Pease Porridge Hot Lyrics
Few clapping games are as quick to learn as Pease Porridge Hot. The words describe a pot of pea soup that kept going for days, and the clapping pattern speeds up until someone laughs and misses.
Pease Porridge Hot
Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot,
Nine days old.
Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot,
Nine days old.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/pease-porridge-hot/
- Type
- Action Songs
- First published
- 1700s
- Tune
- Spoken clapping rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Pease | Pat your thighs with both hands. |
| porridge | Clap your own hands together. |
| hot | Clap both hands against your partner's hands. |
| Pease porridge cold | Repeat: thighs, own hands, partner's hands. |
| Pease porridge in the pot | Thighs, own hands, right hand to partner's right, own hands, left to partner's left. |
| Nine days old | Own hands, then both hands against your partner's, and hold. |
What Does Pease Porridge Hot Mean?
Pease porridge, also called pease pudding, was a thick soup of dried peas. Poor families kept a pot hanging over the fire and added to it day after day, so the same porridge really could be "nine days old". The rhyme simply says that some people like it hot, some cold, and some old.
History and Origin
The rhyme was known in England by the 1700s, and it has been used as a hand-clapping game for generations. Pease pudding is still eaten in the north-east of England, often with ham.
Learning Activities
- Speed rounds: start slowly, then speed up each time until someone misses a clap.
- Taste test: try split pea soup and decide: hot, cold, or not at all?
- Days game: count to nine on your fingers and talk about how long food should really be kept.
- Solo version: a child alone can clap the pattern against a wall or their own knees.