The Best List of Nursery Rhymes That Teach Body Parts

Nursery rhymes are one of the best tools that a teacher or parent can have to help teach their children about so many different aspects of life. With so many nursery rhymes floating around the internet, it can become difficult to find the nursery rhymes on the topic that you are looking for. So, here are our choice for the best nursery rhymes that teach body parts.

Some of the best nursery rhymes that you can use to teach body parts include Baby Bumble Bee, Brush Your Teeth, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, Hokey Pokey, If You’re Happy And You Know It, Ten Little Fingers, Tommy Thump is Up, The Body Parts Song, along with so many more!

These are only a few that are on this list; there are plenty more, so keep reading to find the one that best suits your needs and the ones that are best suited for your children’s ages.

Nursery Rhymes that Teach the Parts of the Body

Which Nursery Rhymes Teach Body Parts?

Nursery rhyme can be used by teachers, parents and carers to teach children about many different aspects of life, and body parts are no exception. There are a large number of nursery rhymes that exist today that you can utilize when teaching body parts to children.

Some of these nursery rhymes are similar to each other, but each one can still be useful to teach to children, as the more songs they know about the body, the better their understanding will be, so it is recommended to teach as many different nursery rhymes to a child that you possibly can.

Below are a great list of nursery rhymes that you can use to help teach your children or class about all the different body parts that we have.

Open Shut Them

This nursery rhyme is a favourite with my three year old and he loves opening and closing his hands and the creeping part at the end. Although the body parts are not explicity said, when teaching the movements you will be saying to your child open your hands and fingers, now close them, clap your hands etc…

Lyrics to Open Shut Them:

Open, Shut them, (Open hands, close hands)
Open, Shut them,
Give a little clap.

Open, Shut them,
Open, Shut them,
Lay them in your lap.

Creep them, Creep them (slowly creep hands from lap to the chin)
Creep them, Creep them
Right up to your chin.

Open wide your little mouth,
but do not let them in.

There is an alternative set of verses that can be sung instead of or Creep them, Creep them or inbetween the two sections which is:

Shake them, Shake them (shake/wiggle your hands)
Shake them, Shake them
Shake them just like this.

Roll them, Roll them (roll your hands around each other)
Roll them, Roll them
Blow a little kiss.

Baby Bumble Bee

This nursery rhyme is a highly popular song about a child who got stung by a bee, this song is not only a good song to use in the teaching of body parts, but it is also has a good lesson in it about not touching bees.

In this nursery rhyme, you can switch up the body part that the bumblebee stings to incorporate more than just the hand.

Lyrics to Baby Bumble Bee:

I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee
Buzz-a-buzz-a-buzz-buzz
Ouch! It stung me on the …………………..

I’m squishing up the baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m squishing up the baby bumblebee
Buzz-a-buzz-a-buzz-buzz
Ooh! It’s yucky!

I’m wiping off the baby bumblebee
Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?
I’m wiping off the baby bumblebee
Now my mommy won’t be mad at me

Repeat the rhyme from the beginning with a different body part being stung. Act out the words with your hands and emphasise the location where you got stung.

Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth (Toothbrush Song)

This is a nice and short nursery rhyme that you can teach to children to help them understand what teeth are as well as the importance of brushing your teeth every day. This little nursery rhyme is sung in the same tune as Row, Row, Row Your boat, so it is quite easy to remember.

You can also do a tooth brushing movement with this song to make it a bit more interesting for the children.

Here are the lyrics to this nursery rhyme:

Brush Brush Brush Your Teeth,
Brush it every day!Father,
Mother, Brother, Sister,
Brush it every day!

Repeat the verse over and over. You can also change the lyrics to be brush your hair, or wipe your face, or clean your hands etc…

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

This nursery rhyme is extremely popular and is used all over the world to teach children about their body parts. This song is really fun for the children to sing, and it has movements that you can have the children follow to make it more interesting.

The movements for this nursery rhyme are quite simple as you just touch the different body parts on yourself as they are mentioned in the song. Not only is this song fun for the children, but it also helps train and develop their coordination skills.

Here are the lyrics to this nursery rhyme:

Head, shoulders, knees, and toes
Knees and toes
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes
Knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Head, shoulders, knees, and toes
Knees and toes

Then you can repeat the whole verse and try to go faster each time. How fast can you sing it/do it? Alternatively you can choose different body parts to point to each time for example, neck, chest, arm and leg, arm and leg etc..

Hand Washing Song

This is a good little song to help teach children about their hands and how to keep them clean. This is a good nursery rhyme to sing after playtime to help encourage the children to wash their hands properly before they continue to their next activity.

Here are the Hand Washing Song lyrics for you to use:

Wash hands well each day,
To keep germs away.
Scrub with soap and water,
And be on your way.
Wash hands well each day,
To keep germs away.
Scrub with soap and water,
And be on your way

Repeat the verse but next time you might say fingers instead of hands or if you are having a bath you could focus on each body part such as wash knees well each day, to keep the germs away etc…

Brush Your Teeth-Song

This is another very popular nursery rhyme that is used to teach children about teeth and how to take care of them. You can also add a tooth brushing movement into this song to help make it more fun for the children to learn it, or you can even make up your own little dance to make it more entertaining.

Here are the Brush Your Teeth song lyrics:

When you get up in the morning at a quarter to one
and you want to have a little fun
You brush your teeth ch ch ch ch ch ch, ch ch ch ch ch ch…
When you wake up in the morning at a quarter to two
and you want something to do
You brush your teeth ch ch ch ch ch ch, ch ch ch ch ch ch…
When you wake up in the morning at a quarter to three
and you wanna flash your smile at me
You brush your teeth ch ch ch ch ch ch, ch ch ch ch ch ch…
When you wake up in the morning at a quarter to four
and you think you hear a knock on the door
You brush your teeth ch ch ch ch ch ch, ch ch ch ch ch ch…
When you wake up in the morning at a quarter to five
and you just can’t wait to come alive
You brush your teeth ch ch ch ch ch ch, ch ch ch ch ch ch…

Repeat the verses again but this time you can also change the lyrics to be brush your hair, or wipe your face, or clean your hands etc…

Hokey Pokey

The Hokey Pokey is a highly popular song among both the children and the teachers alike, as it is very entertaining, and it helps to get rid of excess energy that the children may have.

This is a sing and dance nursery rhyme that helps with the development of various aspects in children, for example, balance, listening skills, and coordination.

The movements for this song are easy to remember and do. When the song says the name of a body part, you simply place that body part in front of you.

Here are the lyrics to this popular children’s song:

You put your right foot in
You put your right foot out
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the Hokey Pokey, and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your left foot in
You put your left foot out
You put your left foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the Hokey Pokey, and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!

Oh the hokey pokey
Oh the hokey pokey
Oh the hokey pokey
That’s what it’s all about!

Repeat with some of the following

You put your right hand in
You put your right hand out

You put your left hand in
You put your left hand out

You put your head in
You put your head out

You put your whole self in
And you shake it all about

Here’s a Tip: You can also have fun with making up your own verses! How about “You put your hips in”? Or knees? Or maybe even toes? Good luck!

If You’re Happy And You Know It

This is a repetitive nursery rhyme that can be used to teach children what various different body parts are called. This song is used in schools all around the world, and it is a fun and exciting song for children.

The actions for this song are easy; you simply do the action that the song says with the name of the body part in the song.

Here are the lyrics to this well-known children’s song:

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.
If you’re happy and you know it,
And you really want to show it (or then your face will surely show it)
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.

Then you can start to change up the verses a bit with, i.e.:

If you’re happy and you know it, tap your toe…

If you’re happy and you know it, nod your head…

If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet…

You can also make up your own verses. Have fun!

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

This nursery rhyme is an old traditional English song that can be used to teach children various things. There are no official movements for this nursery rhyme; however, you can make up your own to add a new dynamic to the song if you need to.

Here are the lyrics for this nursery rhyme:

It’s raining, it’s pouring.
The old man is snoring.
He bumped his head and went to bed
And he couldn’t get up in the morning.

Repeat by swapping out the word ‘head’ and use many different body parts in the song to teach other body parts too.

One Finger, One Thumb (Keep Moving)

This song is a very popular children’s nursery rhyme/song and dance that is perfect for smaller children. This can be very entertaining for younger children and can help to start getting them familiar with their different body parts.

The dance is easy to do as you just move your body parts as they come up in the song; you can move them however you like. This can help develop the children’s listening skills as well as their coordination.

Here are the lyrics for this fun nursery rhyme:

One finger, one thumb, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, keep moving!
We’ll all be merry and bright.

One finger, one thumb, one arm, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, one arm, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, one arm, keep moving!
We’ll all be merry and bright.

One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, keep moving!
We’ll all be merry and bright.

One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, one nod of the head, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, one nod of the head, keep moving!
One finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, one nod of the head, keep moving!
We’ll all be merry and bright.

You can add in or on any other body parts you wish to this rhyme!

Ten Little Fingers

This little nursery rhyme can be used as an interactive song to teach children about body parts, or it can be used as a lullaby for children to help get them to sleep. This nursery rhyme does have some movements that you can incorporate into your lessons.

The movements for this song are simple and easy to remember as you just touch or point to each body part as they are mentioned throughout the song.

Here are the lyrics for this nice little nursery rhyme:

Ten little fingers, ten little toes,
Two little ears and one little nose
Two little eyes that shine so bright
And one little mouth to kiss mother goodnight.
Ten little fingers, ten little toes,
Two little ears and one little nose
Two little eyes that shine so bright
And one little mouth to kiss mother goodnight.

Once you have sung the song, you can then begin to teach the children the correct names of each finger. You can also bring math into the equation as you can then count your fingers and even your toes once you are done with the song.

Tommy Thump is Up

This cute little nursery rhyme is very similar to another nursery rhyme that is lower down on this list; however, the lyrics do have some nice differences to them that allow you to do some different actions to the song.

This song is a really fun way to help teach body parts to children. The movements are easy to follow along with, so you can start singing this nursery rhyme with younger children too. For the movements to this song, you just point or touch your thumb (or the stated finger) to the different body parts as they come up in the song.

Here are the lyrics for this cute little nursery rhyme:

Tommy Thumb is up,
And Tommy Thumb is down.
Tommy Thumb is dancing,
All around the town.