Nursery Rhymes

Core Idea

Nursery rhymes are short poems and songs that have been passed down for many years. They use rhyming words and a strong beat that make them easy to remember and fun to say out loud. Rhymes like "Humpty Dumpty" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" help you hear the sounds in words, which is an important step toward learning to read.

How It's Best Learned

Say and sing nursery rhymes together, clapping along to the beat. Try to finish the rhyming pair -- if someone says "Jack and Jill went up the ___," you fill in "hill." Learn several rhymes by heart and say them during car rides, bath time, or before bed.

Common Misconceptions

• Thinking nursery rhymes are only for babies; the wordplay and rhythm in rhymes build important language skills for all young children.
• Believing the stories in nursery rhymes have to make perfect sense; many are silly and playful on purpose.
• Assuming you have to sing rhymes; many can be spoken, chanted, or acted out too.

Explainer

Nursery rhymes are short poems and songs that people have been saying and singing for a very, very long time. They have probably been passed down through families for hundreds of years! Rhymes like "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," "Humpty Dumpty," and "Jack and Jill" are nursery rhymes. They use rhyming words (words that sound the same at the end, like "cat" and "hat") and a strong beat or rhythm that makes them stick in your head.

One reason nursery rhymes are so special is that they teach your ears about the sounds in words. When you hear "Jack and Jill went up the hill," your brain notices that "Jill" and "hill" rhyme. This helps you hear the sounds in words and notice patterns. This skill is very important for learning to read! When you understand that words can rhyme, you are learning about how language works.

Nursery rhymes are also fun to say and sing together. You can clap along to the beat, bounce a baby to the rhythm, or act out the silly movements. You might say a line and wait for someone else to finish with the rhyming word. "Jack and Jill went up the ___?" "HILL!" It is a game and a song at the same time.

Here is something cool: many nursery rhymes are silly and do not make perfect sense. Humpty Dumpty is an egg that sits on a wall -- why would an egg sit on a wall? It is strange! But that silliness makes it memorable and fun. Nursery rhymes were made to be playful and entertaining.

And you do not have to sing them. You can say them, chant them, or act them out with your whole body. However you enjoy them, you are building important language skills and having fun at the same time.