Rhymes to Share with Little Ones

Rhymes are a regular part of storytime for children. Children naturally play with language through rhyming and songs. This is an important part of language development and helps build their phonological awareness. Phonological awareness, or the ability to hear and play with the smaller sounds of words, is a critical skill children need to get ready to read. To develop this skill, parents and caregivers can share music, poetry, and books with rhyming language in them. It also helps to learn a small assortment of rhymes to share with children throughout the day. Share a lively one during playtime, a soft quiet lap rhyme at bedtime, or a silly one during a car ride to pass the time. Some favorite rhymes include:

A B C
Big A, little a,
Bouncing B!
The cat’s in the cupboard,
And can’t see me.

BANBURY CROSS
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see an old lady upon a white horse.
Rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes.

DANCE TO YOUR DADDY
Dance to your daddy,
My little laddy.
Dance to your daddy,
My little lamb.
You shall have a fishy,
In a little dishy.
You shall have a fishy
When the boat comes in.

HICKORY DICKORY DOCK
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down.
Hickory, dickory dock.

JACK BE NIMBLE
Jack be nimble
Jack be quick
Jack jump over the candlestick!

MISS MARY MACK
Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack,
All dressed in black, black, black,
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons,
All down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother,
For 50 cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump over the fence, fence, fence.

They jumped so high, high, high --
They reached the sky, sky, sky,
And didn't come back, back, back
'Til the 4th of July, -ly, -ly!

THE MOON
The Moon is round
As round as can be
With two eyes, a nose,
and a mouth, like me!

RIDE AWAY, RIDE AWAY
Ride away, ride away,
Johnny shall ride,
And he shall have pussy-cat
Tied to one side;
And he shall have little dog
Tied to the other,
And Johnny shall ride
To see his grandmother.

WEE WILLIE WINKIE
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown;
Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,
“Are the children in their beds?
For now it’s eight o’clock.”