Number 1 - Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock is a popular nursery rhyme that contains the number one so it seems a good place to start for this series of number posts.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the rhyme it goes like this:

Hickory Dickory Dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one (DONG!)
The mouse ran down
Hickory Dickory Dock (tick tock tick tock)

There are lots of activities that you can do using this rhyme as a theme. You can focus on the number one, the mouse or the clock. Here are some ideas for you:

The Number 1
Obviously as this is the first number we don't need to practice counting up to 1 but it's a good place to mention that counting and number recognition starts here! Play with number bean bags , foam / magnetic numbers and number flashcards / number fans to learn to recognise the number. Draw / paint / chalk the number one - as a straight line down it's also one of the easiest numbers to learn to write.

The Mouse
Make a finger mouse puppet - make a cone from a piece of card and add ears, eyes, a tail and whiskers. Talk about mice generally - what noise do they make, where do they live, what do they like to eat etc.

The Clock
Make a pretend clock - use a paper plate or a circle of card to make the clock face, write on the numbers, make some hands to turn using some card (don’t forget the minute hand is longer than the hour hand) and attach them with a paper fastener. Look out for clocks - how many different ones can you spot?

Check out the range of telling the time items available at Littlesheep Learning if your child is older and interested in learning more about the the time.

The Rhyme
Attach your pretend clock to a box and make a grandfather clock and use your mouse finger puppet to act out the rhyme.