Five Little Speckled Frogs facts for kids

"Five Little Speckled Frogs" is a nursery rhyme that originated in the United States. The song is meant to teach children subtraction by describing frogs jumping off a log into a pool, the number of frogs thus descending one by one throughout the song.

Lyrics

One version of the song is:

5 little speckled frogs, sat on a great big log,
Eating the most delicious bugs,
Yum, Yum.
1 jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
Now there are 4 speckled frogs,
Brup, Brup.

4 little speckled frogs, sat on a great big log,
Eating the most delicious bugs,
Yum, Yum.
1 jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
Now there are 3 speckled frogs,
Brup, Brup.

3 little speckled frogs, sat on a great big log,
Eating the most delicious bugs,
Yum, Yum.
1 jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
Now there are 2 speckled frogs,
Brup, Brup.

2 little speckled frogs, sat on a great big log,
Eating the most delicious bugs,
Yum, Yum.
1 jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
Now there is 1 speckled frog,
Brup, Brup.

1 little speckled frog, sat on a great big log,
Eating the most delicious bugs,
Yum, Yum.
She jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,
Now there are no speckled frogs,
Brup, Brup.

Variations

Alternate versions of the song uses flies, clinkers, or grubs instead of bugs. Some use "green and" instead of "little", or change the last frog's reference to "he", "they" or "one".

Hand motions

There are hand motions people can follow during the song.

• Line #1: By show of fingers hold up the number of frogs sitting on the log.
• Line #2: Draw in your hands close to your chest and curl your fingers downward, facing the floor as though you are a frog perched atop a log.
• Line #3: Mimic eating while you sing 'Eating some most delicious bugs', then rub your belly delightfully while singing 'yum, yum!'.
• Line #4: Hold one finger up to represent the frog who fell off the log.
• Line #5: Pretend to fall over.
• Line #6: By a show of fingers, hold up the number of frogs still remaining on the log while singing "Now there are four green speckled frogs". Upon singing "(glup, glup)", repeat the same movement as in the second line except look upward as though you were a frog underneath water.