Hand actions for Row Row Row Your Boat
Row Row Row Your Boat is an action rhyme, so act it out together as you sing. Here are the movements that go with each part:
- Sit facing your child, hold hands, and rock back and forth like rowing
- Row gently for "gently down the stream"
- Row a little faster for the "merrily" line
What does Row Row Row Your Boat mean?
A calm little song about rowing a boat gently down a stream and enjoying the ride, ending with the happy thought that life is like a lovely dream. It is often sung while rocking back and forth.
What Row Row Row Your Boat teaches
Beyond being fun to sing, this rhyme quietly builds several early skills:
- Rowing movements and coordination with a partner
- The word merrily and the idea of feeling happy
- A steady, gentle rhythm that soothes
- Singing as a round, later on, for older children
When your child knows it well, our fun games carry the same early skills into playful practice.
Where Row Row Row Your Boat comes from
Row Row Row Your Boat is a traditional American song first printed in the mid-1800s. It has no single author and is in the public domain, and is often sung as a round.
Fun activities
- Sit facing each other, hold hands and row back and forth
- Sing it slowly, then a little faster
- Try singing it as a round with an older child
Frequently asked questions
What are the words to Row Row Row Your Boat?
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.
How do you act out Row Row Row Your Boat?
Sit facing your child, hold hands, and rock gently back and forth as if you are both rowing a boat, going a little faster on the "merrily" line.
What is a round in Row Row Row Your Boat?
A round is when singers start the song at different times so the parts overlap. Older children enjoy singing Row Row Row Your Boat this way, but it is not needed for little ones.