✦ A Nursery Rhyme ✦

Pease Porridge Hot

A traditional Mother Goose nursery rhyme

Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, pease porridge in the pot, nine days old! A clapping rhyme about a very old-fashioned supper.

Watch the Read-Aloud Read the Rhyme

Read aloud by Storyland Classics  ✦  40 seconds  ✦  Watch on YouTube

✦ The Rhyme ✦

Pease Porridge Hot

Traditional English nursery rhyme. Public domain.

Pease porridge hot, Pease porridge cold, Pease porridge in the pot, Nine days old.

Some like it hot, Some like it cold, Some like it in the pot, Nine days old.

✦ About the Rhyme ✦

Nine Days Old

Pease porridge was a thick pea soup, a common everyday food in old England. It was often kept in a pot over the fire and added to for days, which is why it could be “nine days old.”

The rhyme was printed in the 1760s and is still used as a clapping game, with partners clapping their own hands and each other’s on each word.

✦ Talk About It ✦

Questions to Share

  • What is pease porridge made from?
  • How old is the porridge in the pot?
  • Do you like your soup hot or cold?

✦ Keep Reading ✦

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