Some nursery rhymes are created just for fun. Sally Goes Round the Sun belongs to this category. It is a dance/ game rhyme where you get kids to engage in a physical activity like holding hands, going around in circles, clapping, etc.
The rhyme belongs to the early 1900s and has been a part of children’s rhymes ever since. Naturally, there are quite a few versions of this short piece with different lyrics. All versions are used to make kids play and learn something new. After all, learning is best done when playing.
Read on to find out more.
Written Lyrics
Sally go round the sun,
Sally go round the moon,
Sally go round the chimney pots
On a Sunday* afternoon.
*can be replaced by every
Printable Lyrics
Get the lyrics of Sally Goes Round the Sun rhyme by downloading the printable PDF from here.
Photo Lyrics
Click on the below image to save it on your device(attached).
Video Links
Here’s a cute video of the rhyme:
Check out another adorable video with lyrics:
Origins and History
Sally Goes Round the Sun is a short four-line nursery rhyme first recorded in the Journal of American folklore, Volume 31. This volume was collected in Toronto, Canada, in 1909. The rhyme is considered a traditional song for a popular dance game. Any number of kids can be included in this game. In fact, the rhyme is best suited to engage large groups of kids at once.
So how do they play the game?
It’s simple. Make the kids stand in a circle and hold hands with their neighbors. Place an item in the center (or you can stand in the middle so that kids form a circle around you). Once done, you sing the rhyme as the kids start moving in the clockwise direction.
Next, repeat the song the second time. Ask kids to move in the anti-clockwise direction. Continue this for as long as you want. You can replace the name Sally with the names of each kid in the circle to make it more interesting.
Depending on which version you choose, you can change the days of the week in the last line. Start with Sunday and continue until you reach Saturday. This way, you can teach the days to kids while entertaining them with the game.
In one version, the word ‘boom’ is added at the end of the rhyme. Kids can say this aloud and use it as a signal to change the direction of their movement (clockwise to anti-clockwise and vice versa).
FAQs
Since the rhyme includes the sun and moon, you can teach them how the earth revolves around the sun and how the moon revolves around the earth.
One kid can be Sally, another can be the sun, the third can be the moon, and the fourth can be the chimney top.
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