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Music Education
Resources by Paula Downes, a lot of music by Andrew Downes

Hey Diddle Diddle FREE ANIMATION!

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Lyrics

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed,
To see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the Spoon.

*  Actions: Mime the Cat playing the fiddle with your arms; point to the cow jumping over the moon in the sky; lie down and shake your legs and arms in the air to act out the dog laughing; grab your child's hand and run around the room as though you are the dish and the spoon. 

*  Animal Sounds:  This is a good song to use to teach your child the animal sounds for the cat, the cow, and the dog.

*  Use the downloadable colouring page to point out the characters as you sing the song.

*  Find objects around the house and point to them as you sing the song.  For example:  a real or toy cat and a real or toy violin; a toy cow and a ball to represent the moon; a toy or real dog; a dish and a spoon.  Next, get your child to pick out the correct objects and to act out the song with the objects at each point during the song. 

History
The song is said to date back to the 16th Century and the words 'Hey Diddle Diddle' are typical of songs of that era.  There are many explanations as to the meaning of the lyrics.  One explanation could be that The Cat and the Fiddle is a pub, and the people at the pub are having so much fun, they begin to hallucinate and see strange things.  Another explanation is that it is meant to be a nonsense song to really get children's imaginations going.  A very similar version of the lyrics were first printed in Mother Goose's Melody in London around 1765.  The melody was first written down and published in 1870 by James William Elliott in his National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs.

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Music Education
Resources by Paula Downes, a lot of music by Andrew Downes

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