Is your child’s nursery taking part in the Rhyme Challenge – ours is. A great idea it is too.

The Rhyme Challenge is an exciting idea from Booktrust, the National reading charity, to encourage a love of rhymes and early poetry. The Rhyme Challenge will involve your child learning rhymes with their friends at nursery and sharing them with all the family at home.

You may remember some of the rhymes from your own childhood.
The great thing about rhymes is that you can sing them anywhere; you don’t need any musical equipment, just a few minutes a day enjoying rhymes with your child!

The Rhyme Challenge runs throughout the year and here are the rhymes for 2010

Twinkle Twinkle
Incey Wincey Spider
Round and Round the Garden
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
The Grand Old Duke of York
If You’re Happy & You Know It
Humpty Dumpty
This Little Piggy
Ring-a-ring o’roses
I’m a Little Teapot

The children are awarded a special certificate if they can learn the nursery rhymes.

Rhymes help children feel confident with words and will also help them later on when they begin to read.

A great idea, and my son is certainly enjoying his rhymes. Mind you the words he is singing are not the usual ones – he seems to think short cuts make the poems better, and changing the words makes them funnier! I don’t mind.

Happy rhyming!

Another favourite nursery rhyme. The cries of ‘again again’ are always heard after this one!

However I think I am getting too old to sit on the floor, pretending to row row row!

Row row row your boat words

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

It has been suggested that the words refer to the difficulties of life.  The rowing boat refers to the person travelling in a set direction. Merrily merrily refering to facing life with cheer. Then the conclusion being life is anything but a dream. Like many nursery rhymes – it is not a happy tale!

Row row row your boat is usually sung ‘in the round’. This is where each person or group of people sing the same words and melody, but start at different times.

I especially like the alternative verses of this rhyme that I’ve heard – there are many but these are my favourite ones:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the river.
If you see a polar bear;
Don’t forget to shiver.

and

Row, row, row your boat,
Row another mile.
If you see a crocodile;
Don’t forget to smile.

Finally here is a version of the song, sung complete with lyrics!

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Humpty Dumpty – the words

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the kings horses
And all the kings men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

Humpty Dumpty is one of the 1st nursery rhymes that I remember singing over and over again as a child.

Humpty Dumpty is usually portrayed as an egg and has appeared many times in literature all over the world. The origin of “Humpty Dumpty” possibly refers to a clumsy person.

Here is the rhyme:

On another note….

The Humpty Dumpty Safety Helmet – Don’t sit on a wall without it!

This clip from Seseme Street made me laugh so much. It is true – eggs should really not sit on walls without safety helmets!

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This is a rhyme I can never remember all the words to. My version always seems to get mixed up somewhere in the middle. 3yo doesn’t seem to notice – yet!  

Oranges and Lemons words

“Oranges and lemons”, says the bell of St. Clement’s
“You owe me five farthings”, says the bell of St. Martin’s
“When will you pay me?” says the bell of Old Bailey
“When I grow rich”, says the bell of Shoreditch
“When will that be?” says the bell of Stepney
“I do not know,” says the great bell of Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

When I was little, I remember  this was an exciting song at birthday parties due to the game that went along with it. You just didn’t want to be the ‘last man’.

The game goes like this:

Players file, in pairs, through an arch made by two of the players (made by having the players face each other, raise their arms over their head, and clasp their partners’ hands). The challenge comes during the final lines:

Here comes a candle to light you to bed.
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
(Chip chop, chip chop, the last man’s dead.)

On the last word, the children forming the arch drop their arms to catch the pair of children currently passing through, who are then “out” and must form another arch next to the existing one. In this way, the series of arches becomes a steadily lengthening tunnel through which each set of two players have to run faster and faster to escape in time.

Alternate versions of the game include: children caught “out” by the last rhyme may stand behind one of the children forming the original arch, instead of forming additional arches; and, children forming “arches” may bring their hands down for each word of the last line, while the children passing through the arches run as fast as they can to avoid being caught on the last word.*

Oranges and lemons – the song!

*www.wikipedia.org

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I remember singing ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’ at primary school, with everyone standing in a big circle. Everytime a new verse was sung a person was chosen to stand in the middle. By the end, half the class were in the middle!

It was the first song that my child started to sing. Well I say started, because all he managed was EE II EE II OOOH. He loved it, and loved all the different animal noises.

At nursery, the leader asked for the children to shout out the next animal. She got very stuck when aliens, and dinosaurs were called for!    

There seem to be several ways of singing this rhyme, the simpler (much easier way) is one animal for each verse. The version I like is as follows, by the end ALL the animals have a turn in the last verse!

Old MacDonald had a farm – the words

Old Macdonald had a farm
Ee-eye, ee-eye, oh
And on that farm he had a duck
Ee-eye, ee-eye, oh
With a quack, quack here
And a quack, quack there
Here a quack, there a quack
Everywhere a quack, quack
Old Macdonald had a farm
Ee-eye, ee-eye, oh

Old Macdonald had a farm
Ee-eye, ee-eye, oh
And on that farm he had a cow
Ee-eye, ee-eye oh
With a moo, moo here
And a moo, moo there
Here a moo, there a moo
Everywhere a moo, moo
Quack, quack here
And a quack quack there
Here a quack, there a quack
Everywhere a quack, quack
Old Macdonald had a farm
Ee-eye, ee-eye, oh

Old Macdonald had a farm
Ee-eye, ee-eye, oh
And on that farm he had a … (add an animal at each verse)

Old MacDonald had a farm – the song

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Hickory Dickory Dock is another favourite in our house. 2yo is obsessed with time and clocks and loves saying ‘tick tock tick tock’ along with this one.

Hickory Dickory Dock – the words:

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock.

Here is Kermit the Frog reporting on Seseme Street.
Will the mouse make it on time to run up the clock?

Hickory Dickory Dock dates back to the 18th century and appears to be a nonsense rhyme, it’s intention was to introduce children to telling the time. The first published limerick is thought to be the  Hickory Dickory Dock in 1744.

There appears to be additional verses to this rhyme going through different numbers on the clock. Here is one version:

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck two
The mouse said “Boo!”
Hickory dickory dock

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck three
The mouse said “Whee!”
Hickory dickory dock

Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck four
The mouse said “No more!”
Hickory dickory dock

Hickory dickory dock – Here is the traditional song! (No frogs, cows or horses!)

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This is a nursery rhyme I had totally forgotten about. It amazingly came right back to me though. I think it was inprinted somewhere in the back of my mind.

My 2yo just loves it. Every day he demands ‘baa baa black eep’ to be sung many times over.  One thing is for sure – I will never be allowed to forget it again!

Baa Baa Black sheep is sung to a similar tune to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the Alphabet Song. Like many nursery rhymes, it’s origins are unclear. The British wool tax of 1275 seems to be a contender though.   

Baa baa black sheep words

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

Baa baa black sheep song

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Last summer, 2yo was playing in the garden. He wandered, well staggered in toddler style over to the slide and looked amused at something on the top.

” pider, pider” He exclaimed!    

Oh no, was my reaction inside my head – don’t let your fear of spiders show on your face now! I crept over to 2yo and saw what he saw – a teeny tiny beetle, not even a spider. This didn’t stop him starting to sing to the creature. I was so delighted with the cuteness I joined in.

So there we were, the two of us singing away to the beetle that really should have been a spider. Incy Wincy Spider was the song of choice – of course!

Incy Wincy Spider words:

Incy Wincy Spider climbed the water spout;
Down came the rain
And washed poor Incy out;
Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain;
And Incy Wincy Spider climbed the spout again.

I suppose the morals of the tale are

1. Don’t pass on your fears of spiders to your children, they see them all as cute creatures that need singing to.
2. Make sure you know all the words and actions to nursery rhymes – you never know when an impromptu session will start!

Spiders – kids just love them , but I really can’t bring myself to love them too!

Incy Wincy Spider Video

Great value Nursery Rhmes DVD’s for your child.

These are nursery rhymes that we remember from when we were young. Some have actions that you will remember, some have melodies, but all work just read out to your child. She will probably remember the words before you do!! As nursery rhymes are passed down through the generations, you may know slightly different versions. All of them are right, just different, feel free to add in your words.

Remember, it is never too early to start reading to your child.

You can view and print the PDF ebook for FREE
A-Z Popular Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes in our FREE PDF ebook are:

• The Alphabet Song
• Baa, baa, black sheep
• The big ship
• Bobby Shaftoe
• Christmas is coming
• Dance to your Daddy
• Doctor Foster
• Five little speckled frogs
• Frère Jacques
• Georgie Porgie

• Good night, sleep tight
• Goosey, goosey, gander
• Grand Old Duke of York
• Here we go ’round the mulberry bush
• Hickory, dickory, dock
• Higglety Pigglety, my black hen
• The Hokey Cokey
• The house that Jack built
• Humpty Dumpty
• Hush-a-bye, baby

• Hot cross buns!
• I Hear Thunder
• If You’re Happy and You Know It
• I’m a Little Teapot
• I was going to St. Ives
• Incy Wincy Spider
• I had a little nut tree
• I see the moon and the moon sees me
• It’s raining, it’s pouring
• Jack and Jill
• Jack be nimble

• Jack Sprat
• Knick, knack, paddy whack
• Ladybird! Ladybird!
• Little Boy Blue
• Little Jack Horner
• Little Miss Muffet
• Little Polly Flinders
• London Bridge
• Lucy Locket
• Mama’s gonna buy you a mockin’bird
• Mary had a little lamb

• Mary, Mary, quite contrary
• Monday’s child
• The North wind doth blow
• Old King Cole was a merry old soul
• Old Macdonald had a farm
• Old Mother Hubbard
• One for sorrow
• One, two, buckle my shoe
• One, Two, Three, Four, Five
• Oranges and Lemons

• Pat-a-cake
• Pease pudding hot
• Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater
• Polly, put the kettle on
• Pop Goes the Weasel
• Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?
• The Queen of Hearts
• Ring-a-ring o’ roses
• Row, row, row your boat
• See, saw, Marjorie Daw

• She’ll be comin’ round the mountain
• Sing a song of sixpence
• Ten Green Bottles
• There was a crooked man
• There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
• This little piggy went to market
• There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
• Three blind mice
• Three little kittens
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor

• Tom, Tom, the piper’s son
• Twinkle, twinkle, little star
• Wee Willie Winkie
• What are little boys made of?
• The Wheels On The Bus
• Yankee Doodle

Remember – you can download the PDF for FREE

Download A-Z Popular Nursery Rhyme ebook

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