“Lavati le Mani” — Wash Your Hands Song in Italian for Kids
In “Lavati le Mani” (Wash Your Hands), kids sing key Italian words like lavati le mani, l'acqua, il sapone and le bolle, going back and forth between English and Italian, so the meaning is never a mystery. It's a early-learner (A1) song from Unit 25: Healthy Habits, 3:18 long, made for ages 2–8.
- 🇮🇹 Italian
- Level: A1
- Unit 25 · Abitudini Sane
- ⏱ 3:18
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“Lavati le Mani” lyrics with English translation
Every line as it's sung, with its meaning beside it. Italian is shown in teal.
| Sung | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Before we eat, what do we do? | Prima di mangiare, cosa facciamo? |
| Lavati le mani, you do it too! | |
| Turn on the water, wet them just right. | Apri l’acqua, bagnale bene. |
| Apri l’acqua, mani bagnate! | Turn on the water, wet hands! |
| A little soap—what’s soap in Italian? | Un po’ di sapone — come si dice soap in italiano? |
| Il sapone! Rub it together! | |
| Bubbles, bubbles, what do you see? | Bolle, bolle, cosa vedi? |
| Le bolle! They’re dancing with me! | |
| Palms together, scrub, scrub, scrub. | Palmi insieme, strofina, strofina, strofina. |
| Strofina i palmi—rub, rub, rub! | |
| Wash your hands! | Lavati le mani! |
| Lavati le mani! | Wash your hands! |
| Water! | L’acqua! |
| L’acqua! | Water! |
| Soap! | Il sapone! |
| Il sapone! | Soap! |
| Bubbles! | Le bolle! |
| Le bolle! | Bubbles! |
| Clean hands, clean hands, mani pulite! | |
| Wash, rinse, dry—now isn’t that sweet? | Lava, sciacqua, asciuga — che bello, vero? |
| Prima di mangiare, hands nice and clean! | |
| Lavati le mani—come join our routine! | |
| What about the backs? I know what to do! | E il dorso? So cosa fare! |
| Strofina il dorso—now you try too! | |
| Between the fingers, every little space? | Tra le dita, ogni piccolo spazio? |
| Tra le dita—give each one a place! | |
| And both thumbs, round and round? | E tutti e due i pollici, gira e gira? |
| Anche i pollici—scrub them all around! | |
| After playing outside, we wash again! | Dopo aver giocato fuori, ci laviamo di nuovo! |
| Dopo aver giocato—clean hands, my friend! | |
| Rinse, rinse, what’s “rinse” in Italian? | |
| Sciacqua le mani—then towel time! | |
| Wash your hands! | Lavati le mani! |
| Lavati le mani! | Wash your hands! |
| Water! | L’acqua! |
| L’acqua! | Water! |
| Soap! | Il sapone! |
| Il sapone! | Soap! |
| Bubbles! | Le bolle! |
| Le bolle! | Bubbles! |
| Clean hands, clean hands, mani pulite! | |
| Wash, rinse, dry—now isn’t that sweet? | Lava, sciacqua, asciuga — che bello, vero? |
| Prima di mangiare, hands nice and clean! | |
| Lavati le mani—come join our routine! | |
| Scrub for twenty seconds—count with me! | Strofina per venti secondi — conta con me! |
| Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque! | One, two, three, four, five! |
| Sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci! | Six, seven, eight, nine, ten! |
| Undici, dodici, thirteen, fourteen! | |
| Quindici, sedici, seventeen, eighteen! | |
| Diciannove, venti—bravissimi! | Nineteen, twenty — well done! |
| Rinse! | Sciacqua! |
| Sciacqua! | Rinse! |
| Dry! | Asciuga! |
| Asciuga! | Dry! |
| With the towel, nice and slow! | Con l’asciugamano, piano piano! |
| Con l’asciugamano—now we know! | |
| Wash your hands! | Lavati le mani! |
| Lavati le mani! | Wash your hands! |
| Water! | L’acqua! |
| L’acqua! | Water! |
| Soap! | Il sapone! |
| Il sapone! | Soap! |
| Bubbles! | Le bolle! |
| Le bolle! | Bubbles! |
| Clean hands, clean hands, mani pulite! | |
| Wash, rinse, dry—now isn’t that sweet? | Lava, sciacqua, asciuga — che bello, vero? |
| Prima di mangiare, hands nice and clean! | |
| Lavati le mani—come join our routine! | |
| L’acqua, il sapone, le bolle too! | |
| Le dita, il pollice—bravi, you! | |
| Mani pulite, all done today! | |
| Wash your hands—then go and play! | Lavati le mani — poi vai a giocare! |
Key Italian words in this song
The 11 words and phrases this song is built around.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| lavati le mani | wash your hands |
| l'acqua | water |
| il sapone | soap |
| le bolle | bubbles |
| strofina | scrub |
| le dita | fingers |
| sciacqua | rinse |
| l'asciugamano | towel |
| asciuga | dry |
| mani pulite | clean hands |
| prima di mangiare | before eating |
How to use this song with your child
- 1
Make “lavati le mani” the word of the day
This song repeats “lavati le mani” (wash your hands) on 6 lines. Use it once or twice during the day outside the song, and let your child correct you if you get it wrong.
- 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
Make it a routine
At 3:18, play it once a day at the same moment for a week. Brush along to the whole song, top teeth first, then bottom.
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