World Music for Kids: A Multilingual Round-Up of Song Lists

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Music connects us to culture in an almost magical way. We are transported to specific times of life or travels, just by overhearing that certain song on the radio.

As parents raising global citizens, it makes sense that we want to fill our homes with songs from around the world. World music is a wonderful way to provide exposure to different sounds, rhythms, and voices.  Music also helps kids learn a new language by helping the brain connect and memorize words in conjunction with rhythm and sounds.

World Music for Kids

In our home, we’re a “Spanglish” family trying to keep both languages strong. I speak both Spanish and English but I am not a native Spanish-speaker. I remember holding my first child as a baby and wanting to sing to him in Spanish, but the words were often hard for me to express. I wanted him to grow up knowing the little rhymes and folk songs his cousins in Peru knew– but I didn’t know them myself!

That began my journey into collecting songs in Spanish for kids, and I eventually gathered a whole library of music lists on YouTube so I could learn along too.

When parents ask me how to start teaching Spanish to their kids, I point them to music first. It’s an easy way to learn a language and get a feel for pronunciation. I want to teach my kids many different languages, so I reached out to my favorite Multicultural Kid Blogs family to see their world music lists. Thanks to them, we have a fantastic collection of global music!

World Music for Kids

I’ve sorted the links by language or country so you can find the music you need. First, I’ll share lists by language, and then I have a few that are country-specific.
Global Music

Chinese Songs

Chinese Songs and Nursery Rhymes from Miss Panda Chinese

Sing, Rap, Speak Chinese from Miss Panda Chinese

8 Chinese Kiddie Songs from Bringing Up the Parks

Introduce Chinese to Children Through Songs from Miss Panda Chinese

 

Spanish Songs

Spanish Songs to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month from MKB

Nursery Rhymes in Spanish from Spanish Mama

Traditional Nursery Rhymes in Spanish from Hispanic Mama

Spanish Songs for Young Children from Pura Vida Moms

Songs in Spanish for Upper Elementary Kids from Spanish Mama

 

French Songs

A Spotify List of French Songs from Talk in French

French Songs for Kids from Spanish Mama

 

Hungarian Songs

Hungarian Folk Music from Kid World Citizen

 

English Songs

Nursery Rhymes for Kids in English from Bilingual Kidspot

Traditional Songs from Learn English Kids

 

Arabic Songs

Songs and Rhymes in Arabic from MamaLisa

 

German Songs

German Children’s Songs from Spanish Mama

German Songs from Mama Lisa

 

Portuguese Songs

3 Albums of Portuguese Music from the Piri-Piri Lexicon

 

Japanese Songs

Easy Songs from Japanese Joy

Songs and Rhymes in Japanese from MamaLisa

 

Songs from Ghana

Highlife: the Signature Music of Ghana from Kid World Citizen

 

Global Song Collections

Multicultural Dance Hits for Brain Breaks from Kid World Citizen

Multicultural Music on YouTube from Daria

Kids Radio Stations from Around the World from Trilingual Mama

Favorite Apps, Instruments, and Songs from Around the World from Hispanic Mama

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Elisabeth Alvarado

Elisabeth Alvarado is a teacher and mother to two children. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education from UNC-Chapel Hill and blogs about teaching language and Spanglish living at Spanish Mama.
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