Good Morning to You Lyrics
A four-line greeting song for the start of the day. It was written for kindergarten children in 1893, and a 1911 teachers' manual shows a circle where each child bows to a friend before everyone sings it.
Good Morning to You
Good morning to you,
Good morning to you,
Good morning, dear children,
Good morning to all.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/good-morning-to-you/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- The Hill sisters' tune, the same one used for Happy Birthday
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Good morning to you | Turn to the child beside you and wave. |
| Good morning, dear children | Sweep one arm slowly across the whole circle. |
| Good morning to all | Open both arms wide to include everyone. |
What Does Good Morning to You Mean?
This is a greeting, not a story. Each of the first two lines speaks to one person, you; the third line turns to the whole group with dear children; and the fourth takes in everyone with all. It moves from one person to the whole room in four short lines, which is why it suits the start of a lesson or a play session.
Because the first two lines are the same, a child who is new to the song can join in on the second line, and a teacher can swap in other words on the third, such as a child's name or a day of the week.
History and Origin
The song was written by the sisters Patty and Mildred Hill and printed as Good Morning to All in Song Stories for the Kindergarten in 1893. It is a greeting for the start of a kindergarten session, sung before the lessons begin.
A 1911 manual for teachers of the youngest Sunday-school classes, The Elementary Worker and His Work, shows how it was used in a room. The teacher says Good morning, children and the children answer with good morning and her name. Then one child bows to a friend, the two shake hands and say good morning, and that friend picks the next child, until everybody has been greeted. Only then do all of them sing this song.
The same book adds a welcome song for new children, sung to this tune, and a song for a child coming back after being away. The tune became much better known for its birthday words, which the book also prints; the two songs share the melody.
Learning Activities
- Bow and shake: in a circle, let each child pick a friend, bow, shake hands and say good morning, then pick the next one.
- Name line: keep the first two lines and put a child's name in the third, then go round the circle.
- Morning chat: after the song, ask each child to say one thing they noticed on the way, as the 1911 teacher did with the trees and the new leaves.
- Wave goodbye: sing the same tune with 'goodbye' instead of 'good morning' when the session is over.