Mother Goose Monday: Stick Puppets

My daughter, Sienna's Nursery Rhyme Stick Puppets (from Pre-K!)

Nursery rhyme stick puppets are fun, easy to create, and can be used in many different ways.

When my 13 year-old daughter, Sienna was in pre-k, we received these nursery rhyme puppets from her lovely teacher, Miss Danielle! At our parent-teacher conference, Miss Danielle gave us these puppets along with a printed copy of the accompanying rhymes. It was a fun, literacy-related tool that Sienna's teacher provided for her students to share in a language game with their families. What a fabulous way to encourage literacy in the home!

I have kept Sienna's nursery rhyme puppets for all of these years and now use them with my own students at school. They also make a great visual reminder of the nursery rhymes that we've already done together as well as a quick and easy method for students to self-select rhymes that they would like to revisit for recitation and dramatization!

Nursery rhyme stick puppets can be made a number of different ways but the easiest way to create them is by using die-cut shapes to represent a rhyme. Simply attach the shape to a craft stick. You can also write the rhyme title on the stick, if you wish. Store the puppets in a can, box, pocket chart, or wherever you find it most convenient. Select a rhyme to recite.

Thanks to Miss Danielle for these precious nursery rhyme stick puppets ~ they hold a special place in my heart!

Mother Goose Monday ~ Poetry Beginnings!

It's Mother Goose Monday!

Sharing the nursery rhymes of Mother Goose is the perfect way to begin to introduce the joys of poetry to young children.  They are the perfect way to get little ones to begin to enjoy the the sounds of oral language.  Nursery rhymes have a way of sticking with you and young children will love to recall and recite them during their daily routines.  I'm sure that we can all recall learning the classic, "April Showers" rhyme that we will be reciting soon on a raining day or "Rain, Rain Go Away," as we put up our umbrellas and head out into the rainy days of spring.  

Help your children learn these and many other rhymes, so that they, too, can have little rhythms and rhymes come to mind as they go about their daily routines and have fond memories come to mind ~ memories that connect oral language to everything around them. 

"Rub-a-Dub-Dub" ~ great for bath time or hand-washing routines (I used to replace my children's names into the rhyme, instead of the three men).

"One, Two Buckle My Shoe" ~ perfect for getting dressed, shoe-tying, putting on coats, etc.

"I Eat My Peas with Honey" ~ one of my personal favorites for getting my girls to eat their peas!

"Peas Porridge Hot" ~ another fun one to recite while eating hot cereal or soup.

"Hot Cross Buns" ~ again, another food rhyme!

"Star Light, Star Bright" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" ~ bedtime routines.

"Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" ~ planting, gardens, flowers.

"Humpty Dumpty" ~ play with your food!  Recite the rhyme as you prepare to eat a hard boiled egg.

There are endless examples of ways in which we can connect rhymes and routines.  Please share some of your favorites by leaving a comment below or sending me a message or email!

Mother Goose Monday: A Nerdy Book Club Retro Review

A Nerdy Book Club Retro Review!

I am excited to announce that I am a new member of The Nerdy Book Club!  I have a retro review of The Neighborhood Mother Goose illustrated by Nina Crews.  Be sure to check it out at The Nerdy Book Club (on March 14)!