Sometimes you just want a song that the kids can sing that doesn't have too many words and is pretty easy. Here's a compilation, divided into categories, for the Easter Season - you may like to choose a few songs to repeat over the season.
Easter Season
First, a list of more energetic Alleluias, which would be good for kids.
- BUC Resource Brunswick Alleluia (Elaine and Julia Potter) A short and happy Alleluia. Works well sung through a few times.
- TiS 720 / AHB 295 / aoVK-85 / AoV2-046 / ATOK 319 / NCH236 / Iona (Many & Great, There is one among us) / CH345 / VU958 / StJ / SFFS 2026 / HPP571 / RS 396 Halle halle hallelujah (Traditional Caribbean) Excellent – simple, great for kids, good rhythm. Sound sample.
- TiS 541 / CH674 / WoV722 / ELW535 / GtG538 / G(II)394 / GC562 / GC(II)529 / G(3)626 / CP082 / SP&P190 / W&R709 / ZSS198 / URW400 Hallelujah we sing your praises / Haleluyah! Pelo Tsa Rona (South African) Joyous and simple song. Sound sample. Sheet music sample.
- WoV609 / W&R735 / SP&P055 Hallelujah / Heleluyan (Muscogee / Webb) Native American Hallelujah. I like it. It's simple and straightforward. Works as a round, and great with a strong drum beat on 1 and 3.
- NCH766 / CH767 / PfAS148G Hallelujah hallelujah (Maraire) A simple and joyful Alleluia in 3/4 in 3 parts. This one is particularly good if you can get all three parts going. It's pretty straight forward, and catcy. PfAS uses it as a Psalm refrain for Psalm 148, or you can just continue the joy of the Easter season and sing some Alleluias.
- MV054 Alleluia (Monteiro) A Brazilian Alleluia; easy to harmonise. Can start slowly and simply, and build up and speed up!
- MV052 Alleluia (Afro-Uraguayan) Good new alleluia, which would work well with plenty of percussion and guitar.
- CH753 Alleluia alleluia (Honduras) Simple and fun. Sound sample.
- MV032 Hallelujah (Pattison) Fun 5/4 hallelujah with a percussion part that would be good for kids (wood block, conga), or for working on at a church camp.
Songs about Resurrection and New Life
- Tune In / Online Resource Making things new (Sheree Anderson). A groovy one. Great for kids, and lots of fun. Free downloadable songbook and recordings.
- TiS 728 Jesuchristo reina reina ya! (Unknown) A fun Latin American song. It's particularly fun if someone is brave enough to yell out a "call" at the start of each verse.
- Iona (Love From Below) / CH434 / CP232 Jesus is risen from the grave (John Bell) Good, simple rhythm and tune. You can even make up some verses if you like.
- Taizé / ATA 107 / VU247 / GC555 / CP308 / W&R303 / Lau691 Jubilate Deo (Praetorius) A very simple fun round from the community at Taizé. You might need to teach the words 'cos it's in Latin. Sound sample and practice parts.
- ATW 463 / Iona (T1AU) / ELW721 / SFFS 2219 / A&M835 / GtG750 / GC(II)451 / G(3)528 / W&R296 / URW436 Goodness is stronger than evil (Desmond Tutu / Iona) Words from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "Victory is ours, victory is ours, through him who loves us". Some congregations change the last line to "Compassion is ours, compassion is ours...". It depends on the context in which you sing it, I suppose. Sound sample.
- MV122 / Online Resource This is the day (Bruce Harding) This is a really simple nice jazzy song. Sheet music.
- MV187 / ELW682 We give our thanks / Re a mo leboga (Traditional Botswana) A great song to sing for the offering. Older style version. More upbeat version. Amazing video with a newer version. Good for kids.
- AoVK-113 Thank you O Lord for this world of ours (Barr) A good kids song in two parts.
- AoV2-070 / ATW 496 / MV090 / StJ / G(3)719 Don't be afraid (John Bell) Excellent. I love this song of reassurance. "Don't be afraid, my love is stronger. My love is stronger than your fear". This song can be used as a response to intercessions.
- Iona (M&G) / ATAR609 / CH359 / MV033 / GtG137 / ZSS54 / StJ / ELW253 / GA293 / SFFS 2085 / G(II)276 / GC370 / GC(II)364 / G(3)429 / CP368 / W&R402 He came down that we may have love/ Jesus came bringing us hope (Traditional Cameroon) A lovely simple song - you can make up words and have a lot of fun with this if you also use some drums. For Brunswick this year, this will be a nice reminder of Advent, when we sang this every week. Scottish sound sample.
- TiS 715 / Srce2-112 Everything that has breath (Traditional Czech) A lovely simple round, set to the tune of "Ah poor bird". Would be a really nice relaxing start to worship. New words to old tunes
- Taize / TiS 747 / ATE 214 / Iona (M&G) / GtG842 / PfAS027A / URW393 The Lord is my light, my light and salvation (Jacques Berthier) A simple and very popular Taize chant. Note that this is really easy on recorder if you have a kid in your congregation who is learning it. Youtube.
- AoV1-053 / AoVK-82 / GA256 Receive The Light of Christ (Erica Marshall) Simple round "Receive the light of Christ, May (it) shine within our hears, May the Christ Light fill us with joy and peace". At Brunswick, this song might be good to be sung each week as we light the candles for the kids to go out to Sunday Morning Programme.
- TiS 666 / AoV2-113 / AoVK-126 / ATOK 409 / NCH526 / Iona (Common Ground, Freedom is Coming) / CH516 / VU646/647 / WoV650 / ELW866 / A&M483 / SFFS 2235 / HPP153 / GtG853 / G(II)357 / GC513 / GC(II)516 / G(3)594 / Cha442 / SP235 / Srce737 / StF483 / MP954 We are marching in the light of God / Siyahamba / Caminando (South African) A very popular chorus, with possible alternate verses, depending on your source. Sometimes people get anxious about the word "marching", but remember that this song comes from apartheid-era South Africa, where people were protesting so that they could vote in their own country. And the marching is toi-toing, much less militaristic than what you may imagine.
- Online Resource Holding up the light (Christopher Grundy) A great song for all about being brave enough to hold a light, no matter how small, when all around seems dark and difficult. Unfortunately, I cannot find a current source of the sheet music for this, but maybe you have a copy? Youtube. Good for kids.
- AoVK-40 / NCH524 / UMH585 / ELW677 / A&M808 / HPP466 / G(II)358 / GC514 / GC(II)514 / G(3)591 This little light of mine (Harry Dixon Loes / Avis Christiansen) The AoVK version has excellent verses that actually make the
chorus make sense, but will need to be practiced. Check them out if you have a copy. In the meantime,
watch Bruce Springsteen sing it here.
- TiS 727 / SiS361 / ATE 208 / CH121 / AA70 / PfAS022F In the presence of your people (Brent Chambers) A good Yiddish tune - lots of fun for kids and adults. Good to get fast and dance around on this one.
- MV157 I am a child of God (Bruce Harding) A simple song with powerful words. Good for kids and adults alike. Very easy to learn.
- AoV2-068 / VU695 God is passionate life (Colleen Fulmer) Good simple round with a peace and justice focus. Easy to learn and sing.
- ATOK 412 / Iona (SBL, Common Ground) / CH250 / MV212 / A&M482 / GtG747 / SFFS 2184 / Lau855 / StF239 Sent by the Lord am I / Sent out in Jesus name / Enviado soy de Dios
(Traditional Cuban) Great rhythm, good words and not too hard to sing
(provided you sing it a little slowly the first time!) I prefer the MV
translation "Sent out in Jesus' name". Lyrics.
- TiS 749 / AoV1-154 / AoVK-131 / ATE 305 / NCH360 / Iona (SBL, Freedom is coming) / CH800 / UMH497 / VU572 / WoV773 / ELW809 / GA493 / A&M481 / HPP340 / GtG746 / G(II)484 / GC677 / GC(II)674 / G(3)776 / W&R713 / Cha447 / SP234 / StF782 Send me Jesus / Thuma mina (South African) You all know this one, right? If you don't - it's great - simple, repetitive, and meaningful.Good for kids. Sheet music sample and lyrics. Youtube
- NCH497 / SFFS 2208 / GtG741 / PH354 / G(II)508 / GC707 / GC(II)684 G(3)780 / CP513 / ZSS141 Guide my feet while I run this race (African American) An excellent civil rights song. Would work well as a meditative prayer for guidance or as an uplifting call to action at the end of the service.You could also make up your own lyrics. Lyrics.
- Iona (M&G, T1AU) / MV099 / GC(II)673 / G(3)763 / Lau996 Stand O Stand Firm (Cameroon) I love having an excuse to sing this simple and powerful song. Very easy for your congregation. You can make up cantor parts too “Oh my sisters…. Oh my brothers… Oh my children….” or you can name countries you are praying for in your intercessions. Scottish sound sample. Lead sheet.
- Iona (WWHW) / MV223 We will go with God / Sizohamba naye (Traditional Swaziland) A simple Zulu song from Swaziland. Good for the end of the service. Video with pronunciation and parts. Note that MV has a different set of English words; neither are a direct translation. Sound sample of a more traditional version. Good for kids.
- MV045 / SP&P051 Hamba nathi (Zulu). There are a lot of translations of this song. I particularly like "Come walk with us, the journey is long". Sheet music. Lyrics.
- GtB God is love and love is giving (Ross Langmead) A simple kids' song about God's love. A round. Sound sample.
- MV31 Pure love (Linnea Good) A
simple two-part chant that picks up the Psalmist’s idea of the purity
of God’s law “Pure love, pure truth, pure justice, God”. Would be great
if you can teach it to some of the congregation before worship starts.
- AoV2-054 / Iona (T1AU, LFB) / MV077 / GtG414 / SFFS 2057 / G(II)438 / GC618 / RS 736 / SP&P111 / PfAS046D / URW409 / Lau909 / StF019 Be still and know that I am God (John Bell / Graham Maule) This simple chant is beautiful. Works as a round or in unison.
- ATOK 311 / CH754 / GA401 Be still and know that I am God and there is none beside me
(Iona) A good alternative. I like the 2nd verse especially "I am the
one who calls you my friends, and there is none beside me". CH doesn't
have the 2nd verse.
- AoVK-119 We're God's family God's children (Trish Watts / Monica O'Brien) Good words. Catchy tune.
- GGives2 What does peace look like to you
(Jane Dyson) A really nice simple song for kids about peace. Lots of
questions about what peace might mean from images of nature, to an end
to war. The last verse talks about a "bridge from God to man" which
could be changed to "bridge from God to us".
- Seeds of Faith Peace Be With You (Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan) A very simple kids song about peace, and sharing peace. Sound sample and lyrics.
- StS116 I saw a tree by the riverside / The Tree Song (Ken Medema) A great kid’s song about roots growing down to the water, and leaves growing up to the sunshine, and bearing fruit, and all that great stuff. Lyrics.
- Linnea Good Strong as living Trees A lovely haunting chant.
- Online resource Like a tree by the flowing water (Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan) Part of a series of songs based on Psalm 1, I think the chorus of this is probably my favourite. In Australia, you might want to use only the chorus because the word "rooted" means something quite different over here. Sound samples, lyrics and purchasing options.
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