Hand actions for Pat-a-Cake
Pat-a-Cake is an action rhyme, so act it out together as you sing. Here are the movements that go with each part:
- Clap your hands together on "pat-a-cake"
- Pat, then poke, then draw a letter B in the air
- Push your hands forward to put the cake in the oven
What does Pat-a-Cake mean?
A hand-clapping rhyme about a baker making a cake, marking it with the letter B, and baking it for the baby. It is a first clapping game for little hands.
What Pat-a-Cake teaches
Beyond being fun to sing, this rhyme quietly builds several early skills:
- Clapping and keeping a beat
- The letter B and first letter sounds
- Hand and finger coordination
- Copying and following simple actions
When your child knows it well, our alphabet flashcards carry the same early skills into playful practice.
Where Pat-a-Cake comes from
Pat-a-Cake is one of the oldest English nursery rhymes, printed all the way back in 1698. It has been a baby clapping game for more than three hundred years.
Fun activities
- Clap it together, hand to hand
- Mark the cake with the first letter of your child's name
- Pretend to bake a real cake afterward
Frequently asked questions
What are the words to Pat-a-Cake?
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man, bake me a cake as fast as you can. Pat it and prick it and mark it with B, and put it in the oven for baby and me.
What are the actions for Pat-a-Cake?
Clap your hands together, then pat and poke a pretend cake, draw a letter B in the air, and push your hands forward to put it in the oven.
How old is Pat-a-Cake?
It is one of the oldest nursery rhymes, first printed in 1698, which is more than three hundred years ago.