Discover Nursery Rhymes

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Nursery rhymes are one of the first ways that children discover the rhythm and rhyme of language. They are educational and fun! Try some of the ideas below to enjoy the poetry of nursery rhymes.

Enrichment Activities
Internet Resources
Nursery Rhyme Books

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Enrichment Activities

Use with the Nursery Rhyme Collection of 13 popular rhymes.

Super Sleuths
Play the game of "Who Am I?" with your students by giving clues to nursery rhyme characters. For example:

• I am round.
• I sit upon a wall.
• I fell down.

Character Parade
Encourage your students to dress up as a nursery rhyme character. Have a parade for the whole school to enjoy.

Sequels
Many nursery rhymes lend themselves to further development. What happened to Mary and her lamb? Does the hickory dickory dock mouse have other adventures? Is the crooked man ever straightened out?

Illustrated Nursery Rhymes
Have your students make a collection of illustrations for nursery rhymes. You can post them in your classroom or library as an art gallery or bind them into a book.

Choral Readings
As your students get more and more familiar with favorite nursery rhymes, they will be able to perform them. Select a few, practice reading them together, and host a performance for other classes and parents.

Nursery Rhyme Videos
Watch out MTV – here comes the latest dance craze – Nursery Rhyme Videos! Select your favorite nursery rhyme, choreograph some moves, rehearse a few times, and capture the results on video. A simplified version of this would be to develop hand movements to the music. The more complicated version would incorporate dance steps along with music.

How Many?
Pass out copies of a nursery rhyme to your students. Ask them to tally:

Words with double letters

Words that have an "O" in them

Rhyming words

Words that repeat in the rhyme

Nouns or verbs or adjectives (for older students)

Any other category that you can think of

Internet Resources

Mother Goose Pages
Grade Levels: Pre-K, Primary
View a master list of rhymes and get tips on how to read nursery rhymes to children.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfa/dreamhouse/nursery/rhymes.html

Mother Goose on the Web
Grade Levels: Pre-K, Primary
Listen to Mother Goose as she narrates different nursery rhymes.
http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/storyhour/goose/

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