Barb wrote:
I am looking for an action poem that has to do with head knocker, eye blinker, nose blower, mouth chewer, chin chopper, gulla gulla gulla…but I cannot remember all of it. Can someone remember for me? I’m getting old in my young age.
Mema
If anyone can help, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Lisa
This article was posted on Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Australia, Countries & Cultures, English, Finger Plays, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Readers Questions, United Kingdom, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
270 Responses to “Do You Know a Rhyme That Starts… “Head Knocker, Eye Blinker,…”?”
Leave a Reply
June 22nd, 2022 at 2:21 pm
I learned this as a summer camp song at Herman’s Son’s Youth Camp. Herman’s Sons is a German immigrant fraternal benefit society in Texas. “Hand on myself. Was ist Das hier? Das ist my ____ my mama dear. ____, ____ rinky dinky do. That’s what we learn in the school. Ja ja. Sweat boxer, eye blinker, nose blower, food pusher, chin chopper, heart tinker, bread basket, knee bender, toe stopper!
July 26th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
When I was little I remember my parents and siblings doing this to me
And now I do it with my babies.
Head bumper (point to forehead)
Eye blinker (point to eye)
Nose smeller (point to nose)
Mouth eater (point to mouth)
Chin chomper (point to chin)
Golly whopper (tickles under chin where meets neck)
August 25th, 2022 at 2:01 am
Hello,
I know the poem well. My grandfather would say it to My Father, who then passed it down to me, where I then used it with all 3 of my children. My kids are almost all grown up now, and still love when I say that riddle. It goes a little something like this;
Here’s where the cat sits
Here’s where he jumps
Eye-winker
Tom-tinker
Nose-smeller
Mouth-eater
Chin-chopper
Coochie, Coochie, coo
September 13th, 2022 at 7:27 pm
Here is the rhyme my uncle used with me in the mid 50’s:
Head bumper
Eye winker
Nose dropper
Mouth eater
Chin chopper
And, Gully, Gully, Gully
October 10th, 2022 at 11:46 pm
It was originally
Forehead bumper,
Eye blinker;
Nose sniffer,
Mouth eater;
Chin chucker, (*you dont chop a chin, you chuck it)
Gullet gullet gullet (* gullet —pronounced gully—refers to the throat area)
October 19th, 2022 at 1:17 am
My Canadian born dad used to sing, My hand on myself. Was ist Das hier? Das ist my sweat boxer my mama dear.
Eye winter, nose smaller, food pusher, chin chopper, wind chester, bread basket, knee knocker, toe stubber, Niki niki new das what I learned at da school. He would sing it with a German accent.
October 23rd, 2022 at 6:17 pm
My hand on myself, what is this here, this is my “Sweat Boxer” mother dear.
Nicky, Nicky, Nicky Doo… That’s what I learned at the school
{repeat above for each of the body parts below}
Sweat Boxer
Eye Blinker
Nose Blower
Chin Chopper
Soup Slopper
Chest Chinker (???)
Bread Basket
Knee Knocker
Toe Stomper
November 9th, 2022 at 12:25 am
My 4th grade teacher taught us this. It is a German song.
Wit my hands on myself, vas ist das hier? Das is my eye peeper, my mama dear.
eye peeper, nose blower, chin chopper, bread basket, knee knocker (repetitive)
Das what I learned in the school. Jah Jah
I was hoping for the correct words.
November 15th, 2022 at 6:45 pm
Head bumper, eye winker, tom tinker, nose smeller, mouth eater, chin chopper and then tickle the throat. I’m over 70, it was used on me, I used it on my two girls, my three grandchildren And now with two great grands.
December 20th, 2022 at 3:17 pm
With a head on my shoulders and what have we here?
Das is mein tinker-boxer my mama dear.
Tinkerboxer, tinkerboxer jah, jah, jah
That’s what we learn in this school This School!
With a head on my shoulders and what have we here?
Das is mein breadbasket my mama dear.
Breadbasket, tinker boxer jah, jah, jah
That’s what we learn in this school This School!
(Go through the body parts, adding one each time. This is a song, not just a poem.)
December 29th, 2022 at 3:41 am
My family may have adapted our own version of this, but it started by someone pointing at the forehead, eyes, nose, etc down to the neck where we’d get a tickle and we’d say:
“Head thinker,
Eye blinker,
Nose smeller,
Mouth eater,
Chin chomper…
Gitcha gitcha golly womper!”
I do it with my kids and just found this because I was searching to find out if A) this was a common thing and B) was it eye blinker or winker? Chin chomper/golly womper or chin chopper/golly wopper”? It’s been many years and I don’t entirely trust my memory
December 31st, 2022 at 7:50 pm
Forebumper eye winker Tom tinker nose smeller mouth eater chin chomper gilly gilly gilly gilly … I love all the variations you all shared .. but this is the one my mom taught me
January 27th, 2023 at 2:49 pm
I forgot all about this rhyme til the other day when I was wiping my grandbaby’s nose, and instinctively finished by tickling under her chin. My mother use to say it to my much younger brother. Then later, she said to my babies/her grandbabies. Thank you everyone that remembered the words I’d forgotten.
February 22nd, 2023 at 7:01 pm
My grandmother
did the below…
Head acher
Eye winker
Nose dropper
Mouth eater
Chin chopper
And, Gully, Gully, Gully
April 2nd, 2023 at 4:02 am
Omg, yes! My grandmother did this to us all the time when we were little:). I did it to my son, And now I do it to my grandbaby and he loves it!💙💙💙
My grandmother’s version:
Head achy
Eye winky
Nose dropper
Mouth eater
Chin chopper
-then tickle the neck😆❤️❤️❤️
April 17th, 2023 at 5:31 am
My aunt used to play this with us when we were kids and taught me it for my little girl
four bumper
eye blinker
nose blower
mouth muncher
chin Chomper
hehehe
but it goes to show you how you can take the same game and play it in different ways or use different words
May 10th, 2023 at 2:38 pm
I came across this thread looking for the lyrics of the song my Granny used to sing so I could sing it to my baby daughter. Between me and my sisters we remembered what she used to sing –
‘He touched me on the toe and said what’s that my dearo, that is my toe tapper my old bandolier’ then you go up the whole body
Toe tapper, heel hopper, shin shanker, knee knocker, thigh thumper (when you get to the genital region you make a sniff sniff sound 😆) belly bumper, breast heaver, chin chomper
Then you repeat the one you were on and go ‘that is my chin chomper my old bandolier’
Can’t find any other evidence of this anywhere on the internet so absolutely no idea where it came from! Interesting to see the other versions too.
December 31st, 2023 at 1:22 am
Touch forehead, then two eyes, nose, mouth and chin while saying:
Headacher
Eye winker
Tom tinker
Nose dropper
Mouth eater
Chin cheater
AND…..
(Followed by tickles)
My mom and dad did that with us in the 1960’s.
January 18th, 2024 at 8:51 am
Is my Jewish nursery school seventy years ago, we learned the body parts in Hebrew. The only verse I remember is “Rosh-thinker.” (Rosh is head.)
I wish I could find the rest.
January 18th, 2024 at 5:52 pm
Head Bumper
Eye Winker
Tom Tinker
Nose Dropper
Mouth Eater
Chin Chopper
Chin Chopper
Chin.
It’s a real moment of synchronicity for me today as I was teaching my little 5 year old friend this very song AFTER I taught him about Brain Tapping. Brain Tapping is the very same pattern except we don’t tickle as we do with “Chin chopper, chin chopper, chin” …and then to find you all talking about the same tapping song my Grandma, who was born in 1888, used to sing to my children. Thank you all!