How the Corn Grew Lyrics
A field is fenced, plowed and harrowed, the corn is planted and rained on, and when autumn comes it is cut down and the harvest song is sung.
How the Corn Grew
There was a field that waiting lay,
All hard and brown and bare;
There was a thrifty farmer came
And fenced it in with care.
Then came a plowman with his plow;
From early until late,
Across the field and back again,
He plowed the furrows straight.
The harrow then was brought to make
The ground more soft and loose;
And soon the farmer said with joy,
"My field is fit for use."
For many days the farmer then
Was working with his hoe;
And little Johnny brought the corn
And dropped the kernels, so!
And there they lay, until awaked
By tapping rains that fell,
Then pushed their green plumes up to greet
The sun they loved so well.
Then grew and grew the corn, until,
When autumn days had come,
With sickles keen they cut it down,
And sang the "Harvest Home."
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/how-the-corn-grew/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Finger play, spoken or sung
- Best for ages
- 4 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Then came a plowman with his plow | Put your hands together sideways with the thumbs pointing slightly up, and push forward. |
| By tapping rains that fell | Drum your fingers on a table like falling rain. |
| Pushed their green plumes up | Hold your fingers together and push them upward like green shoots. |
What Does How the Corn Grew Mean?
The poem follows a year in a cornfield, one job at a time. The farmer fences the bare field and the plowman plows straight furrows. The harrow then breaks up the soil to make it soft and loose, and the farmer hoes the ground before little Johnny drops in the corn kernels. Rain taps them awake, and the green shoots, called plumes, push up to the sun. By autumn the corn has grown, and the harvesters cut it down with sickles and sing the "Harvest Home" song.
Each step has its own hand motion, so the finger play teaches the order of farm work and where food comes from.
History and Origin
Emilie Poulsson wrote the verses for Finger Plays for Nursery and Kindergarten (1889), where the book also gives a tune by Cornelia C. Roeske and a note of the hand movement for each verse. The book describes the motions in small notes: a field made by two children facing each other with their arms on each other's shoulders, a plow made with the hands, and so on.
The verses here follow the book, and the page shows six of the seven verses in it.
Learning Activities
- Grow corn: plant a few corn or bean seeds in a pot and watch them sprout.
- Farm jobs: match each verse to a picture of the tool it uses.
- Rain sounds: drum fingertips on a table and then on your hands to hear the rain.
- Harvest song: make up a short harvest song of your own for the last verse.