Little Jack Horner Lyrics
A boy in a corner pulls a plum out of his Christmas pie and tells everyone how good he is. Little Jack Horner was already well known by 1725.
Little Jack Horner
Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating of Christmas pie:
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/little-jack-horner/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- First published
- Early 1700s
- Tune
- Traditional
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Little Jack Horner sat in the corner | Sit down and hug your knees, tucked up small. |
| Eating of Christmas pie | Pretend to hold a pie on your lap and take a big bite. |
| He put in his thumb | Push your thumb down into the pretend pie. |
| And pulled out a plum | Pull your thumb out and hold it up high. |
| And said, "What a good boy am I!" | Pat yourself on the head with a proud grin. |
What Does Little Jack Horner Mean?
The rhyme pokes gentle fun at a child who is very pleased with himself for doing something ordinary. Jack praises himself for pulling a plum out of a pie, which is funny because it is not much of an achievement.
A "Christmas pie" was a rich pie made for the holidays, often with meat, dried fruit and spices, and in older English "plum" could mean any dried fruit such as a raisin.
History and Origin
The rhyme was known by 1725, when the poet Henry Carey referred to it in a satirical poem, so it must have been familiar to readers already.
A popular legend links it to Thomas Horner, a steward in Somerset in the 1530s, who is said to have pulled the deeds to a manor house out of a pie sent to King Henry VIII. The Horner family did own that manor, but they have always said it was bought fairly, and nothing ties the rhyme to him.
Learning Activities
- Corner game: each child finds a "corner" and pops up to say a proud line about something they did well today.
- Pie counting: hide dried fruit or paper plums in a play-dough pie and count what each thumb finds.
- Kind words: talk about the difference between being proud of yourself and showing off.