A Little Boy's Walk Lyrics
A boy goes for a summer walk and sees a rabbit, a river full of fish, a mill wheel, a church, a bird's nest, clouds and flowers, then runs home to tell his mother.
A Little Boy's Walk
A little boy went walking
One lovely summer's day:
He saw a little rabbit
That quickly ran away;
He saw a shining river
Go winding in and out,
And little fishes in it
Were swimming all about;
And, slowly, slowly turning,
The great wheel of the mill;
And then the tall church steeple,
The little church so still;
The bridge above the water;
And when he stopped to rest,
He saw among the bushes
A wee ground-sparrow's nest.
And as he watched the birdies
Above the tree-tops fly,
He saw the clouds a-sailing
Across the sunny sky.
He saw the insects playing;
The flowers that summer brings;
He said, "I'll go tell mamma!
I've seen so many things!"
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/a-little-boys-walk/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Finger play, spoken or sung
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| He saw a little rabbit | Hold up two fingers in a V for the rabbit's ears. |
| That quickly ran away | Move the rabbit fingers behind your back. |
| He saw a shining river | Draw a long wavy line in the air. |
| Were swimming all about | Wiggle your fingers downward like fish. |
| The great wheel of the mill | Roll your hands over each other. |
| I've seen so many things! | Throw your arms open wide. |
What Does A Little Boy's Walk Mean?
The finger play is a walk in the countryside told in six short verses. Each thing the boy sees gets its own hand shape, so children act out the whole walk with their fingers. A ground-sparrow is a small bird that nests low down, among bushes or in the grass. The last line is every child after a good day out: "I've seen so many things!"
History and Origin
The finger play comes from Emilie Poulsson's Finger Plays for Nursery and Kindergarten (1889), with music by Cornelia C. Roeske. The book showed a picture of the hand shape for each line.
Learning Activities
- Nature walk: go for a walk and count how many things from the rhyme you see.
- Tell mamma: afterward, each child tells one thing they saw.
- Draw the walk: draw a map with the rabbit, river, mill, church and nest.