Download the video straight to your device for just 99p*

Wind The Bobbin Up

Join in with the actions in this traditional nursery rhyme. Will you be able to wind the bobbin fast enough?

Lyrics:
Wind the bobbin up, wind the bobbin up
pull pull
clap clap clap
wind it back again, wind it back again
pull pull
clap clap clap
point to the ceiling, point to the floor
point to the window
point to the door
clap your hands together, one, two, three
put your hands upon your knee
 
This song is great for teaching children hand co-ordination and even very young children can enjoy pointing around the room. 
 
What's a bobbin you ask? A bobbin is a cotton reel that fits in a machine for sewing or weaving, if you've ever used a sewing machine you'll know you need to wind a bobbin and insert it into the machine before it'll work. Winding bobbins is considered such a tedious job that even today people from Manchester and Lancashire describe anything rubbish as 'bobbins'.
 
Origin:
The song originates in northern English cotton mills built during the industrial revolution, the mills often used to employ children and one of their jobs was to wind the bobbins. The 'clap clap clap' in the song is supposed to mimic the 'clack clack clack' of the weaving shuttle. 
 
I first heard the big and tiny bobbin version at my local library's baby bounce. The speed of the last verse makes it more fun and usually causes giggles.
- Ed Hartwell
 
Video Credits:
Produced by Sarah Simi & Ed Hartwell (Woolly Vision)
Animation and Direction: Ed Hartwell
Art Direction: Sarah Simi
Puppet by Sarah Simi
Puppet outfit by Leeanne Bell
Set by Sarah Simi and Leeanne Bell
Music performed by Gemma Storr
Recorded by Steve Pretty

*Videos from amazon are free to watch for prime customers, £0.99 to download in the UK and $1.99 in the USA