Lyrics
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed, One fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, “No more jumping on the bed!” Four little monkeys jumping on the bed, One fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, “No more jumping on the bed!” Three little monkeys jumping on the bed, One fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, “No more jumping on the bed!” Two little monkeys jumping on the bed, One fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, “No more jumping on the bed!” One little monkey jumping on the bed, One fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, “No more jumping on the bed!”
#Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🌐 Unknown
- Sung in
- English
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- In circulation before Eileen Christelow’s 1989 picture-book adaptation
- Best for ages
- 2–6
- Mood
- counting, playful, educational
- Last updated
- 24 August 2026
How to sing it
- Begin slowly so everyone can hear the repeated words and the action cue.
- Use five fingers as monkeys, fold one down after each bump, mime the telephone, and keep all jumping imaginary.
- Repeat the song once and invite a different child to lead the cues.
Meaning and origin
This fingerplay tells the same tiny accident five times while changing one important detail: after each fall, there is one fewer monkey on the bed. The telephone call and the doctor’s warning stay constant, so children can anticipate the words while watching the number fall from five to zero. Used with five raised fingers, the rhyme makes “take one away” visible without turning the song into a formal arithmetic lesson.
Eileen Christelow published her picture-book adaptation in 1989, but she did not claim to have created the rhyme. She has explained that she learned the fingerplay from her preschool-age daughter years earlier and regarded it as already in the public domain. The sources retrieved for this page do not establish an earlier author, first publication, country or date, so the page does not attach the traditional rhyme to Christelow or invent a more precise origin.
The safest action version keeps the whole story in the hands. Hold up five fingers as the monkeys, fold down one finger after every bump, mime the telephone and wag a finger for the doctor’s reply. Nobody needs to jump on furniture: the repetition, gestures and countdown already provide the game.
Common questions
- Did Eileen Christelow write Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed?
- Eileen Christelow adapted the fingerplay as a picture book in 1989, but she says she had learned the rhyme from her preschool-age daughter and that it was already in the public domain. Its earlier author, date and place of origin remain unknown.
- Why does Five Little Monkeys count down to zero?
- Each repeated verse removes one monkey after a fall, changing five to four and continuing until none are left. That repeated one-less pattern makes the rhyme a simple subtraction activity as well as a fingerplay.
