Jack Sprat song is a popular English nursery rhyme that was published in 1797 in Samuel Arnold’s children’s songbook “Juvenile Amusement.” This rhyme, which is now famous as a children’s song, had a different meaning in the 16th century. In the 16th century, the term “Jack Sprat” was used to refer to people of small stature. In those days, this poem was a popular English proverb that appeared twice in John Clarke’s collection of sayings:
Jack will eat not fat, and Jull doth love no leane.
Yet betwixt them both they lick the dishes cleane.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
This saying became a popular English nursery song when it was printed in Mother Goose’s Melody around 1765.
Lyrics Of Jack Sprat In English
Nursery rhymes help to lay the foundation for early language and reading skills in children. Children who start reciting these nursery rhymes and songs early in their life are much more likely to develop strong reading and language skills.
Here are the lyrics of the famous Jack Sprat poem for kids.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean.
And so between them both, you see,
They licked the platter clean.
Jack ate all the lean,
Joan ate all the fat.
The bone they picked it clean,
Then gave it to the cat.
What Will Your Child Learn From Jack Sprat?
Nursery rhymes and songs are a fun way to teach your children about music, rhyme and language. Teaching kids the lyrics of nursery rhymes help them remember the rhyme forever. The nursery rhyme Jack Sprat will help the kids learn rhyming patterns and vocabulary words. Apart from this, this poem will also help children in speech development. They will imitate repetitive words they hear from the song, like “cat” – “fat.” The more the children will listen to it, the more they’ll remember it until they can finally enunciate the words properly.
Theme Of The Rhyme Jack Sprat
In this rhyme, the children will come across two characters. One is the character Jack Sprat, and another is his wife. The wife is depicted as a plump woman who is fond of eating food. Therefore, the wife is plump and often portrayed as eating more than his husband in the poem. But the husband is a lean fellow who does not eat much. He prefers to eat lean foods like vegetables. Both the characters used to eat in this way, and therefore, no food was wasted as they ate to their fill. That’s why their plates always remain clean after eating.
Rhyming Scheme Of Jack Sprat
This nursery rhyme is only eight lines long. The first four lines of the rhyme follow the ABCB rhyme pattern, while the following four lines follow the ABAB rhyme pattern.
Words That Your Child Will Learn From Jack Sprat
Jack Sprat rhyme is an excellent poem to teach children about food and why one should eat healthily. Along with this, this nursery rhyme is ideal for teaching some important words like sight words, rhyming words and vocabulary words that are mentioned below.
Sight Words
- Could
- No
- And
- So
- Between
- Them
- Both
- You
- See
- They
- The
- All
- It
- Then
- Gave
- To
Vocabulary Words
- Eat
- Fat
- Licked
- Platter
- Clean
- Ate
- Bone
- Picked
Animals
- Cat
Rhyming Words
- Lean – Clean
- Fat – Cat
Suggested Activities
It is easy for children to learn anything when it is accompanied by fun games and activities. When it comes to teaching poems to kids, it is important to keep the learning fun and upbeat and provide a variety of activities for students to learn with. The more opportunities children have to remember the poem and songs, the better. To help the kids remember the rhyme, we have come up with some amazing learning activities that they will love.
Before we proceed, remember that you should not force your child to learn the rhyme. Let the motivation come from them.
1. Colour The Healthy Food
- Give your little one a printed sheet of pictures of healthy food and junk food items.
- Now explain to your child the difference between the two, along with some examples.
- After this, ask your child to identify healthy and junk food items and colour them.
- Once they are done with colouring, you can serve them one healthy dish.
- Don’t forget to play the nursery rhyme in the background and encourage your little one to sing along while performing the activity.
2. Rhyming Words
- There are a lot of rhyming words in this poem.
- Pick any word from the poem and ask your kid to come up with a rhyming word that goes with that word.
- For example, Chatter can go with Platter, and Cat can go with Mat, Wife rhymes with Life, etc.
- This activity will help the kids to learn some new rhyming words along with some words that they can add to their vocabulary.
FAQs
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions related to Jack Sprat nursery rhyme.
1. What type of rhyme is Jack Sprat?
Jack Sprat is a nursery rhyme that can be taught to kids. A toddler or a pre-schooler will be able to sing this rhyme easily. But if not, do not force them to learn it.
2. How to teach kids the Jack Sprat nursery rhyme?
Start with reciting the poem in front of your kid, along with the actions. Repeat the rhyme twice a day, and your child will soon start singing along. The activities mentioned above can also be very helpful in remembering the Jack Sprat nursery rhyme.
3. Does the poem Jack Sprat refer to King Charles I?
The poem Jack Sprat is said to probably originate as a satire on a public figure, King Charles I. The parliament denied King Charles I’s taxation policies. Therefore, he was said to be left “lean” for not having enough financial resources. But, when King Charles I dissolved the parliament, he imposed his taxation policies on the public without any hindrance at all. Thus, “he licked the platter clean.” So, the word “platter” in the poem is a metaphorical reference to the commoner’s hard-earned money.
Also Read:
Old Mother Hubbard Rhyme for Kids
Early To Bed Rhyme with Lyrics for Children
The ‘B-I-N-G-O’ Rhyme for Nursery Kids
