This Little Piggy facts for kids

"This Little Piggy" is a well-known English nursery rhyme. It is also a fun fingerplay, which means you use your fingers or toes to act out the words. People often play this rhyme with babies and toddlers.

The Words and How to Play

Children playing This Little Pig.

Here are the most common words for "This Little Piggy." Next to each line, you'll see how to play along using someone's toes!

Playing the Game

"... This little piggy had roast beef..."

This rhyme is usually played by counting on a baby or toddler's toes. You start with the big toe for the first line. Then you move to the next toe for each line that follows. The game finishes on the little toe. When you say "Wee...all the way home," you gently tickle the bottom of the foot. It's a simple and fun way to interact with little ones.

Where Did It Come From?

The very first line of "This Little Piggy" appeared in a song called "The Nurses Song" in 1728. The full rhyme, as we know it today, was first written down around 1760. It was in a book published in London called The Famous Tommy Thumb's Little Story-Book.

In that old book, the rhyme was a little different:

The rhyme continued to be printed in many collections of songs and stories from the late 1700s and early 1800s. Until the middle of the 1900s, the lines often talked about "little pigs" instead of "this little piggy."