The first week of preschool runs on songs. A name song gets every child heard. A welcome song gives the morning a shape. A song about coming to school gives a nervous three year old words for something that feels very big.
This page collects 21 back to school songs for preschool with full lyrics. Nearly all are sung to tunes you already know: Mary Had a Little Lamb, London Bridge, The Farmer in the Dell, Twinkle Twinkle. There are 6 videos to play on the classroom screen while children arrive. Before the songs there is a plain plan for the first week: which song to sing in the first ten minutes of day one, how short to keep the first circle time, and what to do when a child cries at drop-off. The songs are grouped by job, so you can find a name song or a welcome song without reading all 21. Each one has a short note on the best age and the day to use it.
On this page
- How to use songs through the first week of preschool
- First day of preschool songs
- Name songs and getting-to-know-you songs
- Songs about coming to school
- Songs about a happy classroom
- Classroom rules and routine songs
- Back to school questions teachers and parents ask
How to use songs through the first week of preschool
The first week is the hardest week of the year. Half the class does not know your name, some have never been left anywhere, and the routines that carry the rest of the year do not exist yet. Songs help because they are the same every time, and sameness is what a new child needs.
Sing a name song in the first ten minutes of day one. Before anything else, every child should hear their own name from an adult, in a friendly voice, in front of the group. Name Song or Biddely Diddely Bumblebee does this in under three minutes for a class of eighteen. Go around the circle, say the name, clap it, whisper it, move on. A child who has been named belongs to the room. Do this every morning for the first two weeks, and use the All About Me song later in the month once names are solid.
Keep the first circle time short and end it before it falls apart. Five to eight minutes on day one. One name song, one welcome song, one thing to look forward to, then stand up. Threes cannot sit longer than that in a strange room, and a circle that ends in tears teaches children that circle time is hard. End it while it is still going well. Add a minute or two each day and by Friday you will have a real circle time.
Sing the same goodbye song at drop-off every morning. Pick one. Two lines are plenty. The parent waves, the child waves, the song ends, the parent goes. Separation is easier when it has a shape, and a song gives it a beginning and an end. Tell parents on the first day what the song is and that it means they leave when it finishes.
When a child cries at drop-off, acknowledge it and keep the routine. Say what is true: “You are sad. Mum is going to work. She comes back after outside time.” Then move to the next thing, which is usually a job or a toy near you. Do not drag out the goodbye, and do not ask the parent to stay a bit longer. A long goodbye tells the child there is something to worry about. Crying at drop-off is normal in the first weeks, it usually eases with a steady routine, and no song fixes it on its own. What helps is the same adult, the same words and the same song every single morning.
Teach the routine songs in week one. A clean up song, a line up song and a hand-washing song, learned in the first five days, will carry the rest of the year. Sing them before the transition, not during the chaos, and practise the tidy-up song once when there is almost nothing to tidy. The transition songs collection has one for each changeover in the day.
Give a nervous child a job rather than asking them to join in. Some children will not sing for a month. That is fine. Hand them the basket of name cards or let them hold the puppet. A job puts the child inside the circle without asking for a performance. They will sing when they are ready, and it is usually sooner than you expect.
First day of preschool songs
These six greet children on the first morning. Most are sung at the door or as circle time opens, and the tunes are ones a three year old has heard at home. Pair them with the hello songs once the first week is over.
First Day of School
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “I’m a little teapot”
Good morning, _ how are you?
This is the very first day of school.
I’m so glad to meet you,
others will be too,
just come in the classroom,
there’s lots of things to do.
Sing it to one child at a time at the door on day one, with their name in the blank, so the greeting is theirs alone.
We Welcome You
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Mary Had A Little Lamb”
We welcome you to school today
School today, school today
We welcome you to school today
Please come in and play
We’re glad to have you here today
Here today, here today
We’re glad to have you here today
Yes, it’s a special day
The best first-morning song for threes because the tune is Mary Had a Little Lamb and the words repeat; wave on every “welcome”.
Welcome Song
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Happy Birthday”
We welcome you here
We welcome you here
We welcome everybody
We welcome you here
Four lines to Happy Birthday, so children who have never been to school already know the tune; use it to open circle time all week.
I Want To Say Hello
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “I’m A Little Teapot”
I am your new teacher, Ms. (name)
I want to say hello to you
We will learn our letters and numbers too
We’ll have fun and learn lots too
Put your own name in the first line and sing it once on day one so children learn what to call you.
Hi There!
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Shoo, Fly”
Hi there, so glad you came
Hi there, so glad you came
Hi there, so glad you came
1-2-3 let’s shout “hurray!”
Hurray (spoken)
Hi there, so glad you’re here
Hi there, so glad you’re here
Hi there, so glad you’re here
1-2-3 let’s give a cheer!
Yea! (spoken)
Note: Teacher can shake hands with the children as this song is sung.
Shake each child’s hand as you sing, as the original note suggests; the spoken “Hurray” is the moment shy children usually join in.
Brand New Year
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “London Bridge”
It’s time to start a brand new year,
Brand new year, brand new year,
It’s time to start a brand new year,
Welcome new friends.
We’ll learn lots of brand new things,
Brand new things, brand new things,
We’ll learn lots of brand new things
Let’s get started now.
Good for fours and fives returning to a room they know; sing it on the first day and again on Friday to close the week.
Name songs and getting-to-know-you songs
Every child needs to hear their own name, and every child needs to learn the others. These five do both. The two bumblebee chants are the fastest way to get around a circle on day one.
Name Song
Added: 08-08-1998
Original Author: Unknown
Higgelty, wiggelty, bumblebee who can say their name for me?
(child says name)
Let’s all say it (name)
Let’s clap and say it (name)
Let’s whisper it (name)
Day one, first ten minutes; go around the circle so every child hears their name clapped and whispered by the group.
Biddely Diddely Bumblebee
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Biddely Diddely Bumblebee
Won’t you tell your name to me?
(child says name) Jane!
(everyone claps and repeats the name twice)
Jane! Jane!
A near twin of Name Song with a clap on the name; pick one of the two and use it every morning for the first two weeks.
What is your name?
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Frere Jacques”
What is your name? What is your name?
Tell us please, tell us please,
We would like to meet you,
we would like to meet you,
What’s your name? What’s your name?
Sing it to Frere Jacques as a call and response, with the class asking and one child answering, from day two once children can sit for it.
Look Who Came to School Today
Added: 08-01-2006
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Mary Had A Little Lamb”
Look who came to school today
School today, school today
Look who came to school today,
(child’s name) did.
Sing it as each child arrives, or use it at circle time as an attendance song so the room hears who is here.
Back At School
Added: 08-01-2006
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Did you Ever See a Lassie”
Here we are together,
Together, together,
Here we are together,
Back at school again
There’s _ , and ,
, and _,
Here we are together,
Back at school again.
For fours and fives after the first week, once you can fit four or five names into the blanks without stopping to think.
Songs about coming to school
These four are about the trip to school and the things you do there. They help a new child put the day in order: bus, classroom, paint, blocks, friends.
Off to school we go
Added 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “A-hunting we will go”
Off to school we go,
It’s off to school we go,
We’ll take our lunch and ride the bus,
With everyone we know.
Off to school we go,
It’s off to school we go,
We learn our ABC’s and more,
With everyone we know.
March on the spot for the verse; it works well for the walk from the door to the carpet on the first mornings.
We like to come to school
Added 7-27-00 Original Author Unknown
Sung to: “The farmer in the dell”
We like to come to school
We like to come to school
Our school is such a happy place
We like to come to school
One verse, four lines, no actions; a good one to sing softly to a child who is still tearful after drop-off.
I Like To Go To School
Added 7-27-00
Original Author: Unknown
Sung To: “Farmer in the Dell”
I like to go to school.
I like to go to school.
Heigh-ho-the-derry-oh,
I like to go to school.
I like to sing new songs.
I like to sing new songs.
Heigh-ho-the-derry-oh,
I like to sing new songs.
I like to play with friends.
I like to play with friends.
Heigh-ho-the-derry-oh,
I like to play with friends.
Add a verse for whatever the class did that day (“I like to play outside”) so the song grows through the week.
I Like to…
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “London Bridge is Falling Down”
I like to paint and build with blocks,
Build wit blocks, build with blocks,
I like to paint and build with blocks,
At my school.
I like to sing and model clay,
Model clay, model clay,
I like to sing and model clay,
At my school.
I like to ride the trikes and swing,
Trikes and swing, trikes and swing,
I like to ride the trikes and swing,
At my school.
Sing it on the day you introduce each centre, pointing to the paint easel, the blocks and the trikes as they come up.
Songs about a happy classroom
These four are about smiling, playing and being glad to be here. They are good for the second half of the week, when the room has settled and children can manage a longer song.
Happy Faces
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Jingle bells”
Smiling faces, happy faces,
giggling all around
oh, what fun we’ll have this way
in a happy class today.
He-he-he, he-he-he-
Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha,
In a happy class today!
Best for fours and fives who can manage the giggling lines; it settles a restless group faster if you sing it slower, not faster.
Little Children
Added: 08-02-00
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: ” Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”
Little children, how are you?
Keep a smile all day through
Come to school to dance and play
Paint a picture of your day
Little children sing along
Keep a smile all day long
A calm Twinkle Twinkle song for the end of circle time, or for the last five minutes before pick-up.
School’s the Place to Be!
Added: 08-02-2001
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: “Sing a Song of Sixpence.”
Sing a song of gladness;
Another year’s begun!
We’ll be busy learning
Till the year is done.
Sing a song of good times,
For all my friends and me!
New discoveries every day.
Yes, school’s the place to be!
Use it in the second week once the room feels settled; it is a good song to teach for a family open morning.
Bring Your Smile to Preschool
Added: 07-28-2004
Original Author: Unknown
Bring your smiles everyone.
Hope on down for some preschool fun.
Singing, dancing, playing too; lots of fun for me and you.
Running and jumping in the sun, exercise is so much fun.
Bring your smiles everyone, hop on down for some preschool fun.
No set tune, so chant it with a bounce on “hop on down”; threes copy the hopping before they copy the words.
Classroom rules and routine songs
Two songs for the routines that carry the year: one for the class rules, one for lining up and marching. Pair Important Rules with a good manners song when you go over the rules on day two.
Important Rules
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung To: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
Here are rule for you and me,
See how important they can be.
Always be honest, be kind and fair,
Always be good and willing to share.
These are rules that we should know,
And follow these rules wherever we go.
Sing it to Twinkle Twinkle on the day you go over the class rules, then again whenever a rule needs a reminder.
ABC School Chant
Added: 07-27-2000
Original Author: Unknown
Sung to: ” Marines marching cadence”
A B C D E
School is where I want to be.
F G H I J
Learning to read and write each day.
K L M N O
Boys and girls I want to know.
P Q R S T
Sharing books with you and me.
U V W X Y
Now it’s time to say goodbye.
Z Z Z Z Z
School is where I want to be.
A marching chant for lining up or walking the hallway; fours and fives can do it, threes will just march and shout the letters.
Back to school questions teachers and parents ask
What songs should I sing on the first day of preschool?
Three at most: a name song, a welcome song and one short happy song. Name Song, We Welcome You and We Like to Come to School cover it in under five minutes. Pick tunes the children already know, because a new tune and a new room on the same morning is too much for a three year old.
How do I help a child who cries at drop-off?
Name the feeling, keep the routine, and keep the goodbye short. “You are sad. Dad is going to work. He comes back after lunch.” Then give the child something to hold or a job near you. Sing the same goodbye song at the door every morning so the parent leaving has a predictable shape. Crying at drop-off is normal and usually eases over the first few weeks with a steady routine.
How long should the first circle time be?
Five to eight minutes on day one. One name song, one welcome song, one thing to look forward to, and stand up before anyone wanders off. Add a minute or two each day. By the end of the second week most classes of threes and fours can manage twelve to fifteen minutes.
How do I help children learn each other’s names?
Sing a name song every morning for the first two weeks, going around the whole circle so every name is said, clapped and whispered by the group. Look Who Came to School Today works as an attendance song for the same reason. Add name cards with photos on cubbies and at the snack table so children see the name next to the face all day.
When should I start teaching routine songs?
In the first week, from day one. A clean up song, a line up song and a hand-washing song are the three that matter most. Teach each one at a quiet moment, then sing it before the real transition every single time. By week three the first line of the song is the cue and you no longer have to give the instruction.
How long does separation anxiety usually last in preschool?
For most children, the hardest part is the first two to four weeks, and the tears at drop-off get shorter each week with a steady routine. Some children settle in days, some take a couple of months, and a child who was fine in September may wobble again after a holiday. It is normal and it is not a sign that anything is wrong. If a child is still distressed for long stretches of the day after six to eight weeks, talk with the family about what is happening at home and at school.
Pick one name song and one welcome song, sing them every morning for two weeks, and the room will start to feel like a class. When it does, the friendship songs are the natural next step.