One for the Money Lyrics
Before "ready, steady, go", children started their races with this. Four short lines count down to the moment everyone runs.
One for the Money
One for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to make ready,
And four to go.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/one-for-the-money/
- Type
- Counting Rhymes
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 10 years
What Does One for the Money Mean?
The count builds up to a start. One is for the money, as if the runners were racing for a prize. Two is for the show, the audience watching. Three is to make ready, when everyone gets into position, and four is to go. It works just as well for starting a game, a jump into a pool or a dance.
History and Origin
This version is from The Little Mother Goose (1912), but children were using the count long before that, in Britain and America. It had a famous second life in 1956, when Carl Perkins released his rock and roll song "Blue Suede Shoes", which opens with it, and a whole new generation learned the first two lines from the radio.
Learning Activities
- Garden races: use it to start every race, from running to hopping to crawling.
- Slow count: say the first three lines slowly and the last one fast, and see who jumps the gun.
- Number practice: hold up one, two, three and four fingers as you say each line.