Preschool Nursery Rhymes | Nursery Rhymes for Kids

Nursery rhymes are one of the first things most children learn. Rhymes are extremely popular with children and many of the popular  nursery rhymes have been around for ages.  Some of us still remember the nursery rhymes we learnt at school, but perhaps the lyrics get hazy over time. Presented below are a few ever-green rhymes, you may like to sing to children. I have given a common version of the lyrics for each rhyme and an illustration. There are also a few rhymes videos (animated rhymes with music). Rhymes videos (with animation or actual videos) are also very popular with children.

I don't quite know. Perhaps because they have been around for ages as long as we can remember. Twinkle twinkle and Jack and Jill have been around for eons. They have been passed on from generation to generation and they just become part of one's childhood. Many of the rhymes our parents learnt and sang are the rhymes children today still learn and sing.The words are simple and can be set to melodious music. Children pick up the words and tunes easily. Often they wouldn't know the meaning or references of the actual words, which is just as well, because so many of the popular preschool English rhymes we sing wouldn't seem to have cheery connotations, in fact some of them quite disturbing. But who doesn't feel delighted when they see children enjoying the lilting melody of Twinkle Twinkle or happily playing 'Ring around the Rosie' obviously quite oblivious to its presumed references to the black plague! Innocence can indeed be bliss.

If anything has survived for three or four hundred years like the classical nursery rhymes surely they must be of great value. Traditionally rhymes have been the starting point for children's education. Their value lies in their simplicity - They are short, with simple words, catchy and easy to remember. They form the best introduction to reading and language skills. Children love rhymes and never seem to tire of them. They find singing the rhymes with actions fun, and there is a lot of learning happening. What could be better? Beautifully illustrated books of nursery rhymes are widely available. If you read along with children, they can get familiar with the letters, words and pictures. Once they are familiar with the rhyme you can together with them sing it with movement. This does help in overall development and can be great fun. Kids rhymes videos are widely available. See 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' below for example.

TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

CHUBBY CHEEKS

Chubby cheeks, dimple chin,

Rosy lips, teeth within,

Curly hair, very fair,

Eyes are blue, lovely too,

Teacher’s pet, is that you?

Yes, Yes, Yes!

HUMPTY DUMPTY

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king’s horses,

And all the king’s men,

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!

TEDDY BEAR, TEDDY BEAR

Teddy bear, teddy bear,

Turn around;

Teddy bear, teddy bear,

Touch the ground;

Teddy bear, teddy bear,

Polish your shoes;

Teddy bear, teddy bear,

Off to school.

JOHNNY, JOHNNY

Johnny, Johnny!

Yes, Papa.

Eating sugar?

No, Papa.

Telling lies?

No, Papa.

Open your mouth!

Ha! Ha! Ha!

THE DOG SAYS

The dog says bow-wow,

The cat says meow,

The sheep says baa-baa,

The little pig says wee-wee,

The clock says tick-tock,

The hen says cluck-cluck,

The cock says cock-a-doodle-doo.

LITTLE MISS MUFFET

Little Miss Muffet,

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

There came a big spider,

Who sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

HICKORY, DICKORY, DOCK

Hickory, dickory, dock,

The mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck one,

The mouse ran down,

Hickory, dickory, dock.

Kids rhymes video

Kids rhymes videos are extremely poplar among children. They are sold as CDs. They are widely available on video sites like youtube and are viewed extensovely. Most children love them. The videos are broadly of two types. The first type comprises the animated rhymes and songs. The characters and background settings are visualized by a graphic team and animated. In the other type we have children actually made up as nursery rhyme characters enacting the rhyme, which is then captured on video. Kids rhymes videos are much loved by most kids. Some of them have excellent music for the rhymes.

COBBLER, COBBLER

Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe,

Get it done by half-past two;

Stitch it up and stitch it down,

Then I'll give you half a crown.

LITTLE JACK HORNER

Little Jack Horner,

Sat in a corner,

Eating his Christmas pie;

He put in his thumb,

And pulled out a plum,

And said, “What a good boy am I!”

PAT-A-CAKE, PAT-A-CAKE

Pat-a-cake,

Pat-a-cake,

Baker's man,

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Pat it and prick it and mark it with T,

And put it in the oven for teacher and me!

HOT CROSS BUNS

Hot cross buns!

Hot cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons;

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns!

TWO LITTLE DICKEY BIRDS

Two little dickey birds

Sat upon a wall,

One named Peter

The other named Paul;

Fly away, Peter!

Fly away, Paul!

Come back, Peter!

Come back, Paul!

MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB

Mary had a little lamb,

Little lamb, little lamb,

Mary had a little lamb

Its fleece was white as snow;

And everywhere that Mary went,

Mary went, Mary went,

And everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day,

School one day, school one day,

It followed her to school one day

Which was against the rule;

It made the children laugh and play,

Laugh and play, laugh and play,

It made the children laugh and play

To see a lamb at school.

 Download some kindergarten worksheets here