What does Little Miss Muffet mean?
A little girl sits happily eating her food until a spider comes along and gives her a fright, sending her running. It is a short, gently spooky rhyme with a spider surprise.
What Little Miss Muffet teaches
Beyond being fun to sing, this rhyme quietly builds several early skills:
- New words like tuffet, curds and whey
- A simple story with a beginning, middle and end
- That it is okay to feel a little scared sometimes
- Rhyming words (Muffet / tuffet)
When your child knows it well, our coloring pages carry the same early skills into playful practice.
Where Little Miss Muffet comes from
Little Miss Muffet was printed in 1805. A "tuffet" is a low stool or a small grassy mound, and "curds and whey" is a soft food a bit like cottage cheese.
Fun activities
- Talk about what curds and whey might taste like
- Make a spider with your fingers and creep it along
- Ask your child what they would do if a spider sat beside them
Frequently asked questions
What are the words to Little Miss Muffet?
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider who sat down beside her and frightened Miss Muffet away.
What is a tuffet and what are curds and whey?
A tuffet is a low stool or a small grassy mound to sit on. Curds and whey is a soft, lumpy food made from milk, a little like cottage cheese.
Was Little Miss Muffet a real girl?
Some people think she was based on a girl named Patience Muffet from long ago, but there is no firm proof, so it is best treated as a story.