American Folk Song · Elementary Music · Grades PreK–K
Complete Teddy Bear lyrics, the circle game with given movements, a teaching guide for PreK and Kindergarten, and extension activities. One of the best songs in the early childhood repertoire for teaching steady beat, movement synchronization, and the sol-mi-la pentatonic set.
American folk song · all verses
Here are the complete Teddy Bear lyrics for all verses. Each verse gives the bear a new action — turn around, touch the ground, show your shoe, and so on. Children perform each action as they sing the corresponding line, making movement synchronization with the beat completely natural.
About this song
Teddy Bear is one of the cornerstone songs of the PreK and Kindergarten music classroom — and for good reason. The action song format means children are performing the steady beat through movement from the very first singing. Every line has a corresponding action: turn around, touch the ground, show your shoe. The movement is the music.
Musically, the song sits in the sol-mi-la pentatonic set — making it ideal for the period when you are expanding from sol-mi to add la. The "Teddy bear, teddy bear" call that opens each line is a sol-mi gesture, while the response phrases reach up to la, giving children repeated experience of that new pitch in context before you ever name it.
"Teddy Bear is one of those songs that teaches movement, beat, and pitch simultaneously — without any of them feeling like a lesson. The children are just having fun."
— Deborah Skydell Pasternack, The Singing ClassroomThe circle game gives the song a social dimension — children stand in a circle, and one child in the middle acts out the bear's movements while the class sings. This puts the solo child in a character role, which makes the performance feel natural rather than exposed. The child is being the bear, not performing for the class.
The song also works beautifully with barred instruments — once children know the sol-mi-la set, they can play the "Teddy bear, teddy bear" call on xylophones or glockenspiels, transferring what they can sing onto instruments in a completely natural way.
Teaching guide
The complete video demonstration is available inside a Singing Classroom subscription.
Before introducing the song, demonstrate each action in sequence — turn around, touch the ground, show your shoe, that will do. Have children mirror you silently. Once the physical sequence is secure, add the words.
Have the whole class perform the movements together while singing. This is the simplest version of the song and the best starting point — every child is both singing and moving, with no performance pressure.
Form a circle. One child stands in the middle as the "teddy bear" and performs the actions while the class sings. The key is that the middle child is acting a role — this makes solo performance feel like play rather than exposure. Rotate quickly so many children get a turn.
Once the song is well known, use Kodály hand signs to highlight the la pitch. The phrases that rise up to la are where the melody reaches its highest point. Ask: "Which word is the highest?" Children can find it by ear — they have already been singing it correctly without knowing its name.
Once students can identify sol, mi, and la by ear and hand sign, have them play the opening "Teddy bear, teddy bear" call on xylophones or glockenspiels. This is a natural bridge from singing to playing — the same pitches they know from singing transfer directly to the bars.
Extension activities
Once children know the song structure, invite them to suggest new actions for the bear: "Teddy bear, teddy bear, clap your hands." Any action that fits two syllables works. Children love the creative ownership and the class loves guessing what comes next.
Replace "teddy bear" with a different animal: "Bunny rabbit, bunny rabbit, turn around." Each animal can get its own set of actions. This extends the song's usefulness while keeping the familiar musical structure and beat work intact.
Divide the class — half sing and do the actions, half play a sol-mi ostinato on barred instruments. This creates a simple two-part texture and gives children experience playing while others sing — a foundational ensemble skill.
When you are ready to introduce la formally, Teddy Bear is one of the cleanest entry points. The la pitch appears clearly in the melody and children have already sung it correctly many times. Use hand signs to highlight it at the right moment — the recognition is always satisfying.
What teachers say
"Teddy Bear is my first-week song every year without exception. The actions mean every child is immediately successful — they're doing steady beat, they're moving with the music, and they're having fun before they've even realized it's a music lesson."
"The circle game is perfect for shy children. Giving a child the 'teddy bear' role in the middle completely changes their energy — they're so focused on doing the actions correctly that the self-consciousness disappears."
"I use this for the la introduction every year. By the time I point to that pitch, children have been singing it correctly for weeks. The moment they realize they already knew it — that's the moment music education really clicks."
More early childhood songs
Play acting game with counting down verses. Perfect for sol-mi and solo singing in PreK–K.
See teaching guide →The classic counting out chant. Clear AA form and tiri-tiri — one of the most useful chants in the library.
See teaching guide →Circle game, hand clap, and passing — one song, three activities. Do-based pentatonic. Perfect for Fall.
See teaching guide →Common questions
The song has two verses. Verse 1: "Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around / touch the ground / show your shoe / that will do." Verse 2: "Teddy bear, teddy bear, go upstairs / say your prayers / turn out the light / say goodnight." The complete Teddy Bear lyrics for both verses are on this page above.
Teddy Bear works best with PreK and Kindergarten as the primary target. The song can be revisited in 1st grade for more focused work on la and barred instruments, but the circle game and action format are most naturally engaging for the youngest students.
Once children know the song well, use Kodály hand signs while singing to highlight the la pitch — the places in the melody where the voice reaches its highest point. Ask children which word sounds highest. Then introduce the hand sign for la and have children perform both the hand signs and the actions simultaneously. The song has already embedded the pitch through repeated singing; the hand sign gives it a name and a visual anchor.
Yes — the "Teddy bear, teddy bear" opening call is a natural pattern for barred instruments once children know the sol-mi-la set. Set up xylophones or glockenspiels with only the sol, mi, and la bars. Have students sing the call while playing — the familiarity of the melody makes the playing feel immediately successful.
The real problem
Every teacher knows this feeling. You find a song, try it on Monday, and something goes sideways — the kids don't engage, you're not sure how to introduce it, the lesson loses momentum. It's not that the song was wrong. You just didn't have a clear picture of how it actually goes.
That's what makes The Singing Classroom different. Every song in the library — including this one — has a full video of Deborah teaching it with real students. You don't have to guess how to introduce it, how to structure the activity, or how to handle the tricky moments. You watch it. Then you teach it.
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