Hello Songs

Hello! Is it circle time at your preschool/playschool or story time at the library? Your "hello song" sets the tone for your story time so finding the right song for your group or for the particular day is important. It is good to have a few "hello songs" up your sleeve so that if you need to change at a moment's notice you aren't scrambling.

What different kinds of hello songs might you need? You might need a song to help you learn the children's names, you might need a hello song to get the kids up and moving to work out some wiggles, you might need a hello song to get the students settled down or you might want a hello song that gets your students vocalizing. Whatever your need, Reading Rena has a song for you! 

At the beginning of the school year or if you are just starting out with a group of children you might not know all of their names super well. Hello songs that use the student's names can be a great way to repeat and get to know those names so that you can move away from the need to wear name tags every day. In addition to the benefit of learning the children's names there is the added bonus that hearing their own name sung in a song will capture the child's attention and help them to feel like they are special and important (something that all of us as early childhood educators want to achieve). "Ickety Bickety Bumble Bee" is a classic name song that can be used as a hello song in circle time, but I also love the songs "Owl in the tree" and "Sing Hello" which both also use the names of your participants. 

Sometimes your students (participants) may have lots of energy and need a hello song that burns off a little bit of that energy. Two of my favourite hello actions songs are linked below: "I Wake Up My Hands (with a clap, clap, clap)" and "Sing, Sing, Sing", but there are lots of hello songs that use actions like clapping, stomping, twirling, jumping and wiggling. One of the best parts of these songs is that you can get "Audience Participation" from your students! Have them decide what actions you will do and then get out of your comfort zone and act a little silly, your students will LOVE it!

There are times when we need a hello song that will help us come from a high energy level and bring it down to a lower, calmer energy level so that we can do a story or other quiet activity right after. "Bread and Butter" (which can be used for both hello and goodbye) is a perfect chant for just such a purpose. Have everyone sit on the ground and slowly bring the energy level down as you move through the chant. I recommend ending with "say hello as quiet as you can" if you are going to go straight into a quiet activity.

I love hello songs that have us make various animal noises, and I have linked two of my favourites here: "When Cows Get Up in the Morning" and "Barnyard Hello." Both of these encourage the student to vocalize the sounds of animals and experiment with using their own voices in different and creative ways.

If you are like me you probably get tired of using the same old song over and over again! I have compiled the songs listed above plus a whole bunch more hello songs for you to freshen up your circle time or story time. If there is a song missing off of my playlist that is a favourite of yours, please let me know by leaving a comment below and I will add it to the repertoire! Hope your story times are happy times!