Peter, Popper, Dopper, Dan Lyrics
A six-line rhyme addressed to someone called Peter, Popper, Dopper, Dan. It sets impossible tasks, such as catching a moonbeam and picking planets from the sky, and ends by calling the little man a wonder.
Peter, Popper, Dopper, Dan
Peter, popper, dopper, Dan,
Catch a moonbeam if you can;
Climb a cedar ten feet high
And pick the planets from the sky.
You're a wonder, little man
Peter, popper, dopper, Dan.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/peter-popper-dopper-dan/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Leroy F. Jackson
- Tune
- Bouncy, with the name sung the same way at the start and the end
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
What Does Peter, Popper, Dopper, Dan Mean?
The name Peter, Popper, Dopper, Dan is mostly sound: Peter and Dan are real names, and the two words in the middle were added for the bounce. The same line opens and closes the rhyme, so the poem ends where it began.
Between the two come impossible jobs. Nobody can catch a moonbeam or pick the planets as if they were fruit, even from the top of a tall cedar tree. The point is not to succeed but to praise. Telling a little one they could do such things is a way of saying they are a wonder, and it could easily be said to a small child over a bounce or a cuddle.
History and Origin
Jackson printed the rhyme in a 1918 collection of his own verses for children.
Learning Activities
- Catch a moonbeam: shine a torch on a wall and let the child try to catch the circle of light.
- Impossible jobs: think of other jobs nobody could do, such as folding the wind or counting every star.
- Bounce the name: clap the rhythm of the name and bounce a small child on your knee if they like it.
- Your own wonder name: make a nonsense name from the child's own name, in the same sound pattern.