Lyrics
Three jellyfish, Three jellyfish, Three jellyfish sitting on a rock. One jumped off! Splash!
#Two jellyfish… One jellyfish… No jellyfish, No jellyfish, No jellyfish sitting on a rock. One climbed up! Hooray!
#One jellyfish… Two jellyfish… Three jellyfish…
#Three Jellyfish at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Sung in
- English
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- traditional counting song; author unknown
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful, traditional, counting
- Last updated
- 25 July 2026
How to sing it
- Hold up fingers for the jellyfish sitting on the rock.
- On "one jumped off! Splash!", fold a finger down and make a big splash.
- Then count back up as they climb the rock again, cheering "Hooray!" each time.
Meaning and origin
This counting song is a little cleverer than most, because it goes both ways. Three wobbly jellyfish sit on a rock, and one by one they jump off with a big Splash!, so the count drops — three, two, one, none. Then it reverses: the jellyfish climb back up the rock one at a time, each return greeted with a cheerful Hooray!, and the count builds back up to three.
That there-and-back structure is what makes it worth singing. A plain countdown teaches “one less”; this one adds “one more” on the way back, so children practise subtracting and adding in the same song. It has no known author — it is a traditional preschool counting song, acted out with fingers, splashes and cheers — and the double journey, down to nothing and safely back again, gives it a satisfying shape that keeps young counters engaged to the end.
Common questions
- What is "Three Jellyfish" about?
- Wobbly jellyfish on a rock. One by one they jump off with a "Splash!" until there are none left — then, in reverse, they climb back up one at a time with a "Hooray!" So the song counts down to zero and then back up again.
- What does "Three Jellyfish" teach?
- Counting down and up, and the idea of "one less" and "one more". Going both directions — subtracting as they splash off, adding as they climb back — makes it a little richer than a plain countdown.
- Who wrote "Three Jellyfish"?
- No author is recorded. It is a traditional preschool counting song, acted out with fingers and splashes, and handed down with small variations.
