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Five Little Monkeys actions: the fingerplay, line by line
The hand actions for Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, matched to the words of our version, and the extra verse at the end that most versions do not have.
Five Little Monkeys is a counting-down rhyme, and the actions are what make it one. Without them it is a song about a doctor. With them a child is counting on their own hand before they know that is what they are doing.
These actions match our version, which runs just over four minutes. The words are the traditional ones, with one extra verse at the end that is covered below. The full lyrics are on the site.
The actions
- "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed." Hold up five fingers and bounce the whole hand. Small bounces. This is the line children join first, so give it a clear shape you can repeat exactly.
- "One fell off and bumped his head." Fold one finger down, then tap your own head with the flat of your hand. Not hard. Toddlers copy the force as well as the shape.
- "Mummy called the doctor." Thumb to ear, little finger to mouth: a telephone. In our version it is Mummy on one verse and Daddy on the next. Swap hands if you like. Nobody is checking.
- "The doctor said, No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" Wag one finger. Slowly, on the beat. This is the line for the grown-up to do with a straight face, which is what makes it funny.
- "No more, no more." Two wags. Then back to four fingers and start again.
Each verse drops a finger. By the last verse there is one finger bouncing, and the child has counted from five to one without a number line in sight.
Two small things in our version that you can use. Two of the monkeys are girls: in the three-monkey and two-monkey verses it is "bumped her head". And the parent on the phone alternates, Mummy, Daddy, Mummy, Daddy, so a child listening closely gets a different word to wait for each time.
The verse at the end
Most versions stop when the last monkey falls off. Ours does not. After "one little monkey" there is a verse where no monkeys are jumping, none fall off, and the doctor says something different: "Put those monkeys back to bed!" Then all five come back and the song starts again.
Do actions for it. Five fingers lying flat on your other palm for the monkeys in bed, then all five back up for the restart. Children who have watched it more than twice wait for that line.
Why the actions matter more than the words
A two-year-old cannot say "doctor". A two-year-old can hold a pretend telephone. The actions let a child take part in the song a year before they can sing it, and they are how the counting goes in. The words come later, and they come faster because the hand already knows the order.
There is also a version set in space, with the same words and the same actions. The bed is in a spaceship. The monkeys are the same monkeys.