Winter songs
Five
little snowflakes
Five
little snowmen
Frosty
weather, snowy weather
Hands
are cold and feet are cold
I’m a
little snowman
It’s
snowing, it’s blowing
Jack
Frost rapped on the window pane
Jolly
red nose
Little
Jackie Jack Frost
Little
snowflakes song
On a
frosty morning
One
day we built a snowman
Over
the river and through the woods
Peter,
Peter Penguin
Sleigh
ride
Snowdrops,
snowdrops
The
sky bears had a pillow fight
We
sing of the polar bear
Who saw the footprints in the snow?
also see:
Five little men made out
of snow
And the YouTube playlist: Winter
songs and poems
Last updated: 11/8/2016
4:43 PM
The songs below are part of ‘Away we
go’ compiled, adapted and
illustrated by Dany Rosevear
Return to the ‘Singing games for children’ home page
To listen to music from these
songs click on 🔊
To watch the
author sing a song click on the title at:
© Dany Rosevear 2008 All rights reserved
You are
free to copy, distribute, display and perform these works under the following
conditions:
·
you must give the original author credit
·
you may not use this work for commercial purposes
·
for any re-use or distribution, you must make clear to others the licence
terms of this work
·
any of these can be waived if you get permission from the copyright
holder
Your
fair use and other rights are no way affected by the above.
Five little snowflakes O A lovely song to dance to while
learning about ‘one less’ Use hands or the whole body to dance like
snowflakes. And on the last verse, like the snowflakes, fall gently to the
ground. |
Five little snowflakes dancing here and there One blew away in the cold winter air! Four little snowflakes dancing here and there One blew away in the cold winter air! Three little snowflakes dancing here and there One blew away in the cold winter air! Two little snowflakes dancing here and there One blew away in the cold winter air! One little snowflake dancing here and there One blew away in the cold winter air! No little snowflakes, not one to be found For five little snowflakes have fallen to the ground! |
Five little snowmen O A finger or action rhyme. Learn the
concept of ‘one less’. Put one finger down each time a
snowman melts. Alternately five children stand in
a row. Another child, the sun, shines on each one and that child melts down
to the ground. |
Five little snowmen made of snow, Five little snowmen standing in a row, Out came the sun and stayed all day, One little snowman melted away! Chorus Ho, ho, ho, don’t you
know? One little snowman had to go! Four little snowmen… Three little snowmen… Two little snowmen… One little snowman made of snow, One little snowman standing all alone… That little snowman melted away! No little snowmen made of snow, No little snowmen standing in a row, Out came the sun and stayed all day, Melting every snowman in the town away! Ho, ho, ho, don’t you
know? All the little snowmen had to go! |
Frosty weather, snowy weather 🔊 A warming simple
circle game for the winter. It has been played by the Clancy children in
Tipperary, Ireland on ‘So early in the morning’. It can also be
played as an action game; Shiver and hold arms, fingers fall like snow.
Whoosh hands about like the wind. Raise hands up and then slowly down. Children dance round in a circle holding hands. On
the third line they stop, swoop into the centre raising hands as they go.
They then move back in an orderly fashion to the spoken words. The spoken
words were suggested on: http://herdingcatsgeorge.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/song-of-month-december.html
|
Frosty weather, snowy
weather, When the wind blows… We all go together. SPOKEN: Three steps back
with-a one, two, three! Frosty weather, snowy
weather, When the wind blows… We all go together. SPOKEN: Three steps back
with-a one, two, three! |
Hands are cold and feet are cold O Cold weather play is fine as long
as you know how to keep warm. A traditional song from Barbara Ireson’s ‘Over and over again’. The second verse is by
Dany Rosevear. |
Hands are cold and feet are cold, Icy winds are blowing, Rub your hands and stamp your feet, And soon they will be glowing. Gloves are warm and scarves are warm When winter snows are falling, Jump about, run fast and shout, If Jack Frost comes a-calling. |
I’m a little snowman O There are many version of this song.
The one below is an adaptation of some of these. The unifying tune is ‘I’m a
little teapot’. Mime to the words of this song. Cup
the mouth when shouting the fourth line to protect the ears of others. |
I’m a little snowman short and fat. Here’s my scarf and here’s my hat. When the snow is falling hear me shout, “Time for all the children to come out!” I’m a little snowman, look at me. Here are my buttons; one, two, three! Here are my eyes and here is my nose. I’m so cold without any clothes! Brrrrr! I'm a little snowman short and fat. Here is my broomstick and here is my hat. When the sun comes out I’ll melt away. But I’ll come back to play another day! |
It’s snowing, it’s blowing O This song has
been adapted from Desmond MacMahon’s ‘Infant Joy’;
it would also works well for a clothing or colour topic. |
It’s snowing, it’s
blowing, But I am safe from harm. For I shall wear a yellow
pair Of gloves to keep me warm. It’s snowing, it’s
blowing, But I am safe from harm. For I shall wear a red
wool hat To keep me dry and warm. It’s snowing, it’s blowing, But I am safe from harm. For I shall wear a bright
blue pair Of boots to keep me warm. It’s snowing, it’s
blowing, The birds are safe from
harm; For if they’re cold, their
wings they’ll fold To keep themselves quite
warm. |
Jack Frost
rapped on the window pane O A traditional
rhyme, music by Paul Forde. |
Jack Frost rapped on the
window pane And knocked on the door
with his icicle cane. “Excuse me,” I said. “The
door is shut tight, I’d rather you didn’t come
in tonight.” So he wrote his name all
over the glass And the baby sneezed, “Atchoo!” as
she heard him pass. |
Jolly red nose O Can’t find this tune anywhere –
would love to know where I originally heard it! A correspondent recently sent me the following information: The first appearance of this song that I've seen is from Thomas
Ravenscroft's "Deuteromelia," from the
year 1609. The singer insists that his "jolly red nose" is caused
by the spices in his liquor, not the liquor itself. It's number 496 in the
Roud Folk Song Index, and was popular well into the 19th Century. It can also be found in the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes and is
part of a song called ‘Off all the birds’ It could well work as a round. |
Nose, nose, jolly red nose; And what gave thee that jolly red nose? Nutmeg and ginger, cinnamon and cloves, That’s what gave me my jolly red nose! |
Little Jackie Jack Frost O Watch out, watch out – Jack Frost
is about. Make suitable actions with your hands. |
Little Jackie, Jack Frost bites my nose, Little Jackie, Jack Frost stings my toes, Little Jackie, Jack Frost climbs the trees, Little Jackie, Jack Frost paints the leaves. Little Jackie, Jack Frost thinks it’s fun, Knocking all the leaves down one by one, When the winter wind begins to blow, Little Jackie, Jack Frost runs away. - Ho! Ho! |
Little snowflakes song O This lovely German song ‘Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen’
is very loosely translated here. The first two verses I found in the book
‘Festivals family and food’, the last two are by Dany Rosevear. |
Oh, where do you come from, You little flakes of snow? Falling softly, softly falling, On the earth below. On the trees and the hedgerows, On the mountains afar, Tell me snowflakes, Do you come from Angel wings or the stars? Little snowflakes fall softly, Fall fast and fall deep, So we wake up to a white world, From our warm pillowed sleep. Little snowflakes fall round us, We’ll dance and we’ll play, And build a friendly snowman, And throw snowballs all day. |
On a frosty morning 🔊 Squirrel is
out gathering food for winter. A French folk song
with words by John Erwin from ‘140 Folk Tunes’ published 1921. Move around the room with paws in front scampering
and jumping like a squirrel and picking up nuts to take back to a hidden
store. |
Patter go the nuts on a
frosty morning, Falling from the trees to
the ground below; Here's Mister Squirrel
going Hop! Hop! Hop! Picking them up as fast
they drop; Packing them away for his
food in winter, When the woods and fields
will be white with snow. Mister squirrel lives in a
hollow maple; Window there is none, and
but one small door. Time after time fast home
he hops, Into his door the nuts he
drops; Who do you suppose is
inside to meet him? Mother Squirrel grey and
her children four. |
One day we built a snowman 🔊
This
delightful poem was published by an American, W.W. Ellsworth, in 1915 and adapted
over the years; you can still find the original at: https://archive.org/stream/stnicholasserial251dodg/stnicholasserial251dodg#page/347/mode/1up
. |
One day we built a
snowman, We built him out of snow; You should have seen how
fine he was, All white from top to toe! We poured some water over
him, To freeze his legs and
ears; And then we went indoors
to bed, We thought he’d last for
years. But in the night a warmer
kind Of wind began to blow; And Jack Frost cried and
ran away, And with him went the
snow. When we went out next
morning To bid our friend
"Good Day", There wasn't any snowman
there... He'd melted right away! |
Peter, Peter Penguin O A movement
song for winter. |
Peter, Peter Penguin,
marching by, march in place Toes turned out and head
held high; waddle with feet at ten to two, lift chin with
finger A long black coat stroke
downwards And a clean white vest, thumbs to chest
and sway Peter, Peter Penguin,
you're the best! waddle then put up thumb |
Over the river and through
the woods O This song
is based on the poem written in 1844 by Lydia Maria Child who was a women and American Indian rights activist, reformer, writer
and speaker. It was originally sung at Thanksgiving but is popular throughout
the Christmas season. There are other verses and the
original goes to ‘grandfather’s’ house. |
Over the river, and through the wood, To Grandmother's house we go; The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh, Through the white and drifted snow, oh! Over the river, and through the wood, Oh, how the wind does blow! It stings the toes and bites the nose, As over the ground we go. Over the river, and through the wood, With a clear blue winter sky, The dogs do bark, and children hark, As we go jingling by. Over the river, and through the wood, Trot fast, my dapple-gray! Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound! For 'tis Thanksgiving Day. Over the river, and through the wood, Now Grandmother's cap I spy! Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! |
Sleigh ride O I have used this song from BBC
radio’s Music Box in the past to accompany a Russian dance in a wintry
Nativity play. Make jingly sounds with percussion instruments
or find metallic bits and bobs to make tinkly
sounds such as bottle tops and coins in a container to accompany the song. |
Galloping across the plains Racing in the moonlight, Hoof beats sounding o’er the snow And all the sleigh bells ringing. Hoof beats sounding o’er the snow Just listen to the bells – Hey! |
Snowdrops,
snowdrops O A lovely rhyme for the first
flowers of the year. As I was not able to find the tune
I have put to music myself. |
Snowdrops, snowdrops, little drops of snow, What will you do when the cold winds blow? We’ll hide our little heads and say “Cold wind, cold wind, go away!” Snowdrops, snowdrops, dressed in green and white, What will you do when the sun shines bright? We ring our little bells and sing: “Tingaling, tingaling, here comes spring.” |
The sky
bears had a pillow fight O A song to sing in wonder and
amazement as light dawns; save especially for the first snowfall of the year.
Second verse by Dany Rosevear; make up your own verses to include other snowy
day activities. |
Oh, it snowed last night, It snowed last night, The sky bears had a pillow fight, They tore up every cloud in sight, And tossed down all the feathers white. Oh, it snowed last night, It snowed last night, Yes, it snowed last night! Oh, it snowed last night, It snowed last night, We woke to see the garden white, And ran outside in such delight, Quite ready for a snowball fight. Oh, it snowed last night, It snowed last night, Yes, it snowed last night! |
We sing
of the polar bear O Long live the ice and snow to keep
the diminishing number of polar bears happy. To find more about the origins of
this song and other versions visit: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=71179 |
We sing of the polar bear fearless and bold. He never feels hot and he never feels cold, Because where he lives summer never occurs, And the rest of the year he wears plenty of furs. Tooralee, tooralay, The ice and the snow keep him happy all day. We sing of the polar bear fearless and bold. He never feels hot and he never feels cold, He dives in the water with a splash! and a splish! Catching silvery fish it’s his favourite dish. Toora lee, toora lay, The ice and the snow keep him happy all day. Who saw the footprints in the snow? O
|
Return to the ‘Singing games for children’ home