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The Benefits of Nursery Rhymes
Nursery rhymes are an essential part of early childhood development. The benefits of nursery rhymes range from building good listeners to language development and social skills. Without a doubt, nursery rhymes are powerful influencers to a child’s learning experience.
As an early childhood educator, I highly encourage teachers and parents to integrate nursery rhymes into a child’s learning environment.
Benefits of Nursery Rhymes
For centuries, teachers and parents have found nursery rhymes are a great way to build a child’s development. While teaching kindergarten for nearly two decades, I found the benefits of nursery rhymes at an early age to be profound.
Whether you’re an early childhood educator, homeschool parent, or you’re looking to inform your child’s family members, by the end of this post, you will know the importance of nursery rhymes.
What are the Benefits of Nursery Rhymes?
Here is a quick overview of the benefits of nursery rhymes. Below the list, you will find more in depth explanations of how these fun rhymes support each of the following skills.
- Builds listening skills
- Supports early literacy skills
- Builds speech and language skills
- Increases phonological awareness
- Exposure to rhyming skills
- Supports cognitive development
- Builds vocabulary
- Social benefits
- Exposure to cultural awareness
- Supports a child’s creative development
- Can help to regulate emotions
Regardless of the children’s current skill levels, start exposing them to popular nursery rhymes, today!
Listening Skills
As children listen to the rhyme, they learn to focus their attention and understand the meaning of the words. This helps them with comprehension and communication skills.
Early Literacy Skills
Nursery rhymes play a crucial role in building early literacy skills. Children learn about language and its patterns through rhyming words. They learn to recognize the rhythm and intonation of words, which is crucial for reading comprehension. By listening to nursery rhymes, children develop their phonemic awareness, which is essential for learning to read and write.
Speech and Language Skills
Nursery rhymes also help children develop their language skills. Children who learn nursery rhymes at a young age have a more extensive vocabulary and have stronger expressive and receptive language skills.
By reciting nursery rhymes, it helps children develop their speech and language skills. The repetition of the rhyme helps children practice pronunciation, articulation, and intonation. This improves their ability to speak clearly and express themselves effectively.
Overall, nursery rhymes are an excellent tool for developing children’s communication and social skills.
Phonological Awareness
When teaching kindergarten, I found nursery rhymes to be an excellent tool for developing phonological awareness. Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of language.
By incorporating lots of fun nursery rhymes, children learn the sounds of words, syllables, and rhyming patterns through nursery rhymes. This knowledge helps children with reading, spelling, and speaking skills. Phonological awareness is a critical skill for reading and writing.
Rhyming
In kindergarten, children learn to recognize and produce rhyming words. As children learn to recognize and produce rhyming words, they begin to understand that words are made up of smaller units of sound. This understanding is crucial for developing phonemic awareness and, ultimately, reading and writing skills.
Cognitive Development
Nursery rhymes play a crucial role in the cognitive development and brain development of young children. When exposed to nursery rhymes at a young age, children learn to remember and recite the rhymes, which improves their memory retention.
This exposure to nursery rhymes also helps in developing critical thinking skills by encouraging children to think about the meaning of the words and the context of the story.
Critical thinking skills and memory retention are crucial in later stages of life when a child begins to understand more complex concepts.
Vocabulary
Nursery rhymes help children develop their vocabulary. With exposure to the rhyme’s repetition, young children learn new words and phrases through the context of the rhyme. The new vocabulary helps expand their knowledge of language and increases their ability to communicate effectively.
Social Skills
Singing and reciting rhymes with others helps children learn to interact and communicate with others. This promotes cooperation, sharing, and turn-taking skills.
Reciting nursery rhymes in front of others helps build children’s confidence. As children recite rhymes, they gain a sense of accomplishment and pride in their abilities. This confidence helps them with social interactions and communication skills.
Some nursery rhymes tell stories that promote empathy and understanding. For example, the rhyme “Rain, Rain, Go Away” teaches children to be compassionate towards others who are affected by bad weather.
Cultural Awareness
Nursery rhymes help develop children’s cultural awareness. Many nursery rhymes have historical and cultural significance, and teaching children these rhymes can help them learn about different cultures and traditions.
Creativity
Nursery rhymes help develop children’s creativity. Children can create their own versions of rhymes, sing them with different melodies, or act them out with props. This promotes imaginative and creative thinking.
Children learn to use their imaginations as they listen to and recite nursery rhymes. They develop their creativity by thinking of different ways to act out the rhymes or sing them in different tones. This creativity is essential in later stages of life when children need to think critically and solve problems.
Regulates Emotions
Nursery rhymes can help children regulate their emotions. Singing and reciting rhymes can be a calming activity for children, and can help them manage their emotions during stressful or overwhelming situations.
10 Popular Nursery Rhymes for Kids
Here are 10 popular nursery rhymes that are just plain fun for kids. You can find the complete collection here.
- Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Humpty Dumpty
- Baa Baa Black Sheep
- Hey Diddle Diddle
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Little Miss Muffet
- Jack and Jill
- The Wheels on the Bus
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Rain, Rain, Go Away
Nursery Rhymes for Preschool and Kindergarten Readiness
Nursery rhymes are an excellent tool for preschool and kindergarten readiness. Children who learn nursery rhymes at a young age are better prepared for school. Preschool teachers have noted young children who’ve been exposed to nursery rhymes throughout their daily life have developed stronger vocabulary, listening, and social skills.
Children who have these skills are more likely to have a smooth transition into school. Furthermore, children with these skills are more likely to succeed in their academic and social lives.
For longer than I’ve been alive, preschool teachers have read nursery rhyme books and sand catchy tunes to enhance a child’s first experience with school.
Children learn to listen, follow directions, and cooperate with others as they sing and recite nursery rhymes. These skills are an important part of a preschool setting and kindergarten classrooms.
In a preschool classroom, children learn to follow simple instructions, interact with others, and begin to learn how language works.
Here are some more benefits of nursery rhymes in a preschool setting or kindergarten classroom:
- Developing Listening Skills: Nursery rhymes require children to listen carefully to the words and sounds of the rhyme. This skill helps in developing listening skills, which is crucial in school and later in life.
- Enhancing Memory: Nursery rhymes help children to remember words, phrases, and concepts. This skill is critical in school, where children need to remember information to succeed.
- Improving Pronunciation: Nursery rhymes help children learn to pronounce words correctly.
Overall, preschool teachers, kindergarten teachers, and homeschool families, use nursery rhymes to teach children important literacy and language skills.
Ideas for Teaching Nursery Rhymes
Here are some tips on how teachers can effectively teach nursery rhymes to young children:
- Introduce the Rhyme: The first step in teaching nursery rhymes is to introduce the rhyme to the children. Begin by telling the children the name of the rhyme and the story it tells. You can also show them pictures or illustrations that relate to the rhyme. This helps children understand the meaning of the words and phrases in the rhyme.
- Sing the Rhyme: After introducing the rhyme, sing it for the children. You can sing the rhyme yourself or use a recording. Singing popular nursery rhymes helps children learn the melody and rhythm of the words. Encourage the children to sing along with you.
- Repeat the Rhyme: Repetition of words is crucial in learning nursery rhymes. Repeat the rhyme several times so that children can memorize the words and phrases. Encourage the children to recite the rhyme with you. This helps them develop their memory and phonological awareness.
- Act Out the Rhyme: Acting out the rhyme is a fun way to engage children and help them understand the story. Encourage the children to act out the different characters in the rhyme. This helps them develop their creativity and imagination.
- Use Props: Using props can help children understand the meaning of the words in the rhyme. For example, if you are teaching the rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” you can use a stuffed lamb as a prop. Show the children the prop and use it to help them understand the story.
- Practice Sequencing and Retelling: A simple 4 step sequencing activity is great for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade children.
- Make it Interactive: Interactive activities can make learning nursery rhymes more fun and engaging for children. For example, you can ask the children to fill in missing words in the rhyme or play a game where they have to identify rhyming words.
- Connect to Real Life: Connecting nursery rhymes to real-life experiences can help children understand the meaning of the words and phrases. For example, if you are teaching the rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” you can take the children outside at night to look at the stars.
- Reinforce with Activities: After teaching the nursery rhyme, reinforce the learning with activities. For example, you can have the children color pictures related to the rhyme or create a craft related to the rhyme. These activities help children remember the rhyme and reinforce the skills they have learned.
- Create a Poetry Notebook: Simply print the nursery rhyme poems, and let the kids collect them in a poetry notebook. This way, as they begin to read, they have a collection of familiar songs and rhymes to look back on.
Conclusion
In conclusion, nursery rhymes are a very important tool for early childhood education.
Preschool and kindergarten teachers can use nursery rhymes to teach children important literacy and language skills. By introducing, singing, repeating, acting out, using props, making it interactive, connecting to real life, and reinforcing with activities, you, too, can effectively teach nursery rhymes to young children.
Before you go, here are more posts you’ll enjoy:
50 Best Nursery Rhyme Books for Kids
15 Nursery Rhymes Sequencing Printables
130 Fun Kindergarten Journal Prompts
Jack and Jill | Nursery Rhymes Resources
