How to Tell Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes instill a love for the aesthetic side of language. But they are more than just fun. Mother Goose paved the way for generations of young readers by improving children's auditory and memory skills. Parents and caregivers can enhance the learning experience by polishing up their rhyme-telling skills.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Book of nursery rhymes
• A comfortable spot
• Optional: costumes and visuals

1. Know your nursery rhyme well. Young children have a short attention span. Stumbling over words and unnatural pauses distracts your listeners.
2. Pick a good time to tell nursery rhymes. Make sure you are not in a rush. Choose a time when you and your listeners are mentally fresh. If kids are exhausted or hungry, it is hard for them to sit still and listen.
3. Create a comfortable environment. Check the temperature of the room. Let kids sit on comfortable furniture or recline on pillows on the floor.
4. Be enthusiastic. Make constant eye contact. Use facial expressions and gestures to emphasis the language. Keep the tension and drama going for longer story-type rhymes.
5. Use audio and visual aids. Pictures and props are great additions to stories. So are appropriately timed sound effects. For example, at the end of the line "Little boy blue, come blow your horn," let children blow pretend horns.
6. Get children to participate as much as possible. Teach children hand gestures that go with the rhyme. Have them repeat recurring words and sections. See Step 5 for ideas.
7. Dress up like a character: Transform into Mother Goose with a wide-brimmed hat, glasses and a long dress. Animal costumes are simple. Ears, whiskers and a tail make a cute mouse for "Hickory Dickory Dock." Remember, if you are having fun, the listeners probably are too.

Tips & Warnings

• You can make props with common household items. A black glove can be a spider for "Miss Muffet." Sock puppets are easy to make.
• Cut out small pictures and glue to craft sticks. Use them to tell the rhyme, and then get the kids to retell the rhyme using the stick-puppets.
• Some nursery rhymes are scary and not appropriate for very small children--especially right before bedtime.