Five Little Ducks Explained

Five Little Ducks is a traditional children's song. The rhyme also has an associated finger play. Canadian children's folk singer Raffi released it as a single from the Rise and Shine album.^[1] Denise Fleming's 2016 picture book 5 Little Ducks tells a reimagined version of the song.

Lyrics and music

Like all folk songs, the exact wording varies. A common variant is:

Five little ducks went out one day,Over the hills and far away.Mummy duck said, "quack quack quack quack,"But only four little ducks came back.

Four little ducks went out one day,Over the hills and far away.Mummy duck said, "quack quack quack quack,"But only three little ducks came back.

Three little ducks went out one day,Over the hills and far away.Mummy duck said, "quack quack quack quack,"But only two little ducks came back.

Two little ducks went out one day,Over the hills and far away.Mummy duck said, "quack quack quack quack,"But only one little duck came back.

One little duck went out one day,Over the hills and far away.Mummy duck said, "quack quack quack quack,"And all of the five little ducks came back.Hold up five fingersWave hand as if going up and down a hillMake opening and closing motion with hand, as if a beakHold up four fingers

Repeat actions,using the corresponding number of fingersas the numbers count down.^{[2] [3]}

Music

\new Staff <<\clef treble \key c \major >>\midi

Translations

• German: "Fünf kleine Enten"
• French: "Cinq petits canards"
• Italian: "Cinque paperelle"
• Portuguese: "Cinco patinhos"
• Spanish: "Cinco patitos"

See also

• List of playground songs

Notes and References

1. Clarke. Jenni. 2017-10-20. Five little ducks. Practical Pre-School. 2017. Sup202. 12. 10.12968/prps.2017.Sup202.11. 1366-610X.
2. Web site: Five Little Ducks. Scottish Book Trust. en. 2018-01-06.
3. Web site: Five Little Ducks Went Out One Day. 2018-01-06. en-US. King County Library System.