I'm a little teapot, short and stout

[attheendoftheday]

Can you solve a debate between dp and me? Do has been teaching dd I'm a little teapot, but his version of the words is not the version I knew when I was little. The thing is, I can't remember what the version I knew is. It's the third line we disagree on. Dp's version is

I'm a little teapot, short and stout
Here's my handle, here's my spout
When I see the tea cups hear me shout
Tip me up and pour me out.

I tried Wikipedia, which says the third line should be 'when I get the steam up hear me shout', but that doesn't sound right to me either.

What words do you use?

[NickNacks]

I say

When the water's boiling, hear me shout
Tip me up and pour me out.

[Bamaluz]

When the kettle's boiling, hear me shout,
Tip me up and pour me out.

[SquirtedPerfumeUpNoseInBoots]

Agree with bamaluz.
When the kettles boiling, hear me shout
Tip me up and pour me out.

[MasterOfBuggerAll]

When you hear the whistle, here me shout! Tip me up and pour me out

[LegArmpits]

When I see the tea cups.

I did this for Show and Tell 33 years ago, and it's embedded in my brain

[gourd]

I had never heard the "When I see the tea cups" version till a few years ago. When I was at infant school we sang "When the tea is ready, hear me shout"

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

up here it's the "teacups" version
back down South it was "steam up"
my mother always used to sing "when I give a whistle, hear me shout"

[MadeInChinaBaby]

When I get all steamed up, hear me shout.

[IWipeArses]

When the kettle's boiling

[Goldenjubilee10]

"When the tea is ready"

[TempusFuckit]

But, but, but - when the kettle's boiling makes NO SENSE! If the water's still in the kettle, the teapot will only have dry bags or leaves in it, so there will be nothing to pour out. Basic physics, innit?

[Sirzy]

When the tea is ready here aswell.

[VBisme]

No, its the teapot that's talking - "when the tea is ready" is the only one that makes sense (it deffo isn't see the teacups - how would they know?)

[attheendoftheday]

Thank you! When the tea is ready is the version I knew when I was little.

Now to convince dp that my version is superior and the one that should be passed on to the next generation...

[flowerflo]

When it comes to tea time hear me shout.....

[HedgehogPatronus]

To add confusion, we use:

when I get all steamed up, hear me shout

[lljkk]

I'm convinced there are local dialects in nursery rhymes. Sociology thesis in there, somewhere.

[BackforGood]

"When the kettle's boiling, hear me shout" here

[bruffin]

When it's time for tea you hear me shout
Top me up and pour me out

[bruffin]

Tip not top

[shoesontheglasslamp]

It's when I see the teacups here.

xx

[seeker]

"when it comes to tea time"

[MoelFammau]

When the water's boiling here.

Oh God, it's a minefield.

[JulietteAngelinFrance]

Many years ago, as a newly qualified teacher, I did a ‘topic’ on Traditional Nursery Rhymes with my mixed Reception/Year 1 class. Even within a class of 28 children there was such a wide variation of the third line that we did a creative writing session on it. I wrote the whole rhyme on the flip chart (remember those?) with the third line missing. I then had the alternatives written on large sheets of paper :
When I see the tea cups (my version as taught to me by my grandmother)
When I get the steam up
When the tea is ready
When the kettle’s boiling
(There were others but I am afraid they are lost in the mists of time!)
The children had to discuss each alternative – they chose the one they preferred and justified their choice (and they made me justify my own choice too!), including whether it made sense, matched the correct rhythm, etc. (persuasive argument)
We clapped, stamped and chanted “dah-dee-dah-dee-dah-dah” the rhythm (music)
Each child decorated (paint/collage/pencil crayon) a teapot outline, they drew and painted pictures of teapots and teacups from memory and from observation. (Art)
And they had a go at creating their own alternative to the third line. (Creative writing)
We even played with plastic teapots and teacups in the water tray! (Maths – capacity)
I created Maths problems using teacups, teapots and spoonfuls of sugar for them to work out.
We made scones to have with our ‘tea’ (our daily milk in teacups) at snack time (Food technology).
We spent a whole week on the Nursery rhyme and we created a display board of the children’s creative work. Unfortunately, I didn’t photograph the display and my old planning records have long since been consigned to the end-of-year skip (so many changes in the National Curriculum over the years rendered the ‘topic’ style of teaching redundant), so I have no record of the “I’m A LittleTeapot” week. But if there comes a time when any teachers out there feel they have the freedom to ‘teach around’ the Nursery Rhymes, I can vouch for the joy and creativity that week engendered!