Hickory Dickory Dock...
A Clock Counting Game

© Beverley Paine

Hickory Dickory Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down!
Hickory Dickory Dock.

As child I treasured my copy of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. I taught myself to read by remembering off by heart all the rhymes and poems. With a little bit of creative ingenuity you can use many of these rhymes to enrich learning in all areas of the curriculum. I hope you enjoy the following game I made up while lying in bed this morning.

The craft part of this activity requires adult supervision and help.

You will need 12 large broad beans, 12 2cm lengths of white yarn or string, a texta pen, ruler, pencil and eraser, sturdy card, a drawing compass, protractor, glue gun and glue, a drill and bit or nail punch and hammer, scissors or craft knife, small plastic or paper cup, 2 different coloured pop sticks.

To play this game you will need to make a clock and 12 small 'mice'.

How to make the clock

On the sturdy card draw a circle about 20cm diameter. You can draw around a plate or use the drawing compass. Lightly draw two intersecting lines with a ruler using the pencil to find the centre of the circle. Use this point and the protractor to mark in the positions of the hours around the clock, beginning at the top (12 oclock) and working your way around every 30 degrees. Write in the numbers 1 to 12 using the texta pen and erase all the pencil marks. If you wish to use this clock for other clock activities you might like to mark in the minutes too, writing them in above teh hour marks, starting with 1 and finishing with 60 just above the 12 hour mark.

Shorten one of the coloured pop sticks by about one third. Punch a hole through one end of each coloured pop stick, and through the centre of the clock face. Fasten these together using the paper fastener so that the hour hand (short pop stick) is closest to the clock face. When you turn the minute hand (long pop stick) you may need to hold onto the hour hand to stop it moving.

How to make the mice

Glue a short piece of yarn to one end of each bean. Draw in two eyes and two ears. You can paint the beans if you wish.

How to play

If you can think of any other ways to use the clock and mice together please email me and I'll add them to this page.

Teach the child the song/rhyme. Gather a number of mice into a small cup and as you sing/say the song/rhyme together toss them gently onto the table by the clock. Ask the child how many mice ran up the clock. Say you tossed three mice. Sing the song again as the child moves the hands of the clock into the three o'clock position, changing the words to:

Three mice ran up the clock.
The clock struck three,
Oh dear me!
Hickory Dickory Dock.

Create a rhyme for the third line, or use the words from the link below.

Other Activities

If you'd like to learn to sing the whole song, all the words can be found on the DLTK's Printable Crafts For Kids website.

Make a cute cardboard clock and mouse to play with while singing the song.