The Farmer’s In His Den is the perfect choice for playgroups and parties. It has an easy repetitive tune and it’s sung as a simple circle game, that gets everyone involved.
Kids really love it’s catchy “EE-I-AD-I-O” refrain, and so they’ll often pick it up well before they can sing the rest of the words. In other parts of the world, this song is sometimes sung as “The Farmer’s In His Dell”, but this is the version we usually sing in the UK.
The Farmer’s In His Den
The farmer’s in his den,
The farmer’s in his den,
EE- I- AD-I-O,
The farmer’s in his den.
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The farmer wants a wife….
The wife wants a child….
The child wants a nurse….
The nurse wants a dog….
The dog wants a bone…
We all pat the bone! (GENTLY!)
Circle Game Activity
- Start by choosing one child to be the farmer, and then everyone joins hands in a circle and sings the first verse as they go around the farmer.
- Each verse requires another volunteer, first the farmer chooses a wife, the wife chooses a child, and so on, until there is quite a gathering in the centre of the circle.
- Finally everyone finishes the song by patting the bone (which is rather strange!). Sometimes it just makes more sense to pat the dog, but then nursery rhymes are often known for their nonsensical words!
Storytelling Activity
- An alternative way to sing this song is to use little toys to represent the farmer and all of the other characters.
- This works well if you don’t have enough children to sing the circle game activity, or if they are a little too young to understand and don’t want to go in the middle of the circle.
- Keep the little toys hidden until it is the right time in the song for them to come out. Encourage the children to identify each character as they are added to the group.
Print off the sheet music (easy piano) for The Farmer’s In His Den by clicking the image below. If you’re looking for more farm songs to sing with kids, check out our collection here.
I learned and taught this song as “The Farmer in the Dell.” But like all good folk songs, it is bound to have more than one set of words. I love the idea of using toys to act out the song! Even one or two children could enjoy it. And I can imagine it leading to making puppets and staging “Farmer!: The Musical.”
I LOVE the idea of “Famer! : The Musical!” such a good idea! Endless possibilities for creativity!