Les comptines

Une souris verte: the French words and what they mean

Une souris verte means a green mouse. A child catches one in the grass by its tail, and some gentlemen say to dip it in oil and then water, which turns it into a hot snail. It makes no sense at all, and toddlers love it.

Une souris verte

  • Une souris verte A green mouse
  • Qui courait dans l'herbe, running through the grass,
  • Je l'attrape par la queue, I catch it by the tail,
  • Je la montre à ces messieurs. I show it to these gentlemen.
  • Ces messieurs me disent : The gentlemen tell me:
  • Trempez-la dans l'huile, dip it in oil,
  • Trempez-la dans l'eau, dip it in water,
  • Ça fera un escargot and that will make a snail,
  • Tout chaud. nice and hot.

Say the words first

  • une souris a mouse Say it oon soo-REE
  • verte green Say it VAIRT
  • par la queue by the tail Say it par la KUH
  • un escargot a snail Say it uh-nes-kar-GOH
  • tout chaud nice and hot Say it too SHOH

Why a green mouse?

Nobody knows. There are theories, the best known about a soldier in a green uniform in the 1790s, and none of them has been proven. Children don’t need one.

Play it with your fingers

Your fingers are the mouse, running up your child’s arm. Catch it by the tail on par la queue, dip it on trempez-la, and finish with a tickle on tout chaud.

One thing to do today

At playtime, run the mouse up their arm and say une souris verte. Stop there. They’ll ask for the rest.

Where it lives in your day Le Jeu · Playtime in French Follow their hands, name what they touch, and let the play teach

Free bedtime script

Tickles first, then bedtime

The Le Dodo script brings things back down: ten calm phrases, then lights out.

Ten bedtime phrases, each with a say-it guide, on one page for the bedroom door.

Three emails over your first week to get bedtime started, and you can leave whenever you like.

Questions parents ask

What does une souris verte mean?

A green mouse.

What is the meaning of the Une souris verte rhyme?

It's a nonsense rhyme: a mouse dipped in oil and water becomes a hot snail. There are theories about its origin, and none has been proven.

Is Une souris verte a lullaby?

It's a play rhyme. It works best with fingers running up an arm and a tickle at the end.

Keep going

All the songs and rhymes →

Updated 16 October 2026