Here We Go Around, Around Lyrics
Children circle with joined hands while singing about their leather shoes and silk stockings, then dance fast and drop to the ground on the last line.
Here We Go Around, Around
Our shoes are made of leather,
Our stockings are made of silk,
Our pinafores are made of calico,
As white as any milk.
Here we go around, around, around,
And we shall touch the ground.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/here-we-go-around-around/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Sung while walking in a ring
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Here we go around, around, around | Walk in a circle holding hands. |
| As white as any milk | Spread your hands wide and shake them. |
| And we shall touch the ground | Sit down suddenly on the floor. |
What Does Here We Go Around, Around Mean?
This is a ring game. The children join hands and walk round in a circle singing the first four lines, which boast about what they are wearing: shoes of leather, stockings of silk, and pinafores of calico, a plain cotton cloth, that are as white as milk. A pinafore is an apron worn over a dress. Then they dance round quickly and on the last line sit down all at once.
The surprise at the end is what makes the game: everyone falls in a heap together, which makes children laugh and gets them ready for the next round.
History and Origin
Alice Bertha Gomme found this song in the streets of Barnes and London and printed it in The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1894). She says the children sit down suddenly or touch the ground with their clothes at the end.
The book adds that a version from Liphook in Hampshire has almost the same words, and another from Crockham Hill in Kent was sent in by Miss Chase.
Learning Activities
- Play the ring: walk in a circle, speed up for the last two lines, and sit down together.
- What are you wearing?: swap the clothes in the first four lines for what each child has on.
- Clothes sort: look at labels to find which clothes are cotton, wool or leather.
- Slow and fast: practice walking slowly, then quickly, in time with a clap.