Children love singing! Singing is a fun way to use language and learn new words. Songs break down words into smaller parts, allowing children to hear different sounds. They also learn about syllables and rhyming while singing and listening to songs, because each syllable of a word is associated with a particular note.
Songs are great ways to introduce new vocabulary to children. Unique words are often used in order to make rhymes, so children hear more interesting words. Songs also help children learn the letters of the alphabet and how to count, and they’re also great memory boosters!
Tips for Singing With Your Child
- Sing songs everyday with your child. It's a great way to improve vocabulary.
- Sing slowly to draw out the word sounds.
- Dance while you sing with songs like Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and The Chicken Dance.
- Sing the ABC song to practice the alphabet.
- Using tapping sticks while singing to tap out the word sounds.
DOWNLOAD the Simple Steps Activity Sheets and read, write, sing, play, and talk in your own home.
Other Languages
The Simple Steps program is made possible through a generous grant from:
Great Books for Singing
-
On a Rainy Day
A sweet story of a father and daughter's cozy day together as they wait for a storm to pass.
When rain interrupts their outdoor play, a girl and her father retreat indoors to wait out the storm. As lightning cracks and thunder booms, they each have their own ideas of things they can do together on a rainy day.
-
Pat a Cake
A great introduction to books through well-known nursery rhymes and interactive text. Singing songs and rhymes is the perfect way to bond with your baby and share quality time. It also aids language development by introducing them to the natural sounds and patterns of speech. Combining these with actions also stimulates the brain and helps muscle development.
-
Mamá Goose Bilingual Lullabies·Nanas
Full of charm and humor, this one-of-a-kind treasury is rich with Latinx lullabies, proverbs, finger plays, tall-tales, and riddles.
-
Ten Little Birds / Diez Pajaritos (Ebook)
Count to 10 and back again with Latin Grammy Award-winning children's musical duo 123 Andrés in this bilingual book! The popular song from 123 Andrés' Latin Grammy Award-winning album is cleverly and beautifully brought to life in this bright, bouncy book! Each of the 10 birds is given a fun and silly personality, and children will love to follow along as each flies away -- and escapes a lurking kitty!
-
Marley and the Family Band
A picture book that celebrates music, love, and family from New York Times bestselling author Cedella Marley. A poetic story about a young girl who moves to a new country and learns to make friends--inspired by a childhood growing up with the musician Bob Marley as a father.
.
-
This Magical, Musical Night
Music! Music! Oh, how grand! A language we all understand. Get swept away by the musical performance of a lifetime as, one by one, each instrument of the symphony orchestra shows off their skills!
-
Chill, Chomp, Chill!
Meet Chomp, a preschooler with lots of feelings . . . who is also a T. Rex! Join him as he learns to navigate his emotions in this timely debut picture book complete with a downloadable companion song.
-
Listen Up! Train Song
Toddlers love trains and the noises they make. Listen Up! Train Song uses repeating verse and bright photographs to match this enthusiasm with a unique take on the conceptual sound book that is perfect for reading aloud.
-
The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round
Sing along to this delicious twist on "The Wheels on the Bus" and celebrate the food, laughter, and love of a multigenerational family meal!
-
A Song of Frutas
From Pura Belpré Award–winning author Margarita Engle comes a lively, rhythmic picture book about a little girl visiting her grandfather who is a pregonero—a singing street vendor in Cuba—and helping him sell his frutas.
-
C Is for Country
Parents who play Grammy winner Lil Nas X's 12-times platinum single Old Town Road on repeat will want to take their kids and ride on over to this New York Times bestselling ABC picture book from the music mega-star!
A is for adventure. Every day is a brand-new start!
B is for boots--whether they're big or small, short or tall.
And C is for country.
-
Brown Baby Lullaby
From sunset to bedtime, two parents lovingly care for their beautiful brown baby: first, they play outside, then it is time for dinner and a bath, and finally a warm snuggle before bed.
-
Baby Shark / Bebé Tiburón (Bilingual)
Read, dance, and sing along to this favorite classic song featuring a baby shark, mama shark, daddy shark, grandma shark, and more underwater pals!
Bebé Tiburón se ha convertido en un personaje famoso y querido por maestros, padres y niños en todo el mundo. Con las adorables y divertidas historias subacuáticas con Bebé, Mamá, Papá y Abue Tiburón, y otras criaturas del océano, ¡los chicos no se cansarán de estas historias de una familia de tiburones!
Baby Shark has become well-known and well-loved by teachers, parents, and children everywhere. And with hilarious and adorable under-the-sea art of Baby Shark, Mama Shark, Daddy Shark, Grandma Shark, and more ocean creatures, kids won't be able to get enough of this silly illustrated story of a shark family!
-
¡Bravo!
Join the search—in English and Spanish—and discover a celebration of friends and creativity.
-
Canta Conmigo
Sing and read along to these six favorite preschool songs, in English and in Spanish.