Christmas Songs for Kindergarten

 

 

It’s December – such an exciting and joyful time of the year! However, it’s often difficult to gain and keep the attention of our young kindergarten students. With Christmas and holiday break so soon, busy preparing Christmas songs for kindergarteners or even songs for a holiday concert, it is such a tough time for young children to focus. So, add some fun, engaging, and energetic holiday music activities for them to enjoy. 

 

In this post, I am going to share several Christmas songs for kindergarten students that are easy, require little to no-prep, and will impress an audience. These will work well for holiday fun in the music room, a kindergarten winter concert selection or even a smaller parent performance, and will wow your administrator! Let’s go!

 

 

1. It’s Almost Day

First, I’m starting with a lesser known song called “It’s Almost Day.” This Christmas folk song is perfect for pre-k and kindergarten because the melody is simple and repetitive. Also, it is a great song to add instruments, a different instrument playing a steady beat during each of the verses. You could also choose to perform motions to each verse – with actions like “chop the tree down,” “wrap the presents,” etc. 

If you want to check out what I use in my classroom, click here to see what I use.

 

 

2. Must Be Santa

Secondly, “Must Be Santa” is an adorable children’s Christmas song that makes it easy with a lot of echoes or call and response. 

 

 

I have used this song in a few different ways. For example, during social distancing, I designated an individual motion or body percussion for each unique phrase. Another use for this holiday song is to use whole group circle dance moves with the song. For example, on the refrain (“Must be Santa,…”), we held hands and walked in a circle. Other phrases may include a two-hand turn or clapping partner’s hands. 

 

Finally, you could choose to add a different instrument for each item in this cumulative song. Like maybe, have the egg shaker be played on “cherry nose” or the triangle for “special night.” You could decide which type of activity works best for your students with this song.

 

3. 12 Days of Christmas 

Next on my list of kindergarten Christmas songs is “12 Days of Christmas.” Although a little bit longer, this one is simple for students to recognize their number and gift and play only when they hear it. Each year when I use this song, I find that most of my students know the song and enjoy singing along. Click here to see the instrumental arrangement for this exciting Christmas song. 

 

4. Song of the Sleigh Bells

Now, let’s take a look at “Song of the Sleigh Bells” featuring Mr. DelGaudio on his amazing YouTube channel. If you haven’t heard of him, you definitely need to check out his great videos. He uses June Hutton’s “Song of the Sleigh Ride” with 4 different instruments and parts. I used this winter song with my kindergarten classes last year, and they had a blast with it!

 

 

5. Gather Around the Christmas Tree

When I was a kid, my brothers and sisters would always sing this Christmas song – especially when we decorated our Christmas tree. 

 

You can find the regular sacred version here. However, I changed the melody and lyrics a bit to make it easier for young children to sing and usable in a public school setting. I use this easier version and a circle dance with my students. It helps them work together with a classmate to perform turns and circles. Here is my simplified version and the dance moves that I use with it.

 

 

 

 

I hope that you are able to take away some ideas from this list of 5 Christmas songs for kindergarteners. If you get to use any of them in your classroom, I’d love to hear how they went! You can find me on Instagram (@bethsmusicclassroom) or email me at beth@bethsmusicclassroom.com.

Looking for some fun ways to teach The Nutcracker? Read this post!

 

Have fun this December!