Ooey Gooey was a Worm – A Poem for Young Kids
June 9th, 2017
“Ooey Gooey was a Worm” is a great poem for little kids to learn and recite. The words are as follows:
Oooey gooey was a worm
And a mighty worm was he
He sat upon a railroad track
And a train he did not see,
Oooey Gooey!
Enjoy!
Many thanks to Dean Brown for sharing this poem with us!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2017 at 8:15 pm and is filed under English, Languages, Poems about Bugs, Poetry. 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.
29 Responses to “Ooey Gooey was a Worm – A Poem for Young Kids”
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December 21st, 2017 at 3:15 pm
Wo . I have not herd this sinse i was 7 .. i was telling it to my 3yo and sudenly thought .. oh i wonder if thrs another verse .. but that would be silly 😎🤣
June 6th, 2018 at 6:09 pm
This poem can be found in print as far back as 1938 in the Colorado Transcript, Number 28, May 12, 1938
July 27th, 2018 at 8:29 pm
This is not how I heard the poem back in the 70’s. Here’s how I heard it:
Ooey Gooey was a worm.
A mighty worm was he.
He stepped upon a railroad track,
A train he did not see.
Ooey Gooey WAS a worm.
I like this version better because the final line, by emphasizing “WAS”, really tells what happened to the worm. And the kids like that the final line and 1st line are the same words, but mean different things.
March 8th, 2019 at 12:41 pm
I learnt this version..
Ooey Gooey was a worm.
A fine young worm was he.
He ventured on a railway track,
The train he did not see.
OOch OUch! Splatter Splutter,
Ooey Gooey’s Peanut Butter
April 15th, 2019 at 6:44 pm
My mother taught it to me as
Oooey Gooey was a Worm, Oooey Gooey like to squirm, Oooey Gooey got stepped on,….ooey gooey!
June 5th, 2019 at 1:09 am
See that’s how I remember it too Kimberly Lee Smith from the 1960’s.
January 15th, 2020 at 5:33 pm
This is how I learned it in the 1950’s.
Icky wicky was a worm, a noble worm was he
He stepped upon a railroad track, approaching train he did not see
SQUISH – Icky wicky is now Ooey Gooey!
May 17th, 2020 at 8:35 pm
Here’s the version of the 30s:
Ooey Gooey was a worm,
A big fat worm was he.
He sat upon the railroad tracks;
The train he did not see.
Ooey gooey.
August 14th, 2020 at 8:53 am
This is how I learned it in the 1950’s.
Ooey gooey was a worm,
A little worm was he,
He sat upon a railway track,
A train he did not see,
The train came whizzing round the track,
S-q-u-a-s-h Ooey Gooey!
September 8th, 2020 at 8:42 pm
Ooey Gooey was a worm,
Ooey Gooey learned to squirm,
He squirmed upon a railroad track,
A train he did not see,
ooey gooey.
and
Fuzzie Wuzzie was a bear,
Fuzzie Wuzzie had no hair,
Fuzzie Wuzzie wasn’t very fuzzie,
wuz he.
Both from my mother who could also recite from memory Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven.
February 10th, 2021 at 11:01 pm
Buddy’s Mom quotes are just as I remember my Mother quoting to me. And she did read me ‘The Raven’, don’t think she had it memorized. Thanks for bringing back the memories.
March 21st, 2021 at 5:32 am
I always heard it as mighty worm, not little worm
March 25th, 2021 at 10:12 pm
Oh, I love this! I was raised in the 70’s, and my mom taught it to me as:
Ookie Pookie was a worm.
Ookie Pookie liked to squirm.
Somebody stepped on Ookie Pookie.
OOKIE POOKIE!
and
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he??
April 13th, 2021 at 2:12 am
I learned it as
“Ooey Gooey was a worm
Ooey Gooey how he’d squirm
Sat upon a railroad track
OOEY GOOEY!
June 19th, 2021 at 10:47 pm
In the 80s I remember mum reciting this as:
Ooey gooey was a worm,
Ooey gooey loved to squirm,
Ooey gooey crossed the railway line
But didn’t see the train in time!
Ewwww, Ooey gooey!!!!!
August 1st, 2021 at 12:16 am
Ooey Gooey was a worm
Upon the tracks he did squirm
Along came a train
Ewey Gooey 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
September 10th, 2021 at 10:40 am
Nope nope just hearing this doesn’t sound right! …. I learnt as a kid in Australia
Iggy goo
Iggy goo was a worm
Iggy goo liked to squirm
A train ran over Iggy goo
Ewww Iggy goo
October 15th, 2021 at 1:52 am
Dad taught us this version;
Ooey Gooey was a worm, a little worm was he.
He sat upon the Salad, the fork he did not see…..
Ooey Gooey!
November 11th, 2021 at 1:35 am
I learned Ooey Gooey and Fuzzy Wuzzy alongside each other:
Ooey Gooey was a worm
Ooey Gooey liked to squirm
Someone stepped on Ooey Gooey
Ooey gooey!
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he?
And I was just reminded of a mouse poem too, but I can’t remember the entire thing:
Itty Bitty was a mouse
Itty Bitty had no house….
January 20th, 2022 at 12:41 pm
Ooey Gooey was a worm
A mighty worm was he
He stepped upon a railway track
A train he did not see
Ooey Gooey
Strawberry jam for tea
February 24th, 2022 at 1:55 pm
1953 learned it this way.
Oooey gooey was a worm,
A little worm was he,
He sat upon the railroad tracks
A train….(pause)
….he did not see,
OOOEY GOOEY.
July 21st, 2022 at 1:43 pm
Ooey Gooey was a worm.
Ooey Gooey liked to squirm.
Ooey Gooey crossed the street.
Ooey Gooey hamburger meat!
Mom and pop taught me this version
October 25th, 2022 at 5:30 pm
I learned Oooey Gooey and Fuzzy Wuzzy ditties from my Dad in the 50s and early 60s.
I recited these to my youngest grandchildren who wanted more. So I expanded Oooey Gooey to include several stories, all told using the same rhyming scheme as the original. Working on two more stories now plus I have a Fuzzy Wuzzy story at the storyboard level.
Late to the party I suppose for this thread but thought I would add my .02 worth Cheers.
October 25th, 2022 at 6:50 pm
Thanks for writing Rick! It’s never too late to add your 2 cents worth! We love it. Would you like to recite the rhymes for the site? All the best, Mama Lisa
November 3rd, 2022 at 1:40 pm
This was what I learned as a kid.
Ooey gooey was a worm
A very fine worm was he.
He sat upon a railroad track
The train he did not see!
Ooey, Gooey!!
January 14th, 2023 at 3:05 am
My dad taught me this one also.
Ooey Gooey was a fly
He got squashed but did not die
All the maggots came from everywhere
But Ooey Gooey did not care.
May 16th, 2023 at 3:10 am
It’s a lot more fun to say it in a funny way (the way i heard it in my childhood), with every R pronounced as a W:
Ooey Gooey was a worm, a wittle worm was he. He cwalled upon the wailwoad twacks, the twain he did not see . . . Oooooeeeyyy Gooooeeeyyy!!!
August 29th, 2023 at 5:50 pm
Oh my! Took me for ever to find a site that had this poem… and my version is somewhat different. I first heard it from my grandfather back in the 70’s.
Fuzzy Wuzzie was a worm,
A mighty worm was he,
He crawled upon the railroad track,
The train he did not see,
Now he is “Ooey Gooey”.
August 29th, 2023 at 6:34 pm
Fun version!