Hop Away, Skip Away, My Baby Wants to Play Lyrics
Two short lines call out to hop away and skip away because the baby wants to play every day.
Hop Away, Skip Away, My Baby Wants to Play
Hop away, skip away, my baby wants to play.
My baby wants to play every day.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/hop-away-skip-away/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Chanted with hops and skips
- Best for ages
- 1 to 5 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Hop away | Hop on the spot, or bounce a baby on your knee. |
| skip away | Skip a few steps across the floor. |
| my baby wants to play | Spread your hands wide and smile. |
What Does Hop Away, Skip Away, My Baby Wants to Play Mean?
The rhyme has only two lines, and both are about play. The first line gives two actions, hop and skip, and the second line repeats the reason: the baby wants to play every day. Because it is so short, it can be said again and again while a child moves, and it works as a call to get up and have fun.
It is good for getting wriggly children moving, and for babies it can be chanted while they are bounced gently.
History and Origin
The rhyme is printed in The Only True Mother Goose Melodies, published in Boston by Munroe and Francis in 1833. The book places it just before the verse that begins "Bow, wow, wow, whose dog art thou?"
No writer is named, and the book gives no more information about where the two lines came from.
Learning Activities
- Hop and skip: say the words and hop on one line and skip on the next.
- Baby bounce: bounce a baby gently on your knee in time with the words.
- Movement cards: draw cards showing other ways to move, such as jump, crawl and tiptoe, and swap them in.
- Outdoor play: chant it while walking to the park or the garden.