Mary Had A Little Lamb Circle Game

This old favourite nursery rhyme is popular with all little children, it has such a simple tune and small range (So Mi Re Do) so it is perfect for young children to sing and easy for them to remember. For the same reason, it is easy to play on the chime bars or a xylophone and is a perfect choice for First Piano Lessons. Because of the simple 5 finger tune, children of four to five years can often play it themselves with a little practice.

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,

Mary had a little lamb, it’s fleece was white as snow;

And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went,

Everywhere that Mary went, that Lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day, school one day, school one day,

It followed her to school one day, it was against the rules:

It made the children laugh and play, laugh and play, laugh and play,

It made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school!

Why does the lamb love Mary so? Mary so? Mary so?

Why does the lamb love Mary so? the children all did cry!

‘Cause Mary loves that lamb you know, lamb you know, lamb you know,

‘Cause Mary loves that lamb you know, the teacher did reply.

How To Play The Mary Had A Little Lamb Circle Game

This song works really well as a circle time game; one child is “Mary” and starts off by holding the lamb in the middle of the circle, and the children in the circle hold up their arms to form arches. Mary and her lamb then go on a little journey going in and out of the windows (in the style of In and Out the Dusty Bluebells.)

When the song finishes, Mary passes the lamb to the nearest child, and the song is repeated until everyone has had a go. This song does have quite a lot of verses, and if the children are quite young, sometimes it is easier to concentrate on the words of the first verse only, especially as they are moving at the same time.

Free piano music for Mary Had a Little Lamb: click the picture to download