Five Little Sloths Went Climbing One Day

Storytime Solidarity member Miss Danielle shares her backwards counting rhyme about sloths — with felt pieces! Ms. Danielle created this piece as an alternative to a problematic finger play.* Thank you, Ms. Danielle!

Lyrics:

Sing to the tune of “Five Little Ducks.”

Five little sloths went climbing one day
High in the canopies, where they like to play
The mama sloth called, ‘aahh-eeeee’
And only four little sloths came back

Count down until no sloths come back …

A worried mama sloth went climbing one day
High in the canopies, where they like to play
The mama sloth called, ‘aahh-eeeee’
And all the little sloths came back!

Origins:

Lyrics by Miss Danielle.

Tune from the traditional nursery rhyme “Five Little Ducks.”

*Note:

To be clear, “Five Little Ducks” is *not* problematic or racist. This tune is okay — no bad history or hidden meanings that we could find. This song submission is anti-racist because it provides an alternative to two very problematic rhymes/songs that count backwards from five: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed” and “Five Little Monkeys Swinging On a Tree, Teasing Mr. Alligator.” These two rhymes are so offensive in their origins that we don’t even want to use their tunes anymore, as the tunes alone can be triggering. So Miss Danielle set her backwards counting song to the tune of “Five Little Ducks,” which is not problematic, and this helps us let go of the songs/rhymes that are problematic.