Action Rhymes for Kids — Sing & Move | Syllab Junior
Free action rhymes for preschoolers — Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider and more, with simple actions to do. For Pre-KG to Class 1.
TL;DR: Free action rhymes for preschoolers — Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider and more, with simple actions to do. For Pre…
Written & reviewed by the Syllab.in Academic Team (CBSE/NCERT subject experts) · Updated
8 action rhymes to sing and move to — the words are below, and each line has an action a child can copy.
🧒 Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Head, shoulders, knees and toes,
👆 Touch your head, shoulders, knees, toes
Knees and toes!
🦵 Touch knees, then toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose,
👀 Point to eyes, ears, mouth, nose
Head, shoulders, knees and toes!
🙆 Do it all again, faster!
🚌 The Wheels on the Bus
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
🔄 Roll your hands in circles
Round and round, round and round.
🔄 Keep rolling your hands
The wipers go swish, swish, swish,
🙌 Swish your arms side to side
The horn goes beep, beep, beep!
👈 Press a pretend horn
🕷️ Itsy Bitsy Spider
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout,
🖐️ Walk fingers upwards
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
🌧️ Wiggle fingers down like rain
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain,
☀️ Make a big circle with arms
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up again!
🖐️ Climb fingers up once more
😀
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!
👏 Clap twice
If you’re happy and you know it, stamp your feet!
🦶 Stamp your feet
If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Hooray!”
🙌 Raise hands and shout hooray
If you’re happy and you know it, do all three!
🎉 Clap, stamp and shout!
🫖
I’m a little teapot, short and stout,
🤏 Stand small and round
Here is my handle, here is my spout.
💪 One hand on hip, one arm out
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout,
😮 Puff your cheeks
Tip me over and pour me out!
↩️ Lean to the side and “pour”
🌹 Ringa Ringa Roses
Ringa ringa roses, a pocket full of posies,
🔄 Hold hands and go round
Husha busha, husha busha,
🤫 Slow down softly
We all fall down!
⬇️ Gently sit down
👟 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
One, two, buckle my shoe,
👟 Pretend to buckle a shoe
Three, four, knock at the door,
✊ Knock in the air
Five, six, pick up sticks,
🤏 Pick up pretend sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight!
➖ Lay them in a line
🕺 The Hokey Pokey
You put your right hand in, you take your right hand out,
🖐️ Hand in, hand out
You put your right hand in and you shake it all about!
🤚 Shake your hand
You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around,
🔄 Spin around
That’s what it’s all about!
👏 Clap and cheer
Why Movement Helps
Attaching a gesture to a word gives a young child a second route to the memory — they recall "shoulders" partly through the movement of touching them. This is why action rhymes hold attention far longer than sitting still with the same words, and why they suit a child who is not yet ready to sit for a story.