Preschool Movement Songs: Action Songs for Kids
Preschool movement songs are a fun and easy way to get your preschoolers up and out of their seats this school year. You can use movement songs for preschool to encourage healthy physical activity and get the wiggles out in your classroom or homeschool.
Preschool action songs are also a great way to help kids build a brain-body connection.
There are so many benefits to encouraging preschool songs with movement including developing motor skills, exploring rhythm and increasing your preschoolers’ focus.
Keep reading to discover some of my favorite movement songs for preschoolers, music time supplies, and the benefits you can enjoy when you add preschool action songs to your lesson plans.
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Discover the Benefits of Movement Songs for Preschool
Preschool songs with movement tap into your early learner’s ability to express themselves, use their imaginations, and develop self-confidence. Interacting with music and movement during the preschool years is a great way to help kids experience cognitive growth, practice problem solving, and develop social skills.
There are just so many ways your preschoolers can benefit from preschool movement songs. While running, jumping, and twirling in these preschool action songs, your kids will be developing gross motor skills.
Gross motor skills help preschoolers with daily tasks like walking, running, throwing, and climbing.
Preschool movement songs encourage kids to be physically active too. You can use preschool action songs in your classroom to get kids up and moving, engaging in healthy physical activity.
When you pair my list of the best preschool movement songs with these hands on music time supplies, the fun and learning really increases into a great time by all!
Preschool Movement Songs Develop Motor Skills
There are so many fun songs you can use in your preschool classroom or homeschool space to get your kids up and moving while developing gross motor skills. Check out some of my favorite whole body movement songs for preschool below.
The Hokey Pokey
This classic preschool movement song is filled with instructions to help your kids learn to identify different parts of the body as well as get them up and moving in all kinds of ways. Check out The Hokey Pokey by The Wiggles for a fun version you can use in the classroom and at home.
The Ants Go Marching
This preschool song with movement is super easy to adapt to fit whatever gross motor skills you’re working on at the time. Some examples are: skipping, hopping, crawling, running, walking, or tip toeing.
Discover The Ants Go Marching by Super Simple Songs for a fun version your preschoolers will love.
Happy and You Know It
This is another classic preschool action song. I really enjoy making my own versions to fit with our preschool theme or skills we are practicing.
Some examples are: If you’re happy and you know it jump up and down or If you’re happy and you know it touch your tummy.
You can use this preschool movement song to practice emotions and help your kids build social emotional awareness too. Just change the emotions in the song to fit whatever emotion you’re learning about.
Our favorite version of If You’re Happy and You Know It comes from Super Simple Songs, but you can use any version you prefer.
Going On a Bear Hunt
My preschoolers love the antics in this movement song. It’s quite the adventure!
Try our favorite Going On a Bear Hunt version from The Kiboomers to get your preschoolers up and acting out this fun little song.
Encourage Healthy Physical Activity with Preschool Action Songs
Physical activity makes for healthy and happy preschoolers. Encouraging healthy physical activity teaches healthy habits kids can follow for life.
Getting kids up and moving every day has lots of health benefits both physically and mentally. Discover some of my favorite movement songs for preschool healthy physical activity below.
Exercise Song
The Exercise Song from Kids TV is a fun way to encourage healthy physical activity in your preschool classroom and at home this year. Plus, the kids in the video model the proper way to do each exercise so your preschoolers can follow along easily.
Get Up to Get Down
Get Up To Get Down by Jack Hartmann is a high energy song for preschool that’s also perfect for a movement brain break song. This preschool song with movement gives kids an opportunity for healthy physical activity and improving listening skills too.
Listen and Move
Listen and Move from Greg & Steve is a preschool action song that allows kids to move to the rhythm while demonstrating locomotor movements. It’s a fun way to get the wiggles out and begin exploring the concept of rhythm with your preschoolers this year.
Move With Me
Are you ready to move with me? In this preschool movement song from The Learning Station, your preschoolers can dance, exercise, and have a lot of fun! It’s the perfect movement song for preschoolers.
Preschool Songs with Movement Increase Focus and Retention
Getting kids up and moving in the classroom and at home is also a great way to help preschoolers increase focus and attention span. You can help your preschoolers retain all the cool things you’re learning with fun songs that match your preschool themes this year.
Discover some of my favorites below.
Fun Counting Songs
There are a variety of fun counting preschool songs with movement you can use to help your preschoolers practice early numeracy skills this school year. Check out some of my favorites:
Five Little Ducks by Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs
Counting Bananas by Super Simple Learning
Counting from 1 to 10 by The Singing Walrus
The Phonics Song
If you haven’t discovered The Phonics Song from Gracie’s Corner yet, you’re missing out! This catchy tune is the perfect way to help your preschoolers master letter sounds and build early literacy skills.
Plus, there’s a dance to make this preschool action song even more fun!
The Alphabet Song
The ABC song is one of the first preschool songs most of us learn. You can turn this classic into a preschool movement song with a little help from Jack Hartmann and his Act Out the Alphabet song for kids.
Build Brain-Body Connection with Preschool Movement Songs
Getting your preschoolers to move their bodies to the music isn’t just great for increasing retention and encouraging healthy physical activity. Full body movements to music is also a helpful way for kids to express emotions and clarify their thoughts.
When kids are involved in making music and responding to music, their bodies can connect to what’s happening in their minds. Music therapists have long utilized this brain body connection to help kids and you can use it in your preschool classroom too.
Preschool action songs that focus on rhythm, melody, and harmony are great for encouraging a brain-body connection.
Jump to the Beat
Discover rhythm and get your preschoolers up and moving with Jump to the Beat from The Learning Station. It’s filled with movements timed to the rhythm to help foster a stronger brain-body connection.
Up and Down
Miss Nina’s Up and Down Song is full of melody and great for encouraging preschoolers to move their whole bodies as they go up and down with this cute song. Your preschool learners will love it!
Singing in Rounds
Singing in rounds is a fun way to teach preschoolers about harmony. There are lots of great preschool movement songs where your kids can explore singing in harmony this year. Plus, many of them are great for teaching nursery rhymes too!
To add movement to these songs, have kids stand up when it’s their turn to begin singing. Here are some of my favorite preschool songs with harmony:
Row Row Row Your Boat
Frere Jacques
Three Blind Mice
Kookabura
The Farmer in the Dell
My Favorite Movement Songs for Preschool Learners
There are so many amazong movement songs for preschool learners! In addition to all the fun preschool action songs mentioned above, I want to encourage you to explore popular songs with your kids too.
A song doesn’t have to have prescribed movements to make a great preschool song with movement.
Announce a dance party or play a game of freeze dance and turn up the tunes! Check out some of my favorite pop culture movement songs for preschool.
Brave by Sara Bareilles
Brave is about having the courage to speak up instead of bottling up all the hurt and anger. It’s a wonderful, empowering message for all ages. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to sing and dance along with this song in the classroom and at home.
Count on Me by Bruno Mars
Count on Me is about friendship and counting on people in your life like friends, family, and teachers. You can sing this song and dance along with your preschoolers while letting them know they can always count on you.
Firework by Katy Perry
One of the most popular kid friendly pop songs, Firework is about feeling good about yourself and shining bright for the world. It’s a super fun song to dance to with your preschoolers!
Happy by Pharrell Williams
Happy is a feel good song we can all get into as we sing and clap along. It’s the perfect way to get your preschoolers up and moving about the room while spreading joy and positivity.
Do you have a favorite movement song for preschool that I didn’t mention? Share your favorite songs to get kids up and moving this year in the comments. I can’t wait to read them and try a few of your favorites with my preschoolers too!
