Once upon a time…
I discovered the amazing work of Trisha Lee, Founder of the U.K.’s Make-Believe Arts.
We share a passion for the magic of Vivian Gussin Paley’s storytelling/storyacting process, which Trisha has lovingly re-named “Helicopter Stories,” in honor of Paley’s landmark book The Boy Who Would be a Helicopter.
Vivian herself was a strong advocate for Trisha’s work as she explored story with young children in the UK! Swoon!
I’m delighted and honored that Trisha has agreed to share her work with Imagination on the Move, in celebration of World Nursery Rhyme Week, November 9-13!
Hickory Hickory Dock
with Trisha Lee!
What happens when children become the mouse?
Hickory Dickory Dock is one of those nursery rhymes most of us can say without thinking.
Hickory Dickory Dock!
The mouse runs up the clock.
The clock strikes one…
The mouse runs down.
Hickory Dickory Dock!
But what if we stopped for a moment and imagined being that mouse?
What if we looked up at the clock and saw how high it was? How would we climb it? And what would we do when the clock struck ONE?
But even before we become the mouse, we need to become the clock.
Can we stretch up tall? Could one arm become a pendulum, swinging slowly from side to side?
Tick… tock… tick… tock…
Next we crouch down low. Twitch our noses. Twitch our whiskers. Wriggle our claws. And we’re ready to scurry.
This is what I love about acting out stories with children. We give ourselves time to imagine what is happening.
A word like scurry becomes a movement we can try and try again.
We feel how small the mouse is, how tall the clock is, and what a surprise that sudden DONG might be.
🐭 ⏰ 🐭
My name is Trisha Lee, and I’m the creator of Story Steps.
I’m delighted Stephanie has invited me to share this free * Hickory Dickory Dock Story Steps adventure with you and your children for World Nursery Rhyme Week.
What you’ve just imagined is a taste of how it works. In the video, I invite the children to become the clock and the mouse, with music and sound effects to bring the adventure to life.
I created Story Steps to give children more opportunities to get to know stories this way, through movement, imagination and the pleasure of acting them out together.
🐭 Watch Hickory Dickory Dock Story Steps Video! ⏰
Alongside the video, you’ll find story cards to help revisit and retell the adventure, key vocabulary to explore through movement, and a printable script so you can act it out away from the screen.
I hope you enjoy discovering just how much story there is inside this little rhyme.
And if you’d like more stories, free resources and ideas to try with your children, you’re very welcome to join our story community.
It’s where I share stories from the classroom, as well as information about Story Steps, Helicopter Stories, (where children tell their own stories and act them out together), and The Poetry Basket, (where poems and actions become part of everyday life with your children.)
I look forward to seeing you there,
Best wishes,
Trisha Lee
* Available just til 12/18…so scurry right over!
More on Nursery Rhymes!
This is the third year we’ve joined early educators around the world to celebrate the joyful power of nursery rhymes!
Check out our previous newsletters below for lots more information and idea!
You’ll learn WHY nursery rhymes are so important for young children (can you say…phonemic awareness? And resilience?)
And… a basket full of ways to help children make meaningful connections with these age-old favorites of children’s literature.
(PLUS: a look at some of my favorite nursery rhyme collections!)
Find any of your favorite rhymes? Click the pix for our 2025 and 2024 newsletter nursery rhyme fun!
Note: The newsletter links to the “official” World Nursery Rhyme Week activities from past years are no longer active, but there’s lots more fun included!
Love the idea of nursery rhymes but already planning for a month of yummy food explorations? I got you! 🥧 🍎 🥦 🦃
Click for a newsletter devoted to the many FOOD nursery rhymes and how to use nursery rhymes to support self-regulation!
Even MORE on
World Nursery Rhyme Week !
Hickory Dickory Dock is just ONE of the five rhymes selected for World Nursery Rhyme Week, 2026! The others are:
🚣🏽♀️ Row, Row, Row Your Boat
🐈 Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
🎣 One, two, three four five, I’ve caught a fish alive
🩺 Doctor Foster went to Gloucester
If you register, you’ll get free resources for each!
What’s YOUR favorite nursery rhyme? Do you use nursery rhymes in your setting? Comment below! 🐭
