Blow, Wind, Blow Lyrics
Wind turns the sails, the sails turn the millstones, the miller makes flour and the baker makes rolls. This four-line rhyme is a whole food chain, from breeze to breakfast.
Blow, Wind, Blow
Blow, wind, blow! and go, mill, go!
That the miller may grind his corn;
That the baker may take it, and into rolls make it,
And send us some hot in the morn.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/blow-wind-blow/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 2 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Blow, wind, blow! | Puff out your cheeks and blow. |
| and go, mill, go! | Circle your arms like windmill sails. |
| That the miller may grind his corn | Rub your fists together as if grinding. |
| And send us some hot in the morn | Pretend to take a warm roll from the oven and blow on it. |
What Does Blow, Wind, Blow Mean?
A windmill uses the wind to turn big stones that crush grain into flour. The rhyme calls on the wind to blow so the miller can grind his corn (in old English, corn means any grain, usually wheat). Then the baker turns the flour into rolls and sends them hot in the morn, the morning.
History and Origin
Walter Jerrold included the rhyme in The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes (1903). Windmills once stood on hills all over England, and every village depended on its miller and baker for bread, so the chain of jobs in the rhyme would have been obvious to any child who heard it. A few old windmills still work today and sell their flour.
Learning Activities
- Paper windmill: make a pinwheel from paper and a pencil, then blow it while saying the first line.
- Bake rolls: make simple bread rolls and say the rhyme while they rise.
- Grain to bread: line up pictures of wheat, a windmill, flour and bread, and let your child put them in order.