Row, Row, Row Your Boat Lyrics
Sit facing each other, hold hands and rock back and forth: you are rowing. Four short lines make this one of the first songs many toddlers learn, and older children love it as a round.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream;
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/row-row-row-your-boat/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Traditional round (Eliphalet Oram Lyte, 1881)
- Best for ages
- 1 to 9 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Row, row, row your boat | Sit facing your child, hold hands and rock forward and back. |
| Gently down the stream | Sway side to side, like a boat on calm water. |
| Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily | Bounce a little faster. |
| Life is but a dream | Lay your head on your hands as if falling asleep. |
What Does Row, Row, Row Your Boat Mean?
The words describe rowing a small boat down a river, slowly and happily. The last line, "Life is but a dream", is a dreamy thought that has been read many ways, but for small children it is just a sleepy way to end a rocking song.
History and Origin
The words were in print by the 1850s in the United States, and the tune most people sing today was published by Eliphalet Oram Lyte in 1881. By the early 1900s it was a standard round in American school and community songbooks, including Twice 55 Community Songs, the collection quoted above. In a round, each group starts the song one line after the group before, so the four lines overlap.
Learning Activities
- Sing it as a round: split into two or three groups. Each group starts when the one before reaches "gently down the stream".
- Floor boat: sit in a line on the floor, one behind the other, and row together.
- Add verses: families often invent extra animal verses, with a crocodile or a polar bear on the riverbank.