Old MacDonald Had a Farm is one of the most searched children's songs on the internet. Parents, teachers, and caregivers look up its lyrics millions of times each year — not just for the classic verses, but for every possible animal variation. Below you will find the complete lyrics, all standard animal verses, tips for extension activities, and the developmental reasons this song is far more powerful than it appears.
Here are the complete standard lyrics to Old MacDonald Had a Farm:
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O With a moo moo here and a moo moo there Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a pig, E-I-E-I-O With an oink oink here and an oink oink there Here an oink, there an oink, everywhere an oink oink Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a duck, E-I-E-I-O With a quack quack here and a quack quack there Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack quack Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a horse, E-I-E-I-O With a neigh neigh here and a neigh neigh there Here a neigh, there a neigh, everywhere a neigh neigh Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a sheep, E-I-E-I-O With a baa baa here and a baa baa there Here a baa, there a baa, everywhere a baa baa Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a chicken, E-I-E-I-O With a cluck cluck here and a cluck cluck there Here a cluck, there a cluck, everywhere a cluck cluck Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a dog, E-I-E-I-O With a woof woof here and a woof woof there Here a woof, there a woof, everywhere a woof woof Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O And on his farm he had a cat, E-I-E-I-O With a meow meow here and a meow meow there Here a meow, there a meow, everywhere a meow meow Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O
One of the greatest features of Old MacDonald Had a Farm is that it can be extended indefinitely. Here are additional animal verses widely used in classrooms and at home:
Turkey — gobble gobble
Frog — ribbit ribbit
Donkey — hee haw
Bee — buzz buzz
Goat — meh meh
Cow (calf) — moo moo (same as cow, good for revisiting)
Owl — hoot hoot
Snake — hiss hiss
Mouse — squeak squeak
Children love choosing the next animal. Asking 'What animal should we add?' builds vocabulary, decision-making, and creative language use simultaneously.
The origins of Old MacDonald Had a Farm are debated among music historians, but the earliest known printed version appeared in a collection of school songs published in 1917 in the United States, where it was called 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm.' Some scholars trace similar farm-animal call-and-response songs back to 18th-century England.
The spelling 'MacDonald' versus 'McDonald' has been a source of confusion since the song's early days. Both spellings are used, but 'MacDonald' is considered the traditional form in published song collections. The song's structure — introducing a new animal each verse, then repeating all previous animal sounds in reverse — is known as a 'cumulative song' structure, which appears in folk music across many cultures.
Old MacDonald Had a Farm delivers extraordinary developmental value across multiple domains:
Animal vocabulary: Each verse teaches the name and sound of a different animal. Children who know this song typically have a vocabulary of 8–12 farm animals and their corresponding sounds well before age 3.
Phoneme imitation: The animal sounds — moo, oink, quack, neigh, baa — require children to produce specific phonemes. This phoneme practice is directly linked to early speech development and articulation skills.
Memory and sequencing: The song's cumulative structure (all previous animals must be remembered and repeated in each new verse) is a powerful working memory exercise. By verse four or five, children are holding a growing sequence in mind — a cognitive skill that directly transfers to early reading and mathematics.
The E-I-E-I-O refrain: This recurring refrain is phonemically rich — it covers five different vowel sounds in sequence. Children who can sing E-I-E-I-O accurately have already mastered one of the most challenging aspects of English phonology: distinguishing between similar vowel sounds.
Call-and-response structure: The verse-refrain-verse structure teaches children the concept of musical pattern and predictability, developing the same neural pathways involved in grammatical rule learning.
Early childhood music specialists recommend these approaches to get maximum developmental value from Old MacDonald:
Let children pick the animals: Instead of following a fixed order, ask your child to choose the next animal. This builds vocabulary and creative thinking.
Make the sounds with your whole body: Flap arms for chickens, stomp for horses, wiggle for snakes. Physical embodiment of the sounds dramatically improves both retention and enjoyment.
Use real pictures: Show a photo or toy of each animal before singing its verse. This links the word, sound, and visual representation — a triple-encoding that accelerates vocabulary acquisition.
Slow the refrain down: When you reach 'E-I-E-I-O,' slow to half-speed and enunciate each vowel clearly. This turns the refrain into a vowel discrimination exercise.
Try it in reverse: Once your child knows the song well, try starting with the last animal and working backward. This challenges working memory in a new direction and keeps the song fresh.