Nursery Rhymes, Songs, and Fingerplays for Kids
Round and round the garden
Goes the teddy bear
One step, two steps
Tickle under there!
Directions: pretend your fingers are the teddy bear and use them to “walk” around either the child’s tummy or back, then tickle under their chin or their armpit at the end. This is a great rhyme for building anticipation as little ones know what is coming and can get very excited for the end tickle.
Higglety pigglety pop
The dog has eaten the mop
The pig’s in a hurry
The cat’s in a flurry
Higglety pigglety pop!
Do your ears hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you tie them in a bow?
Can you throw them over your shoulder
like a continental soldier?
Do your ears hang low?
Find more nursery rhymes on the Ultimate List of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes.
One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
This little finger on the right.
Find more Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes here.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you!
An early version of the poem read:
The rose is red
The violet’s blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you.
If wishes were horses,
Beggars would ride.
If turnips were watches,
I’d wear one by my side.
And if “ifs” and “ands”
Were pots and pans,
There’d be no work for tinkers!
A cat came fiddling out of the barn,
With a pair of bagpipes under her arm.
She could sing nothing but “Fiddle-de-dee,
The mouse has married the bumble-bee.”
Pipe, cat!
Dance, mouse!
We’ll have a wedding at our good house.
Hush-a-bye, Baby,
In the tree top,
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock;
When the bough breaks
The cradle will fall,
Down tumbles cradle
And Baby and all.
This song is also known as Rock-a-Bye and can work as a lullaby or as an action song. See Rock-a-Bye for more details on the actions.
The man in the wilderness asked me
How many strawberries grew in the sea.
I answered him as I thought good,
As many red herrings as grew in the wood.
I had a little hobby horse,
And it was dapple gray.
Its head was made of pea-straw,
Its tail was made of hay.
I sold it to an old woman
For a copper groat;
And I’ll not sing my song again
Without another coat.