Lyrics
I'm a little acorn brown Lying on the cold, cold ground. Everybody steps on me. That is why I'm cracked you see. I'm a nut. Click! Click! I'm a nut. Click! Click! I'm a nut, I'm a nut, I'm a nut. Click! Click!
#Called myself up on the phone Just to see if I was home. Asked myself out on a date. Said to be ready about half past eight. I'm a nut. Click! Click! I'm a nut. Click! Click! I'm a nut, I'm a nut, I'm a nut. Click! Click!
#Rights
The words of this song are by Dr. Jean Feldman and are still in copyright. They are reproduced here, credited, for family and classroom singing; no reuse licence has been obtained, and nothing on this page may be copied further. Rightsholders can ask for a correction or removal — see lyrics & credits.
I'm a Little Acorn Brown at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Sung in
- English
- Words by
- Dr. Jean Feldman
- First known
- published under Dr. Jean Feldman's copyright on her "I'm a Nut" song sheet; date not documented
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
How to sing it
- Curl up small as the little acorn lying on the ground.
- Give a comic wobble when everybody "steps on" the acorn and cracks it.
- On "I'm a nut. Click! Click!", move your head from side to side, as the song sheet directs.
- In the second verse, hold an imaginary phone to your ear.
Meaning and origin
This is a small comic song sung from the point of view of an acorn — and a very good-humoured acorn at that. It lies on the cold, cold ground, everybody steps on it, and it ends up thoroughly cracked, yet greets its own misfortune with a delighted I’m a nut! and a click, click of the head. The whole thing turns on the pun: an acorn really is a nut, so being “a nut” is both literally true and cheerfully silly. A second verse pushes the silliness further, with the nut telephoning itself to see if it is home and asking itself out on a date.
The text here comes from a song sheet titled “I’m a Nut” published under the copyright of Dr. Jean — Jean Rosenberg Feldman, an American teacher, author and writer of children’s learning songs born in 1947 — and this page credits the words to her, as the sheet names no other author. Children act it out — curling up small, wobbling when the acorn is stepped on, wagging their heads on the refrain — and its quick, repeatable shape makes it easy to sing over and over. Behind the joke is a nice little bit of nature, too, which the sheet suggests asking about: an acorn buried in the ground just might grow into a big oak tree.
Common questions
- What is "I'm a Little Acorn Brown" about?
- A cheerful acorn. Singing in the acorn's own voice, it lies on the cold, cold ground, everybody steps on it, and that is why it is cracked — then it happily announces "I'm a nut" with a click, click. A second verse has the nut ringing itself up to see if it is home and asking itself out on a date. The joke is the pun: an acorn is literally a nut, and being "a nut" is no insult at all.
- How is "I'm a Little Acorn Brown" performed?
- As an action song. Children curl up as the acorn, wobble when it is stepped on, move their heads from side to side on "Click! Click!", and hold an imaginary telephone in the second verse. It is short, silly and easy to repeat — and the song sheet suggests asking children what happens to an acorn buried in the ground: it might grow into a big oak tree.
- Who wrote "I'm a Little Acorn Brown"?
- The song sheet used here, titled "I'm a Nut", is published under the copyright of Dr. Jean — Jean Rosenberg Feldman (born 1947), an American teacher, author and writer of children's learning songs — and names no other author, so this page credits the words to her. Because she is living, the words are in copyright.
