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: Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

 photo by Amy Merrill1 on Flickr.

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
by Mother Goose

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater
Had a wife and couldn't keep her.
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well!

 A retro nursery rhyme book with a brightly illustrated version of the classic Mother Goose rhyme, a pumpkin birdhouse, and a "Peter" and his wife miniature dolls, is all you need to dramatize and retell this nursery rhyme!

Mother Goose Monday: Must-Haves

Mother Goose Must-Haves . . . 

Every parent, caregiver, educator, and child will want to make sure that their personal library collection includes at least one great collection of nursery rhymes.  folklorist, Iona Opie collaborated with Rosemary Wells to create two of the best Mother Goose books around.  The rhymes have been carefully selected to ensure that children today have the opportunity to experience the best of the classic nursery rhymes.  Each rhyme has been illustrated with Wells' classic animal characters in her signature bright colors.  The artwork in these two treasuries will have readers exploring the smallest of details. 

 "These rhymes are like sea glass, each one different, ground down to its perfect shape through centuries of repetition.”       ~Rosemary Wells

 

“I suppose my message in life is ‘nursery rhymes are good for you."  ~Iona Opie