Boys and Girls Come Out to Play — Nursery Rhyme Lyrics

Boys and girls come out to play
the moon doth shine as bright as day.
Leave your supper and leave your sleep
and join your play fellows in the street.
Come with a whoop and come with a call
come with good will or not at all.
Up the ladder and down the wall
a half-penny loaf will serve us all.
You find milk and I'll find flour
and we'll have pudding in half an hour.

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Learning from "Boys and Girls Come Out to Play"

Nursery rhymes are some of the best teachers of rhythm and rhyme. "Boys and Girls Come Out to Play" uses 10 lines to create a memorable verse — proof that effective poetry doesn't need to be long. Pay attention to the meter: the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables is what makes the rhyme stick in your head.

Songwriters and poets can borrow these patterns. Try writing your own lyrics using the same rhyme scheme and line length as this nursery rhyme. You can also use words from the poem above as starting points — click any word to find rhymes or look up its definition, then build from there.

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Frequently asked questions

What are the words to Boys and Girls Come Out to Play?
The lyrics to Boys and Girls Come Out to Play are: Boys and girls come out to play / the moon doth shine as bright as day. / Leave your supper and leave your sleep / and join your play fellows in the street. / Come with a whoop and come with a call / come with good will or not at all. ... Read the full 10-line nursery rhyme at Rhyme Buster.
How many lines does Boys and Girls Come Out to Play have?
"Boys and Girls Come Out to Play" has 10 lines of verse.

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