Teachers and parents are being encouraged to give outdated nursery rhymes animal-friendly updates.
Animal rights group Peta argue that in the same way old songs and fairytales have been changed to replace language that is sexist, racist and insensitive, nursery rhymes also need to be updated to remove language which 'encourages cruelty to animals'.
Peta said: "Attitudes toward animals have changed a lot in the hundreds of years since many nursery rhymes were written.
"And in the same way old songs and fairy tales have been given much-needed makeovers to replace racist, sexist, and otherwise insensitive language, we should make sure nursery rhymes are relevant for kids today and don’t encourage speciesism, cruelty to animals, or fear of them.
"Animals are intelligent individuals capable of joy and suffering. They’re not ours to exploit, and our language must evolve to reflect this."
The famous lyrics of 'baa baa black sheep' are: "Baa-baa, black sheep have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full."
Peta's suggested version reads: "Baa baa black sheep can I have your wool? No sir, no sir, that's not cool."
Recently people have argued the rhyme is racist – with the “black sheep” representing slaves in the southern states of the US who were forced to pick cotton.
Some nurseries now sing “Baa Baa Rainbow Sheep” in an attempt to make it less controversial.
In a version of Three Blind Mice modified by Peta, they do not have their tails carved off by the farmer’s wife in the updated version, but actually thank her for saving their lives.
And the spider in Little Miss Muffet ends up brightening her day, instead of frightening her away.
