Friendly Words

An issue that comes up frequently when working with children is the use of appropriate language. I wrote this song for a student who had a habit of saying "pee-yew, you stink!" whether the person did or not (and most of the time, luckily, it was the latter). Now we sing this song together, and afterwards, I quiz her on which phrases are appropriate and which are not. After months and months of singing this song together, she has ceased holding her nose and uttering this phrase, and "Friendly Words" is her favorite song. Go figure!



Let’s sing a little song about the words we say
To make people smile every single day.
Friendly words are what we use
So think about the words you choose.

Hi and Hello and How Are You?
Are friendly greeting words through and through
Another friendly thing that you can say
Is “You look very pretty today.”

But if you say “pee-yew, you stink”,
That’s just not so nice, don’t you think.
Gross and yuck and disgusting
Are not friendly words for you and me.

So use nice words and then you’ll see,
It’s so cool to be friendly.
So use nice words and then you’ll see,
It’s so cool to be friendly.