What’s not to love about the Five Little Monkeys rhyme? It’s educational (counting), involves a cautionary tale (don’t jump on the bed!), has fun rhythm and words, and… there’s bouncing!

Today, Veronika and I did exactly what the rhyme cautions not to: bouncing on the bed! I supported her firmly and bounced her up and down as I recited the words, enlisting big brother’s help to capture the huge grin on her face.

For extra fun, we added props! Our book of the rhyme has touch-and-feel elements on the monkey’s faces, and I added a phone so we could “call” the doctor whenever we reached that line.

Even more fun was bouncing along a stuffed monkey friend, to make the verse come alive for her.

In case you need a refresher, here are the words:

Five little monkeys bouncing on the bed.

One fell of and bumped his head.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,

“No more monkey business bouncing on the bed!”.

Repeat with four monkeys, then three, then two, then one. Then no more monkeys!