Hickory Dickory Dock
Traditional Nursery Rhyme

This This well-loved nursery rhyme is packed with elements that help build early literacy skills. Rhyming, strong rhythm, syllables separated by notes of the melody all make it a great song to use with young children. And like most nursery rhymes, it is also a complete story, with all the elements of a longer one. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It has characters (clock and mouse), and even conflict and resolution! And while we’re at it, if you teach school-age children, this is why nursery rhymes are still a valuable tool. They distill story elements down to the simplest terms children can understand and use. And because they are complete stories, they make great little dramatic plays. A pair of mouse ears or a puppet, and a paper plate decorated like the face of a clock, and it’s show time! Don’t underestimate these little gems. Children will “perform” them over and over.

For this version I have included a little wordless folding book. I have a whole collection of these on my project website, Sing With Our Kids, so be sure to check out the others. There is a video to show you how to fold this single sheet, printed on only one side, and with a simple cut turn it into a six-page book! The illustrations beautifully tell the story, and any child who knows the song will immediately begin singing as they turn the pages.

And here’s a tip when making your little folding book:
After you have folded and made the cut, and folded again to be sure it’s the way you want it, open the paper completely and run a line of glue from a glue stick all around the edges of the back side of the sheet of paper. When you fold the book back up the pages will be locked in so children can’t “undo” the folding.
 out!

Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock