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Five Little Speckled Frogs

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"Five Little Speckled Frogs" is a traditional nursery rhyme that originated in the United States.

This song is meant to teach children subtraction, in this case by describing frogs jumping off of a log into a pool, one by one.

Lyrics

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A recording of a single verse of the song "Five Little Speckled Frogs," with the viola playing the vocal portion.

One version of the song is:[1]

 \transpose bes d { \key ees \major \time 4/4 bes'8 bes'4 c''8 bes' g' ees' r | ees'' ees''4 f''8 ees'' c'' aes' r | bes' bes'4 c''8 bes' g' ees' g' | f' r bes' r bes' r4. | bes'8 bes'4 c''8 bes' g' ees' r | ees'' ees''4 f''8 ees'' c'' aes' r | bes' bes'4 c''8 bes' aes' g' f' | ees' r ees' r ees' r4. \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Five lit -- tle speck -- led frogs Sat on a speck -- led log Eat -- ing some most de -- lic -- ious bugs (yum yum) One jumped in -- to the pool Where it was nice and cool Now there are four green speck -- led frogs (glub glub) }

Alternate versions

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Alternate versions of the song use other sorts of insects or animals instead of frogs, although none of these songs seem to be as common.

Hand motions

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There are hand motions children may use to participate during the song.[2]

  • Line #1: By show of fingers, hold up the number of frogs sitting on the log.
  • Line #2: Draw in your hands close to your chest and curl your fingers downward, facing the floor as though you are a frog perched atop a log.
  • Line #3: Mimic eating while you sing 'Eating some most delicious bugs', then rub your belly delightfully while singing 'yum, yum!'.
  • Line #4: Hold one finger up to represent the frog who fell off the log.
  • Line #5: Pretend to fall over.
  • Line #6: By a show of fingers, hold up the number of frogs still remaining on the log while singing "Now there are four little speckled frogs". Upon singing "(glub, glub)", repeat the same movement as in the second line except look upward as though you were a frog underneath water.
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The band DragonForce's song Heart of a Dragon's melody is essentially the same as the melody of this song.

In the Disney park ride Peter Pan's Flight, the melody of this song plays through.

References

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  1. ^ "Five Little Speckled Frogs". 2012. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  2. ^ "Five Little Speckled Frogs – Aussie Childcare Network". 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
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