Lyrics
Five little monkeys swinging on a tree, Teasing Mr. Alligator, "Can't catch me, can't catch me!" Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be, and SNAP!
#Four little monkeys swinging on a tree… Three little monkeys swinging on a tree… Two little monkeys swinging on a tree… One little monkey swinging on a tree…
#Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Sung in
- English
- Words by
- Traditional
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- dancing, playful, counting
- Last updated
- 25 July 2026
How to sing it
- Hold up five fingers for the monkeys and swing your hand along the branch.
- Wag a finger for "can't catch me!" as the monkeys tease the alligator.
- Clap your hands together sharply on "SNAP!" — and put one finger down.
- Count down verse by verse until no monkeys are left.
Meaning and origin
This is counting practice with a jolt of danger. Five monkeys swing over the water, taunting the alligator below — can’t catch me! — and each verse one of them disappears in a sudden SNAP, until the tree is empty. Children love the build-up and the shock of the snap, and while they are enjoying it they are quietly counting backwards from five.
It belongs to a whole family of “Five Little Monkeys” songs, all built on the same idea of losing one monkey per verse; the better-known cousin has them jumping on a bed and bumping their heads instead of teasing an alligator. All of them are American counting fingerplays.
Its exact origin is not documented — no author and no clear date are recorded, which is usual for modern preschool songs that grow up in classrooms and get passed teacher to teacher rather than written down. What is certain is what it is for: a small, dramatic game that turns counting down into a countdown worth waiting for.
Common questions
- What kind of song is this?
- A counting-down fingerplay for young children. It starts with five monkeys and loses one each verse — here to a snapping alligator — until none are left, so children rehearse counting backwards while doing the actions.
- Is it the same as "Five Little Monkeys jumping on the bed"?
- They belong to the same family of "Five Little Monkeys" counting songs, all built on the same count-down-from-five idea, but they are different songs: this one has the monkeys teasing an alligator, the other has them bumping their heads on a bed.
- Who wrote "Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree"?
- No author or firm date is on record. Like most modern preschool fingerplays it comes from oral classroom tradition in the United States rather than from a single, documented source.
