Baa Baa Black Sheep Lyrics

One of the oldest English nursery rhymes still sung today, this verse has been traced back to around 1731 and shares its melody with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and the Alphabet Song. It's well matched to toddlers and preschoolers, ages 1-5, thanks to its short length, clear repetition, and easy-to-picture farmyard subject. The call-and-response structure, someone asking the sheep a question and the sheep answering, gives young children an early, playful model of conversational turn-taking, and early-childhood educators often note that rhymes built this way help toddlers grasp the back-and-forth rhythm of dialogue before they can hold a real conversation. Its centuries-long survival across generations of English nurseries also makes it a small piece of shared cultural literacy that connects children to the same rhymes their grandparents likely learned. Because the rhyme scheme is so simple and consistent, it's often one of the first rhymes a toddler can predict and finish on their own. For a broader look at these enduring classics, see this history of nursery rhymes and their origins.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full!

One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full!