What Are Your Favorite Kindergarten End-of-the-Year Songs?

Are you searching for the perfect kindergarten end-of-year song? As the school year winds down, many elementary music teachers are looking for meaningful, engaging songs that celebrate growth, community, and moving on to first grade.

Here are five tried-and-true kindergarten graduation songs that are easy to teach, memorable for families, and adaptable for performances.

One Small Voice by Jack Hartmann

🎵 Why I Love It:
A powerful message about individual voices coming together, with a repetitive melody that is intuitive for kindergarten singers to learn.

🎤 Vocal Range:
Comfortable for young voices

🕺 Performance Ideas:

• Add simple hand motions or ASL

• Use spotlight solo lines for confident students

⚠️ Considerations:

• Works best with clear diction practice due to phrasing

🎥 Teaching Tip:
Use a video of children singing first so students can visually connect before learning. And this video has Jack teaching them ASL to some of the words of the song. The video ends with him signing along with the recording of the children singing the song.

LYRICS:

With just one small voice singing out a song

With just one small voice singing sweet and strong

One by one they’ll grow

And together sing along

And then soon all the world will be singing

First Grade, First Grade,

🎵 Why I Love It:
This song is set to Frank Sinatra's New York, New York. It is a fun one as the audience will most likely recognize it and identify it.

🎤 Vocal Range:
Might be challenging for young singers.

🕺 Performance Ideas:

• Add choreography like a kick line.

• Or check Youtube as many teachers have shared their dance moves for this version of the song.

⚠️ Considerations:

• Tip: When using parody songs based on copyrighted music (such as Frank Sinatra or Taio Cruz), be mindful of your school’s performance policies. Many schools allow educational use, but it’s always best to confirm guidelines with your administration.

🎥 Teaching Tip:
Use a video with karaoke lyrics first to hear and find the repetitive phrases.

Lyrics: First Grade, First Grade

Start spreading the news

We're leaving today.

We want to be a part of First grade, first grade

We've worked very hard

Our teacher is proud.

So open up those doors to First grade, first grade.

We know our alphabet

And numbers too.

We all can write our names

And tie our shoes!

So when summer's done

And we're finished with play

Our mom's will send us to First grade, first grade.

If we can make it here

We'll make it anywhere

So here we come First grade, first grade.

B-I-G I'm Big From the album "Music Fun" by Wayne Potash

🎵 Why I Love It:
I have used this one with kindergarten and preschool, since they count up to the age of 6. You could add choreography and the rhyming phrases make it intuitive for students to recall.

🎤 Vocal Range:
This song sits in a comfortable vocal range and includes two instrumental sections—perfect for adding movement or instruments.

🕺 Performance Ideas:

• Add choreography or instruments to the two instrumental sections.

⚠️ Considerations:

• Tip: The video has a great accompaniment to it with the banjo and guitar playing together and the adult singing with the children. Since I cannot find an instrumental accompaniment track, you could buy the track and use https://moises.ai/ to split the stems to take out the voices so that your students can sing along. I just used my guitar when I accompanied my students on this song.

🎥 Teaching Tip:
Have the students find the numbers and the rhyming words to help them learn and memorize the song.

Lyrics:

I once was one but now I'm two I'm almost as big as you

(chorus)

B, I, G, I'm big

B, I, G, I'm big B, I, G

I'm big, I'm big, big, big

I once was two but now I'm three

I'm as big as I can be

(chorus)

Instrumental section #1

I once was three but now I'm four

Look at me I've grown some more

(chorus)

I once was four but now I'm five

I can almost reach the sky

(chorus)

Instrumental section #2

I once was five but now I'm six

I'm bigger than the other kids

(chorus)

I'm Growing Up by Mary Alice Amidon

🎵 Why I Love It:
This has been a very sweet song to play at an end-of-the-year celebration. Mary Alice wrote this for children who were studying the stages of life. This beautiful recording has Mary Alice singing and playing the banjo while Peter plays on the piano.

🎤 Vocal Range:
This song sits in a comfortable vocal range for young children.

🕺 Performance Ideas:

• The accompaniment found in the recording performed by Mary Alice and Peter is beautiful.

⚠️ Considerations:

• Tip: The is another track that has a beautiful accompaniment. I have not been able to find the accompaniment track without the vocals. If that is the case, you could buy the track and ask Mary Alice is you could use https://moises.ai/ to split the stems to take out the voices so that your students can sing along just for the performance.

• Tip: Look over the lyrics as this might be a perfect song for your community or this might be one that you would pass on at this time.

🎥 Teaching Tip:
Mary Alice wrote this for the elementary school students at Traver Road School in Pleasant Valley, New York to go along with their “Life Cycle” theme. If your kindergarten have units based on themes, they possibly could have a "Life Cycle" theme where this song could be incorporated into your music class.

https://amidoncommunitymusic.com/products/im-growing-up

LYRICS
I'm Growing Up
by Mary Alice Amidon

I'm growing up, way way up
I'm growing up with hopes and dreams
to make my way in the world.

We’re growing up, way, way, up.
We’re growing up with hopes and dreams,
Making our way in the world.

CHORUS
We're changing everyday
Making friends along the way
We're living and loving and learning too
making our way in the world.

He's growing up, way way up
He's growing up to be a boy
To make his way in the world.

She's growing up, way, way way up
she's going up to be a girl
to make her way in the world

CHORUS

Instrumental Section

She's growing up, way, way up
she's growing up to be a woman
and make her way in the world.

He's growing up, way, way up
He's growing up to be a man
to make his way in the world.

CHORUS

I’m growing up, way, way up,
I’m finding out what I can do,
To make a change in the world.

We're growing up, way way up
We're finding out what we can do
to make a change in the world.

Dynamite - Graduation Parody of Taio Cruz

🎵 Why I Love It:
I first discovered this parody about 15 years ago, and my students have loved it ever since. The video I share below is the one I’ve consistently used in my classroom.

🎤 Vocal Range:
This one has a small vocal range, but can cause your students to shout with excitement.

🕺 Performance Ideas:

• Many teachers have adapted this with their own moves, so feel free to check them out on YouTube.

⚠️ Considerations:

• Tip: When using parody songs based on copyrighted music (such as Frank Sinatra or Taio Cruz), be mindful of your school’s performance policies. Many schools allow educational use, but it’s always best to confirm guidelines with your administration.

🎥 Teaching Tip:
Look for the karaoke track on YouTube to have your students perform along.

LYRICS:

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
Saying ayo, come on let's go!

I wanna celebrate and graduate,
Saying ayo, come on let's go!

Cause we gonna rock this school,
We will do it right, we will graduate,
Cause we're dynamite!

Cause I told you once, now I told you twice,
We will graduate, cause we're dynamite!

School was a blast, blast, blast, blast
Let's celebrate cause it will last, last, last, last
And out of all of my favorite friends, friends, friends, friends

So come on out and clap your hands, hands, hands, hands,

ye ye

We're moving on and on and on

We're moving on and on and on

YEAH!

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
Saying ayo, come on let's go!

I wanna celebrate and graduate,
Saying ayo, come on let's go!

Cause we gonna rock this school,
We will do it right, we will graduate,
Cause we're dynamite!

Cause I told you once, now I told you twice,
We will graduate, cause we're dynamite!

We're gonna go to first grade

And I know that we will miss each other

We have had some good times

And of course we will love our teachers

Cause ayo i ayo i

Believe in you

Ayo i ayo i

Remember it all, remember it all

So come and clap your hands in the air, clap your hands in the air, clap your hands in the air, air, air, air, air, air, air

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
Saying ayo, come on let's go!

I wanna celebrate and graduate,
Saying ayo, come on let's go!

Cause we gonna rock this school,
We will do it right, we will graduate,
Cause we're dynamite!

Cause I told you once, now I told you twice,
We will graduate, cause we're dynamite!

Yeah!

“Which Song Should You Choose?”

• Need simple + meaningful? → One Small Voice

• Want something fun + recognizable? → First Grade, First Grade

• Looking for movement/instruments? → B-I-G I’m Big

• Want emotional + reflective? → I’m Growing Up

• High-energy finale? → Dynamite parody

What are Your Favorite Kindergarten End-of-the-Year Songs?

I’d love to hear—what are your favorite kindergarten end-of-year songs? Feel free to share in the comments or connect with me!