subject: Nursery Rhymes In Preschool [print this page] Nursery Rhymes are a great tool for teaching children of all ages, but they are particularly appropriate when making lesson plans for preschool children and toddlers.
Young children have a natural love for music, rhythm, rhyme and movement. Nursery rhymes, finger plays, and counting games encompass many and sometimes all of these activities. Plus they have the added benefit of encouraging proper behavior, enhancing reading and mathematical skills, and instilling a love for learning.
New rhymes appear regularly in the form of songs and ditties, but even the old tried and true rhymes have much offer. Due to their universal appeal they have withstood the test of time, providing generations of toddlers and preschool children with hours of pleasurable learning. Is there anyone that has not heard about Miss Muffet and the spider? Or thought about what happened to Jack and Jill? How many children first learned to count using the little piggys on their toes? Even today the alphabet song is still used in schools all over the nation to teach the ABCs.
We use little ditties like "Stop, Look and Listen, before you cross the street" to ensure that children move safely through our neighborhoods. "Humpty Dumpty" doesn't just teach that words rhyme, it teaches about actions and consequences. And the "Five Little Monkeys" not only includes training in counting and subtraction, but it also teaches a powerful preschool lesson on proper behavior.
Many nursery rhymes and word plays can be easily modified or combined with other activities to create a more powerful learning tool. Games such as "Duck, Duck, Goose" and "The Farmer in the Dell" use rhymes along with games to enhance the learning process. Finger plays, like "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Five Fat Peas", or "B-I-N-G-O" are particularly popular for teaching manual dexterity, math, and spelling.
It seems natural to make crafts in conjunction with nursery rhymes. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" can become a preschool lesson on the Letter "L" when preschoolers make their own little lamb with paper plates and cotton balls. Or when making an ice cream cone, real or fake, it is fun to sing "I scream, you scream...."
So the next time you are looking for a preschool lesson plan idea, consider teaching a nursery rhyme, and perhaps adding a game, craft, or kid approved recipe to make it even more fun!
