“Ricreazione!” — Playtime at School Song in Italian for Kids
In “Ricreazione!” (Playtime at School), kids sing key Italian words like la ricreazione, la campanella, il cortile and prendimi, going back and forth between English and Italian, so the meaning is never a mystery. It's a early-learner (A1) song from Unit 31: At School, 1:44 long, made for ages 2–8.
- 🇮🇹 Italian
- Level: A1
- Unit 31 · A Scuola
- ⏱ 1:44
- 🔒 Premium
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“Ricreazione!” lyrics with English translation
Every line as it's sung, with its meaning beside it. Italian is shown in teal.
| Sung | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The bell rings—what’s the word? | Suona la campanella — come si dice? |
| La campanella! Hear it ring! | |
| Recess time, let’s run outside! | È ricreazione, corriamo fuori! |
| La ricreazione! Corriamo, dai! | Recess! Let’s run, come on! |
| Where do we play? | Dove giochiamo? |
| Nel cortile, come and play! | |
| Catch me! Catch me! | Prendimi! Prendimi! |
| Prendimi! Prendimi! | Catch me! Catch me! |
| You’re it! Now chase me round! | Ce l’hai tu! Adesso inseguimi! |
| Ce l’hai tu! Run, run, run! | |
| Recess! | La ricreazione! |
| La ricreazione! | Recess! |
| Playground! | Il cortile! |
| Il cortile! | Playground! |
| Come and play! | Vieni a giocare! |
| Vieni a giocare! | Come and play! |
| La campanella, ding-ding-ding! | The bell, ding-ding-ding! |
| Run and laugh and sing-sing-sing! | Corri, ridi e canta-canta-canta! |
| Jump rope—what’s the name? | Saltare la corda — come si chiama? |
| La corda! Salta con me! | The jump rope! Jump with me! |
| Hopscotch, one, two, three! | Campana, uno, due, tre! |
| Il gioco della campana—salta qui! | Hopscotch — jump here! |
| Slide! Whoosh, down we go! | Lo scivolo! Whoosh, giù! |
| Lo scivolo! Piano, però! | The slide! But slowly! |
| Kick the ball—pass it to me! | Calcia la palla — passala a me! |
| La palla! Passala qui! | The ball! Pass it here! |
| Come and play, my friend! | Vieni a giocare, amico mio! |
| Vieni a giocare! Let’s play again! | |
| Recess! | La ricreazione! |
| La ricreazione! | Recess! |
| Playground! | Il cortile! |
| Il cortile! | Playground! |
| Come and play! | Vieni a giocare! |
| Vieni a giocare! | Come and play! |
| La campanella, ding-ding-ding! | The bell, ding-ding-ding! |
| Run and laugh and sing-sing-sing! | Corri, ridi e canta-canta-canta! |
| One more turn? | Ancora un giro! |
| Ancora un giro! | One more turn! |
| One more game? | Ancora un gioco! |
| Ancora un gioco! | One more game! |
| The bell rings again—what do we say? | La campanella suona ancora — cosa diciamo? |
| Back to class! | Tutti in classe! |
| Tutti in classe! | Back to class! |
| Recess! | La ricreazione! |
| La ricreazione! | Recess! |
| Playground! | Il cortile! |
| Il cortile! | Playground! |
| Come and play! | Vieni a giocare! |
| Vieni a giocare! | Come and play! |
| La campanella, ding-ding-ding! | The bell, ding-ding-ding! |
| Back to class—our happy song! | Tutti in classe — la nostra canzone allegra! |
| Tutti in classe! | Back to class! |
| See you soon! | A presto! |
| Ciao, amici! See you soon! | |
Key Italian words in this song
The 11 words and phrases this song is built around.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| la ricreazione | recess |
| la campanella | the bell |
| il cortile | the playground |
| prendimi | catch me |
| ce l'hai tu | you're it |
| la corda | jump rope |
| il gioco della campana | hopscotch |
| lo scivolo | slide |
| la palla | ball |
| vieni a giocare | come and play |
| tutti in classe | back to class |
How to use this song with your child
- 1
Count the “la ricreazione”s
“la ricreazione” means “recess” and comes up on 4 lines. Keep count on your fingers together; older kids can try to predict when it's coming next.
- 2
Split the parts
Once the song is familiar, you sing the English lines and your child sings the Italian ones, then swap. It turns listening into speaking.
- 3
A quick one: try it with an activity
At 1:44 it's short enough to play twice in a row. Pack a bag with the things from the song as they come up.
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