Rhymes, Finger Plays, and Poems for Preschoolers
Rhymes and poetry are not only fun to recite (preschoolers love rhymes), but the rhythm and sounds are important early literacy tools. Rhymes are important for young children because they help develop an ear for language. Both rhyme and rhythm help kids hear the sounds and syllables in words, which helps kids learn to read! (readingrockets.org). Young children love things that rhyme and you’ll notice that a lot of children’s books rhyme. Rhymes are fun to listen to and lots of fun to say.
Finger rhymes are one of my favorite activities to do with my one child as well as at preschool storytime. Throw in the some actions to go with the rhymes and get your whole body involved. Not only does moving hands and fingers to act the rhyme help develop children’s coordination, but it also helps kids make connections to words and develop an understanding of the vocabulary. For more information on the importance of poetry, read this post from Scholastic Parents.
Action and Finger Rhymes
Action rhymes are lots of fun because they get your whole body moving! The Professional Association of Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) states that physical participation in action songs encourage children to develop their fine and gross motor control skills as well as balance, coordination and the skills needed to follow simple instructions.
Action Rhymes:
- The Ants Go Marching
- Are You Sleeping?
- Five Little Kids
- Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
- Five Little Monkeys Swinging from a Tree
- Have You Ever Seen a Penguin?
- I’m a Little Teapot
- I’m a Winter Snowman
- The Itsy Bitsy Spider
- Leprechaun, Leprechaun
- Mermaid, Mermaid
- Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
- Turkey, Turkey
Finger Rhymes:
Get your hands and fingers ready to help act out these fun finger rhymes!
- Five Little Ducks
You’ll notice that most of these rhymes are counting rhymes. By incorporating numbers into the rhymes, preschoolers get exposed to numerals in a fun, entertaining way. These rhymes are helping your child understand numerical value, numerical order, and names of numbers.
Other Rhymes/Poems
- Five Little Leprechauns
- Five Little Robots
- Five Little Shamrocks
- Five Little Stockings
- Five Little Turkeys
- Hello Farm Animals
- Once I Caught a Fish Alive
Nursery Rhymes
Nursey rhymes are not only fun for to children to hear, but they serve an important educational purpose too! These rhymes are rhythmic and soothing to the ear, which is important for phonological awareness. Nursery rhymes also feature simple phrases that are easily repeated. This helps young children to remember them and incorporate the storylines from the rhymes into imaginative play.
There are lots of nursery rhyme books available. Check your library for options. Jane Cabrera has a fantastic picture book series based on Mother Goose nursery rhymes. My son loved her version of Old Mother Hubbard and There Was an Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe! For an audio experience, I highly recommend Lisa Lobe’s Nursery Rhyme Parade album! My son and I listed to this album a lot when he was a toddler and a preschooler.
Here is a list of my son’s favorite rhymes for you to share with your child:
