This Little Piggy

Hand actions for This Little Piggy

Act out This Little Piggy together as you sing. Here are the movements that go with each part:

• Wiggle or gently squeeze one toe (or finger) for each little piggy
• Save the last, littlest toe for the "wee, wee, wee" line
• Tickle up the foot or arm at the end

What does This Little Piggy mean?

A tickling toe-rhyme played on a baby, with one little piggy for each toe, ending in a happy tickle. It is a bonding game between a grown-up and a child more than a story.

Early literacy and speech benefits of This Little Piggy

Nursery rhymes play a foundational role in early childhood literacy. Singing and reciting This Little Piggy helps toddlers and preschoolers develop phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds in spoken words. Children who know nursery rhymes by heart learn to read more easily because they understand the natural cadence, rhyming structures, and patterns of the English language.

What This Little Piggy teaches

This Little Piggy is fun to sing and quietly builds several early speech and reading skills:

• Body awareness, especially toes and fingers
• Counting to five, one piggy at a time
• Gentle bonding and safe, loving touch
• Listening and waiting for the tickle

Classroom circle-time and home learning activities

Here are simple, engaging ways to bring This Little Piggy to life in preschool classrooms or at home:

• Read Aloud Karaoke: Use the Read aloud button above to listen to the song line by line, encouraging children to track the highlighted words with their eyes.
• Handwriting & Motor Skills: Click Writing practice to generate a light gray letter-tracing sheet. Children can practice holding a pencil while tracing the exact lyrics.
• Rhyming & Rhythm Clapping: Sing the rhyme while clapping on every accented beat to reinforce auditory rhythm and syllable segmentation.

When your child knows This Little Piggy well, explore our <a href="/counting-game/">counting game</a> to continue building reading and rhythm skills through play.

Where This Little Piggy comes from

This Little Piggy is an English toe-rhyme, with its first line printed as far back as 1728. Grown-ups have played it on babies' toes for centuries.

Fun extension activities

• Play it on your child's toes, then their fingers
• Count the five little piggies together
• Let your child play it back on your hand

Frequently asked questions