The Farmer in the Dell: Lyrics & Story

Gather a group of friends into a circle and play “The Farmer in the Dell.” One child is chosen to be the farmer and stands in the middle while all the children sing the first verse. When “the farmer takes a wife,” the farmer chooses another child to join him or her in the middle. The game continues verse by verse, with each new child choosing the next child to join in the middle, until the last verse, when “the cheese stands alone.” At this point, all the children in the middle run back out to the circle, leaving the child, who is the cheese, left standing alone in the middle. This child then becomes the new farmer, and the game starts a new round.