 |
| One through Twelve, from an old children's book |
Click to see Vol. I, Issue 7 of the newsletter in which this article first appeared.
Listen to the audio of this article!
Parents and teachers can read these rhymes aloud, and encourage little ones to repeat and even memorize them (I did when I was a kid!)
With this old rhyme, kids can have fun while they practice counting. There are many different versions of this rhyme; this is the one I learned. But I never learned a melody for this as a kid, and none of the sources I've checked seem to be traditional, so I'll just say it.
One, two, buckle my shoe!
Three, four, shut the door!
Five, six, pick up sticks!
Seven, eight, lay them straight!
Nine, ten, a big fat hen!
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve!
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting!
Fifteen, sixteen, maids a-kissing!
Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting!
Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty!
--------
Some words to talk about:
Before we look at separate words, let me comment on the more difficult lines.
One, two, buckle my shoe!
- Long ago, shoes had buckles, like the kind we see on belts today. Nowadays we would say "tie my shoe."
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve!
- Delve is an old word that means the same as dig. Today we might use it for "investigate": Delve into a mystery.
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting!
- To court is an old-fashioned word meaning "to look for a husband or wife." Today we don't usually court, we date. It can mean "try to get someone's attention" or "get someone to like us."
- buckle: close with a buckle, a special kind of clasp or closer
- courting: trying to attract a boy or girl to be one's boyfriend or girlfriend
- delve: dig, or investigate
ACTIVITIES
For each line, have your kid do some "pretending." Before you look at my suggestions below, ask your kid what she or he thinks is the best way to "pretend" each line.
One, two, buckle my shoe!
- Bend over as if tying your shoe.
Three, four, shut the door!
- Pretend to shut a door. Some people say "Knock on the door"; your kid can do that instead.
Five, six, pick up sticks!
- Pretend to pick up sticks from the ground.
Seven, eight, lay them straight!
- Pretend to lay the sticks down again, one by one, side by side.
Nine, ten, a big fat hen!
- Pretend you're a chicken! Put each hand in your armpit and "flap" your elbows, while walking around and "pecking" at the ground.
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve!
- Pretend to dig a hole with a big (pretend) shovel.
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting!
- Act like a girl seeing a boy she likes: tilt your head, look down, smile a little, blink your eyes quickly, cover your face like you're shy, and so on.
Fifteen, sixteen, maids a-kissing!
- Give you hand a big kiss--or a lot of them!
Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting!
- Stand and look around like you're waiting for someone. Cross your arms, tap your foot, check your watch, and so on.
Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty!
- Hold up a (pretend) plate to show it's empty. Smile big!
Discussion: Does this make the numbers easier to remember? Which one do you think is funny? Which one is hard to understand?
Please leave a comment - I can't WAIT to hear from you!