Nancy Stewart

This well-loved nursery rhyme is packed with elements that help build early literacy skills. Rhyming, strong rhythm, and syllables separated by notes of the melody all make it a great song to use with young children. And like most nursery rhymes, it is also a complete story, with all the elements of a longer one. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It has characters (clock and mouse), and even conflict and resolution!

And while we're at it, if you teach school-age children, this is why nursery rhymes are still a valuable tool. They distill story elements down to the simplest terms children can understand and use. And because they are complete stories, they make great little dramatic plays. A pair of mouse ears or a puppet, and a paper plate decorated like the face of a clock, and it's show time! Don't underestimate these little gems. Children will "perform" them over and over.

For this version I have included a little wordless folding book. I have a whole collection of these on my project website, Sing With Our Kids, so be sure to check out the others.

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one, the mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock

NOTE: you can keep counting and rhyming, but I have shortened this to "one" to match the pages of the little book.