Nursery Rhymes
The classic nursery rhymes with their full lyrics, simple hand motions and the true stories behind them. Every rhyme can be printed in one click for bedtime, circle time or the classroom.
469 nursery rhymes, each with the full lyrics, hand motions, history and a printable copy. Browse them A to Z or by type.
10 Most Famous Nursery Rhymes
Ten of the best-known nursery rhymes. Each one shows its first verse here; the full words, actions and history are on its own page.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Jane Taylor wrote these words in 1806 as a poem called "The Star", and families have sung them as a lullaby ever since.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the King's horses, and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Humpty Dumpty began as a riddle.
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
Sung to the same tune as Twinkle Twinkle and the Alphabet Song, Baa Baa Black Sheep is often the first rhyme toddlers can get all the way through.
Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water;
Jack fell down, and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Two children, one hill and a pail of water that never makes it home.
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And ev'rywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day,
That was against the rule.
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.
Unlike most nursery rhymes, this one has a named author, a date and a real girl who said the story happened to her.
Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory, dickory, dock!
The mouse ran up the clock;
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock!
One mouse, one tall clock and a single chime.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream;
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Sit facing each other, hold hands and rock back and forth: you are rowing.
Little Bo-Peep
Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can't tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
And bring their tails behind them.
Most people can recite the first verse of Little Bo-Peep, where a young shepherdess loses her sheep and is told they will find their own way home.
Three Blind Mice
Three blind mice! See how they run!
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a thing in your life
As three blind mice?
Three Blind Mice started life as a round in a songbook from 1609, which makes it one of the oldest tunes children still sing today.
Ring Around the Rosie
Ring around the rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.
Hold hands, walk in a circle, fall down and laugh.
Popular Nursery Rhymes
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Nursery Rhymes by Type
Lullabies for Bedtime
Slow, soft songs for rocking a baby to sleep.
Action Songs and Finger Plays
Rhymes with something to do: clap, march, wiggle toes.
Counting Rhymes
Numbers, days and months set to a beat.
Animal Rhymes
Mice, kittens, spiders, sheep and a cow that jumped over the moon.
Mother Goose Rhymes
The old English verses that carry the Mother Goose name.
What Are Nursery Rhymes?
Nursery rhymes are short verses and songs that adults pass to small children, usually before the children can read. They rhyme, they repeat, and they keep a steady beat, so a toddler can learn the words after hearing them a few times. Some tell a tiny story, like Humpty Dumpty. Some are for counting, some for bedtime and some for clapping along. Nobody owns most of them. Each family sings its own version, and that is why the words you grew up with may differ a little from the ones in a book.
Where Do Nursery Rhymes Come From?
Most were around for a long time before they were printed. Parents and nursemaids sang them, children chanted them in games, and some began as street songs or riddles. One of the first collections made for children, Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, came out in London in 1744, and Mother Goose's Melody followed around 1765. In the 1840s the scholar James Orchard Halliwell gathered hundreds of rhymes in two books, and many of the wordings we sing today settled into shape around that time. Each rhyme page here says what is known about its own history.
Why Sing Nursery Rhymes With Children?
Nursery rhymes are one of the easiest ways to build early language skills. The strong beat and repeated sounds help children hear how words are built, which supports reading later on. Rhymes like One, Two, Buckle My Shoe practice counting, action songs like London Bridge build coordination, and lullabies like Wee Willie Winkie turn bedtime into a calm routine.
Many of these rhymes are hundreds of years old. Each page explains where the rhyme comes from and what it means, including the popular myths that turn out not to be true.
All Nursery Rhymes A to Z
Browse every rhyme by the first letter of its title.
Know a rhyme we are missing? Maybe one your family sang, or a different version of a classic. Tell us on our contact page and we will look it up and add it.