what we can do with it, what vocabulary and concepts it teaches, and what makes it fun and special. A song is often filled with surprises!

My first new song is called “I Love You.” I love writing songs for young learners to move to. “Jump” by Patty Shukla invites children to move. But children also need time to be calm and quiet. That’s what Patty’s song does. So does mine.

My song “I Love You” can be used to help children feel cozy, calm, and quiet, especially at the end of a class. Children might rock from side to side, hold a stuffed animal, or even get a hug.

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.

And if you’re wondering about this photo, our children spent most of their young lives in Japan. We were invited to participate in our local autumn festival by carrying the o-mikoshi, making rice balls, and spending time with our neighbors in Nakamachi.

Here are the lyrics to my song:

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.

Variations:

SEL (Social Emotional Learning) is now part of many curriculums at school. Use this variation to affirm young learners.

I like me, I really, really do. I like me.

I like me in the morning,

I like me at night,

I like me through the day when the sun shines bright.

I like me, I really, really do. I really like me.

Or JUST CHANGE “ME” to “YOU.” Children can sing this to each other.

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 come up with 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)

___________________________________________________

Here’s a more active song for young learners called “A Little Heart, A Big Heart.” They can sing and dance to it alone, with a partner, or with their whole class.

When I first teach this, I cut out a small heart and show it to my students. I sing, I made a little heart.

Then I do the same making a big heart, singing, I made a big heart.

Then I put them together, singing, See, it’s a Valentine.

Then I hand this Valentine to someone, singing, Please say you’ll be mine.

Now let’s add some simple movements!

Here’s the video. The lyrics and Google slides will follow.

Video of A Little Heart, A Big Heart by Kathy Kampa

I made a little heart, (make a little heart shape, or just a small shape)

I made a big heart, (make a big heart shape, or just a big shape)

See, it’s a Valentine. (little by little open your arms to make a big V shape on “Valentine”)

Please say you’ll be mine. (hug)

Think, think, think. Think, think, think. What should we do?

In Place movements: clap, swing, twist, jump, march, hop, turn around, wiggle . . .

Children can dance alone or with a partner. They can also move together as a class.

Sing the melody above using the syllable “la”

La la la la la la!

La la la la la!

La la la la la la !

La la la la la!

Here are the Google slides to help you teach this.

Here’s a BIG heart, little heart craft activity.

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 that 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.

Check out Kathy Kampa’s YouTube channel here.

I’m Your Friend, a Valentine’s Day Song For Kids

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Valentine’s Day is a time for children to celebrate friendships! Classroom activities like this can teach young learners how to develop healthy relationships.

To celebrate Valentine’s Day here in the United States, children often make cards or little treats for their friends. I’ve invited my friend Ava to share her thoughts about how she celebrates Valentine’s Day with her friends and classmates.

Ava shares Valentine’s Day traditions in the US

I like to celebrate holidays with music and movement! Today’s song is called “I’m Your Friend,” from my album Jump Jump Everyone. With this song, you can add valuable skills such as phonemic awareness to your lesson while celebrating Valentine’s Day and friendship.

Rhyming words

Listen for the rhyming words at the end of each line. In this song, the words mine, nine, and Valentine all rhyme. Why is rhyming important? Check out this fabulous post by Marissa Labuz. Rhyming aids memory, supports phonemic awareness, and builds listening skills. Children have fun singing songs and chants with rhyming words.

Movement

This song invites children to move in various ways, such as galloping, skipping, jumping, walking, and even skating! Developing gross motor skills is important for young learners. The movements encourage students to move from one place to another. These are called “locomotor movements.” If you have a smaller space, students can move in a small circle in their own spot.

You can sing this song with small or large classes. I usually teach this song to kindergarten and early elementary students.

Here’s a video to teach you the lyrics and the movements:

Here are the lyrics to the song:

3. I’m Your Friend words and music by Kathy Kampa

From Jump Jump Everyone CD

Chorus:

I’m your friend.

(Gesture to chest, then to a person)

You are mine.

(Gesture to person, then to heart)

Will you be my Valentine?

(Swing hands with partner or in the circle)

Repeat.

Let’s walk.

(See the notes below. Children can hold hands in a whole class circle or move with a partner.)

Verse:

Walk, walk, walk with me. Walking, walking, 1-2-3,

4-5-6, 7-8-9, Will you be my Valentine?

(Clap-4-5-6,-7-8-9) Make a heart shape with your fingers or arms by yourself or with a friend. Or give your partner a hug!

*repeat with skip, jump, slide, skate, dance

Here are Google slides for this song.

Building Social Skills

Here’s the version from the video:

Stand in one big circle. Face the middle for the chorus, and then move around the circle with the whole class for the verses. For the counting part, 4-5-6, 7-8-9, clap your hands on one side and then the other. Finally, make a heart shape using your fingers or arms.

Children face the middle, then hold hands together to move around the circle.

Once your children know this song, you can add some new challenges. Step into my English class in Tokyo, Japan. Check out how my English students added their own ideas.

Children can dance with partners. How can you help them find partners? When children are in a circle, you can walk around the circle. Have two children turn to face each other. They can do all of the movements with their partners.

Or you can use this transitional chant. Pat and clap your legs to keep the beat as you say the chant. Count slowly as you get closer to the number ten.

It’s okay for partners to be scattered around your space and move in their own little group. If you have an odd person out, make a group of three.

For elementary students, you might try this challenge. Make an inside and an outside circle. One partner stands in the inside circle, and the other in an outside circle. Partners face each other. Children can do the movements for the verse holding hands with their partner around the circle. At the end of the verse, the outside circle children move ahead to the next partner.

So you can make this as simple or as fancy as you’d like!

If you’re looking for music to play in your classroom, check out this Spotify playlist for February:

Come back to my blog to discover more fun activities that build language through music and movement. Thank you!

Celebrate Valentine's Day with this delightful song for children.

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 that 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.

For more kid-tested music and movement activities, check out more music on iTunes. 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!

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