Hickory Dickory Dock lyrics
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
Actions to do together
- Swing one arm from side to side like a clock’s pendulum.
- Run two fingers up your child’s arm, like the mouse running up the clock.
- Clap once, loudly, when the clock strikes one.
- Run your fingers back down for “the mouse ran down”.
What children learn
- Numbers and an early idea of time
- Steady beat: the tick-tock of the words
- Up and down, and listening for the big moment
The story behind the rhyme
Hickory Dickory Dock was first printed in 1744, in a little book called Tommy Thumb’s Pretty Song Book. The nonsense words “hickory, dickory, dock” copy the tick-tock of a clock.
It makes a great counting game. Sing it again with the clock striking two, three, four, and let your child invent what the mouse does each time.
Questions parents ask
What does “the clock struck one” mean?
Old clocks chime once at one o’clock, twice at two o’clock and so on. The single loud chime is what frightens the mouse back down.
When was Hickory Dickory Dock written?
Nobody knows who wrote it, but it was first printed in 1744, which makes it one of the oldest rhymes still sung today.
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