Please choose from our selection below where we have included the most popular traditional nursery rhymes of all times.
This pun version of the more well-known “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” was most likely popularized among scouts. Sung to the tune of “My Bonnie …”, this humorous version has many different variations. Below you can find the lyrics […]
My Breakfast Lies Over The Ocean See Rhyme »
This conventional children’s poem was authored by Edward Lear in 1871. However, a lot of historians consider this as one of his nonsense poems written for the three-year-old daughter of his poet friend, John Symonds. In the word ‘runcible spoon’
The Owl and the Pussycat See Rhyme »
“Jimmy Crack Corn” is a traditional American folk song that has its roots in the 19th century. It is also known as “Blue Tail Fly” or “The Blue-Tailed Fly” and has been popularized through various recordings and adaptations over the
“Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me” is a famous American folk song and nursery rhyme that dates back to the mid-1800s. It is a playful and simple song that was originally played as a minstrel song, a form of racist theatrical
Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me See Rhyme »
Another popular song in America, Jenny Jenkins has been used as a way for boys to ask girls that they like to dance with them. Boys were expected to choose a color and the girl they were talking to had
Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow is a popular rhyme with school-aged children who are taught to recite it along with a number of actions. One child is chosen as the farmer who listens to the rhyme and then acts
Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow See Rhyme »
The Gingerbread Man rhyme comes from the Gingerbread Man fairy tale that tells us about how a Gingerbread Man managed to escape from a number of different people as they tried to eat it. The ending of the rhyme sees
Lazy Mary is a nursery rhyme that’s sung to the same tune as “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”. It tells the story of Lazy Mary who’s not keen to get out of bed and her mother who’s trying
The Yellow Rose of Texas is a traditional folk song from America that is much-loved as a singalong western song. Over the years, versions have been recorded by top artists including Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley, helping to keep it
Yellow Rose of Texas See Rhyme »
Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts is a song that dates back to the middle of the 20th century and is usually sung to the melody of The Old Grey Mare. It talks about lots of different animal
Great Green Gobs of Greasy, Grimy Gopher Guts See Rhyme »
How Much is That Doggie in the Window? was written by Bob Merrill and released in 1952 as a novelty song. Recorded by Patti Page, the song topped the charts and sold more than two million copies. Another version sung
How Much is That Doggie in the Window? See Rhyme »
And the Green Grass Grows All Around is a traditional American song that is still enjoyed by children today as one of the classics. It’s a great example of a cumulative song which means that each verse relies on the
And the Green Grass Grows All Around See Rhyme »
The Hearse Song, also known as The Worms Crawl In The Worms Crawl Out is a children’s song that has a very macabre subject. Describing the process of human decomposition, the song is traditionally sung while children stand in a
The Worms Crawl In The Worms Crawl Out (The Hearse Song) See Rhyme »
The Happy Wanderer was originally a German folk song titled Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann, but its popularity means that it has since been translated into many other languages. The lyrics are credited to Florenz Friedrich Sigismund but the tune
The Happy Wanderer See Rhyme »
Also known as Taps, the Day is Done Gone the Sun has a melody that will be instantly recognizable. The melancholy notes of the solo bugler are generally associated with funerals and grieving now, but this wasn’t always the case.
Day is Done Gone the Sun See Rhyme »
Old Joe Clark is a type of folk song that originated in the US. The song is believed to have been written in the 19th century but there are no printed records that predate 1900. One of the earliest published
Oh, Playmate, Come Out And Play With Me also known as Say, Say, Oh, Playmate is a song that dates back to the early 20th century, probably written sometime between 1904 and 1906 by Charles Leslie Johnson when he published
Playmate, Come Out And Play With Me See Rhyme »
Red River Valley is a popular Canadian folk song and like many others songs from that time,such as Alouette, it has a somber mood to it. Red River Valley tells the tale of a Metis local woman worried about her
Old Mother Leary is an American nursery rhyme classic that’s been a singalong favorite for well over a century. The song is based on an old ragtime tune written in 1886 by Joe Hayden and Theodore Metz, “A Hot Time
Found a Peanut is a traditional children’s song that is often sung during traveling or around a campfire. Its repetitive lyrics are easy to memorize and fun. It is sung to the tune of “Oh My Darling, Clementine”, thus it
Baby BumbleBee is a traditional nursery rhyme and a gesture-play song, sharing the same tune with “The Arkansas Traveler” written in 1947 by the Arkansas State Song Selection Committee, the state song. There are several other songs associated with this
Commonly known as sea shanty “Oh Shenandoah” is a Canadian-American folk song whose origins, similar with Alouette, can be traced back to fur traders on canoes down the Missouri River, in the early 1800’s. Apparently the original lyrics of the
“Oh! Susanna” is an old American folk song, dating back to 1848. It is one of Stephen Foster best known songs and, with no doubt, one of the most popular songs of all time in the USA. Oh! Susanna Lyrics
Las Mañanitas is a traditional Mexican song, that people in Latin America use to sing early in the morning to those who celebrate their birthday or other similar events like Mother’s Day or name day. The most notorious recording of
Although a song of British origin, “What Child Is This?” is a traditional Christmas carol, more popular in the USA today. The lyrics were composed in 1865 by WC Dix and the version we sing today was set on the
What Child Is This See Rhyme »
The traditional Christmas carol “O Holy Night” was originally a French poem by Placide Cappeau adapted as a carol in 1847 by French composer Adolphe Adam as Cantique de Noël. The English version of the song, “O Holy Night”, belongs
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is a traditional Christmas carol dating back to 1739, composed by Charles Wesley and adapted by George Whitefield in 1758, set to music by Felix Mendelssohn. The original version of the song, written by Charles
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing See Rhyme »
Joy to the World is a traditional carol and probably one of the most played Christmas hymns. The lyrics, written by theologian and hymn writer Isaac Watts in 1719, were inspired by some Bible verses, namely the Psalm 98, Psalm
“12 Days of Christmas” is an old Christmas carol associated with Twelvetide season, most likely with lyrics of French origin. In England it was first published in a book called Mirth without Mischief in 1780 as a game for kids,
Twelve Days of Christmas Song See Rhyme »
The Other Day I Met a Bear is an American campfire song, especially popular with scouts. The song’s origins date back to 1919 when Carey Elmore Morgan Jr and Lee David composed it. The song is an echo song, meaning
The Other Day I Met a Bear See Rhyme »
Deck the Hall is a traditional Christmas carol dating back to the sixteenth century. Traditionally it has been a Welsh song and even the melody is taken from another Welsh song “Nos Galan” or “New Year’s Eve”. It was first
Betty Botter is one of the toughest yet more popular English tongue twisters. Originally it was known as “The Butter Betty Bought” and it was written by Carolyn Wells. Since its first publication in 1899, Betty Botter has suffered many
Kookaburra is an Australian children’s song and round, well known in all English-speaking countries, composed by professor Marion Sinclair in 1932. It refers to the Kookaburra, a bird that lives in Australia that “sits in the old gum tree”, a
The traditional song “Down by the Bay” was brought back to the public’s attention in 1976 when the children’s musician Raffi included it in the album “Singable Songs for the Very Young”. Although an old song, it is still popular
“Skip to My Lou” is a singing-game and dance, famous since the 1840s. Searching for the origins of this partner-stealing game, musician Stephen Frederick Starr recalls its resemblance to the African-American dance “Lolotte Pov’piti Lolotte”. The meaning of the word
The popular Thanksgiving song “Over the River and Through the Wood” was originally published as a poem entitled “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day”. The lyrics, which belong to the well-known writer Lydia Maria Child, represent her own childhood
Over the River and Through the Woods See Rhyme »
The Spanish song “La Cucaracha” became popular during the Mexican revolution around 1910. With quite obscure Spanish origins, the song was modified over time by groups and individuals according to spontaneous situations, cultural and political events. We can therefore consider
This nursery rhyme has appeared in many different forms accross time. It was first published in 1726 in “A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling” with the name “Nauty Pauty Jack-a-Dandy”. A similar version to the current one appeared in 1850 in
Handy Spandy Jack-a-Dandy See Rhyme »
Once I Saw a Little Bird is a fun nursery rhyme that was first published in “An Alphabet Of Old FriendsAn Alphabet Of Old Friends” by Walter Crane in 1874. Often times the rhyme is accompanied by certain actions kids
Once I Saw a Little Bird See Rhyme »
Draw a Pail of Water (known in the USA as “Draw a bucket of water”) is an traditional nursery rhyme that first appeared published in “The Nursery Rhymes of England: Obtained Principally from Oral Tradition” by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps in
Draw a Pail of Water See Rhyme »
This short and little known nursery rhyme was first published in the 19th century in 1881 in “Mother Goose or the Old Nursery Rhymes”. In this poem “Joan” rhymes with “alone”. “Here I am, Little Jumping Joan”Lyrics Here am I,
Here I am, Little Jumping Joan See Rhyme »
To Bed, To Bed also known as “Come, Let’s to Bed” is a nursery rhyme that first appeared published in “Traditional Nursery Songs of England With Pictures by Eminent Modern Artists” by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 and later republished
Who Killed Cock Robin is an old English nursery rhyme and poem dating back to the 18th century. It was first recorded in “Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book” in 1744. The meaning of this poem are shrouded in mystery. There
Who Killed Cock Robi See Rhyme »
The Three Wise Men of Gotham is a nursery rhyme that first appeared in 1765 in Mother Goose’s Melody. It was since then republished and readapted countless of times. The nursery rhyme refers to the villagers in Gotham in south
Three Wise Men of Gotham See Rhyme »
Dance to your Daddy, sometimes known as “When the Boat Comes In” is a nursery rhyme first published in 1849 in “Songs of the bards of the Tyne” by Joseph Robson. It became popular again in the 1970s when a
Dance to Your Daddy See Rhyme »
Cackle, Cackle, Mother Goose is an old nursery rhyme whose origins remain unclear. It is one of the few songs that include a reference to “mother goose” a phrase so much linked to nursery rhymes. The “mother goose” often refers
Cackle, Cackle, Mother Goose See Rhyme »
This Little Light of Mine is a traditional gospel song meant for children. It was written by Harry Dixon Loes in the 1920s. It is a religious song especially popular during Christmas. Ray Charles performed a single based on the
This Little Light of Mine See Rhyme »
Eeper Weeper is a morbid old traditional nursery rhyme that has fallen out of use in recent times as its content (a chimney sweeper killing his second wife and hiding her body) is not considered child-friendly anymore. It is questionable
How Many Days Has My Baby to Play is a traditional nursery rhyme that first appeared in England. It is a very simple and short rhyme that teaches the kids the days of the week. “How Many Days Has My
How Many Days Has My Baby to Play? See Rhyme »
Little Robin Redbreast is an old traditional rhyme that first appeared in the first ever anthology of nursery rhyme named “Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book” published around 1744. Another different version of Little Robin Redbreast appeared in the 1833 version
Little Robin Redbreast See Rhyme »
