One Two Buckle My Shoe is one of the oldest nursery rhymes which is still popular today. It can be traced back to Massachusetts in around 1780, but it wasn’t until 1805 that it was published across the ocean in London.
The rhyme is a counting song, created to help children learn their numbers similar to The Ants Go Marching. Like many other songs created to help children learn, the lyrics are rhythmical and therefore easy to learn but don’t carry a lot of meaning!
Actions are sometimes done to accompany the rhyme; this not only makes it more fun but also acts as a memory aid for children learning numbers. There are multiple versions of the song which have different items which rhyme with the numbers, and it can also be used in other children’s games such as hopscotch to count the times needed to jump, or in skip rope games too.
One Two Buckle My Shoe Lyrics
One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Knock at 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 in the kitchen;
Seventeen, eighteen,
Maids a-waiting
Nineteen, twenty,
My plate’s empty
One Two Buckle My Shoe Music Sheet
