Great A, Little A, This Is Pancake Day Lyrics
Big letter A, little letter a, and a day for pancakes. This six-line rhyme was chanted while tossing a ball, high and low, on the most delicious day of the year.
Great A, Little A, This Is Pancake Day
Great A, little a,
This is pancake day;
Toss the ball high,
Throw the ball low,
Those that come after
May sing heigh-ho!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/pancake-day/
- Type
- Mother Goose, Action Songs
- Tune
- Chanted rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Great A, little a | Draw a big A in the air, then a small one. |
| Toss the ball high | Throw a soft ball up high. |
| Throw the ball low | Roll or toss it low. |
| May sing heigh-ho | Sigh and shrug, as if you missed out. |
What Does Great A, Little A, This Is Pancake Day Mean?
Great A is a capital letter and little a a small one, so the rhyme starts like an alphabet lesson. Then it announces that today is Pancake Day and turns into a ball game. The last lines say that anyone who comes late can only sigh "heigh-ho", because the fun, and maybe the pancakes, are already gone.
History and Origin
The rhyme is printed in The Real Mother Goose (1916). Pancake Day is the British name for Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins, when households used up their eggs, milk and butter by making pancakes. It was once a day of street games and sport in many English towns, and some, such as Olney in Buckinghamshire, still hold pancake races.
Learning Activities
- Pancake toss: make a felt or paper pancake and flip it in a pan while saying the rhyme.
- Big and small: write great A and little a, then find both in a picture book.
- Ball game: toss a ball high and low on the matching lines.