Hickory Dickory Dock

The mouse and the clock

A little mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, and the mouse ran down. Hickory dickory dock. The mouse came back another time, and the clock struck two. Again, the mouse hurried down. The steady clock, the small mouse and the repeated sounds make the rhyme easy to remember. Children can join in with the words and pretend to run up and down like the mouse. The rhyme focuses on one simple event rather than a long adventure. Lesson: A familiar routine can become a playful story when we listen closely.

Read, repeat and talk

Read the rhyme slowly once, then read it again with a gentle beat. Pause before "one" or "two" and let your child say the number. Use your finger to show the mouse moving up and down, or make the movement with your hand. Ask, "Where did the mouse go?" and "What did the clock do?" Talk about clocks your child has seen at home, school or a railway station. You can say the repeated line together and invite your child to tap softly like a clock.

Simple activities with the rhyme

Let your child colour a mouse, clock and number pictures, then place the pictures in story order. Count the clock hands, bells or number marks shown on an activity sheet. Make a paper mouse and move it up and down beside a drawn clock. For a movement break, stretch up when the mouse runs up and crouch down when it runs down. Older preschoolers can match number cards to clock faces showing one and two, while younger children can simply point, name and colour.