Nursery Rhyme Activities

Vocabulary Extend vocabulary by asking children what unusual words (ex: tuffet, curds, contrary) in rhymes might mean. Model how to look words up in a dictionary to find definitions.
Mother Goose Big Book - Give each child a large sheet of paper (12” x 16”) and have her illustrate her favorite rhyme. Type words for each rhyme using a large font and glue them to the page. Cut the front and back off a paper grocery sack to make the cover for the book. Put children’s pictures between the grocery sack, hole punch, and bind with book rings.

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Nursery Rhyme Club - Make a poster that says “Nursery Rhyme Club.” Whenever a child can say a rhyme, she gets to sign her name on the poster. It would also be fun to give children a membership card similar to this one you can download! Click here to download a pdf file.

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Rhyme Puzzles - Write lines of nursery rhymes on sentence strips. Place them in a pocket chart and model reading the rhymes. Mix up the strips and see if children can put them back in order.

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• Play follow the leader for “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Give children a piece of string (24” long). Children hold one end of the string and walk around the room pretending that it is a leash for their imaginary pet.
• Hide paper mittens around the room for children to find for “The Three Little Kittens.”
• Turn a block into a candlestick and let children jump over it for “Jack Be Nimble.”
• Give children play dough to wrap around their thumbs like a plumb for “Little Jack Horner.”
• Play “Charades” and have children act out different nursery rhyme characters as their friends try to guess who they are.

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