Lyrics
Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. And eyes and ears and mouth and nose. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes.
#Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Sung in
- English
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- 1912
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- dancing, playful, educational
- Last updated
- 25 July 2026
How to sing it
- Touch each part as you name it — head, shoulders, knees, toes, then eyes, ears, mouth and nose.
- Start slowly, then speed up each time round until everyone is in a tangle.
- For a challenge, leave out one word each verse but keep touching the part in silence — then two words, then three.
Meaning and origin
The words of this song are simply a list of body parts, and that is the whole point: it is a song for the hands more than the voice. You touch your head, your shoulders, your knees, your toes, and then race back up to eyes and ears and mouth and nose, faster each time, until the whole room is bending and pointing and getting hopelessly tangled.
It is not one of the ancient rhymes — it is documented from 1912 — and it does not really have its own tune. It borrows one, usually the melody of “There’s a Tavern in the Town”, though in Canada and some other places it is sung to “London Bridge Is Falling Down” instead. The words were only ever a frame for the actions.
Its best trick is the disappearing-word game. Each time through, you drop one word but keep touching the part in silence; then two words, then three, until you are miming most of the song and singing almost none of it. That is also why it turns up in language classes the world over: point, name, repeat, and a child learns the parts of the body — in English or any other tongue — without ever feeling taught.
Common questions
- What tune is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" sung to?
- Most often to the melody of "There's a Tavern in the Town". In Canada and some other countries it is sung instead to the tune of "London Bridge Is Falling Down".
- How old is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"?
- The song is documented from 1912. Its words are really just a list of body parts, so it has always been more a game and a teaching aid than a story.
- What is the "dropping words" game?
- A favourite way to play it: each time through, you stop singing one of the words but still touch that body part in silence. Verse by verse more words drop out, until you are miming most of the song — and usually laughing.
- Why is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" used in classrooms?
- Because it teaches the names of body parts through movement, which makes them stick. For the same reason it is a popular first song in language classes, where children learn the words in English or another language while pointing to themselves.
