To Rhyming Land We Go!
[tune: The Farmer In The Dell]

To Rhyming Land we go,
To Rhyming Land we go!
Hi-ho the derry-o,
To Rhyming Land we go!

Continue singing the song above, substituting the following verses:
Verse 2: King Cole wears a crown
Verse 3: Jack and Jill fell down.
Verse 4: Bo-Peep has lost her sheep.
Verse 5: Boy Blue is fast asleep.
Verse 6: The cat can play a tune.
Verse 7: The cow jumps over the moon.
Verse 8: A star shines in the sky.
Verse 9: And now we'll say goodbye!

Jack, Be Nimble

Jack, be nimble,
Jack, be quick,
Jack, jump over
The candlestick.

Pocket Chart
Use this pocket chart activity for independent reading
(add a candlestick prop and poem card):

(Name) be nimble!
(Name) be quick!
(Name) jump over the candlestick!

Candle Graph
Give each table a pack of birthday candles.  Have them graph the candles by color.  They could make a picture graph with colored di-cut candles or a bar graph by coloring in the appropriate squares.

      Act It Out & Measure    
Have students actually jump over a candlestick.  We listened to the song "Jack Be Nimble" on our Nursery Rhymes CD, which gave various directions of how to go over the candlestick: Jump, Tip-toe, Gallop, Hop on 1 foot, etc.  They had to listen and follow the directions as they waited in line to go over the candlestick.  We also marked how far we jumped and measured who jumped the fartherest.

Directional Words 
We also took turns placing the candlestick in, over, under, around, beside, before, after, etc. the candle holder.  This gave us practice with our directional words.

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full.

One for my master,
One for my dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives in the lane.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full.
We stamped our handprints  and estimated how many cotton balls it would take to cover just the palm of our handprints.  We glued them on and compared how close we were.  They pasted a copy of the nursery rhyme at the bottom of the page and this was a page in our Nursery Rhymes book.  (The fingers were the sheep's legs and the thumb was his head.

Fake Wool 
To make imitation wool, shake cotton balls in a Ziploc bag with powdered black tempera paint. As you remove each cotton ball from the bag, shake it to remove the excess powder. Glue several of the dark cotton balls to a sheep cutout.

Baa Baa Black Sheep Relay
Have burlap bags to put a child in. Have them hop down the course and back and switch with the next in line until all done.

Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down!
Hickory, dickory, dock.


      Shape Clock   
We were still practicing our shapes so we made clock from the following various shapes:  Clock body: rectangle, top: square, face: circle (printed clip art clock face off computer), pendulum: long rectangle and small circle, base: trapezoid.  They loved the silly sound of the word trapezoid and caught on to it quickly!  I gave them a copy of the nursery rhyme to glue to the page and this was a page in our nursery rhymes book!

Clock Idea
Provide each child with a 7-inch wide paper plate (clock face) and a 9x12 brown construction paper sheet trimmed to resemble a clock. On construction paper, reproduce the mouse, ear, pocket, and clock-hand patterns. Staple yarn to the mouse to resemble a tail. Staple the loose end of the yarn near the bottom center of the brown paper. Extend the mouse toward the top of the brown paper before you staple or glue the nursery rhyme pocket on top of the yarn, leaving an opening at the top of the pocket. Decorate the back of a paper plate to resemble a clock with a smiling face. Attach the clock-hand cutouts with a paper fastener. Glue or staple the plate to the upper part of the construction paper

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!

What's a Dozen?  
Show students a carton of eggs.  Talk about what a dozen is.  Have them count by twos to get to twelve.  (2, 4, 6, 8, Counting things by twos is great! is a great little rhyme for helping them get the hang of this.)

Characteristics of an Egg

We talked how characteristics are the things that make us all look different.  We described various characteristics of each other and decided that we are all very different and unique.  I gave each child a hard boiled egg and had them use their crayons to turn their egg into a Humpty.  Afterwards, we noticed that everyone's Humpty Dumpty looked different because we had all given them different characteristics.  I then had them place all the Humpty's on my carpet and I mixed them all up.  I called the children by tables to find their Humpty and had them tell what characteristics made their Humpty easy for them to find.  

Which Came First, The Chicken Or The Egg?
I gave each student a hard boiled egg and asked them what would have hatched from the egg had it not been taken from its mommy.  I asked them which came first, the chicken or the egg and we graphed our responses.  This was a lot of fun to hear them explain why they chose which came first!  It would be cute to graph their responses!

  Put Him Back Together Again!   
I told each child to hold their Humpty (hard boiled egg) up high in their hands and let him fall off.  They finished peeling off the egg shell and ate their eggs.  We talked about how the yolk would have been the baby chick had the egg stayed warm under its mommy and Mrs. Cook not boiled it in hot water!  I gave each child a piece of construction paper and had them "attempt" to glue Humpty back together again by gluing their crushed eggshells back on the page in the shape of an egg.  Of course it didn't look anything like it did before.  We glued a copy of the nursery rhyme at the bottom of the page, wiggle eyes on the broken "Humpty" and this was a page in our nursery rhymes book. 

Humpty Puppet Page
Use a sheet of light blue construction paper.  Pre-draw a horizontal line across the middle of the paper.  Cut two holes below the lines just big enough for fingers. (Do this ahead) Without covering the holes, glue torn bits of red construction paper below the line for the brick wall.

Next, trace an oval shape onto white paper (to become Humpty's body) and decorate it to look like Humpty Dumpty. Cut it out and glue just above the pre-cut holes in the blue paper. Draw arms on the blue paper to complete Humpty...... or you can make folded, accordion arms and glue them on.

As the children poke their fingers into the holes, Humpty will be able to kick about as they recite the rhyme.

Word Wall
Materials: supply of tiles, all the same color
Before beginning this activity check to see if the children know the rhyme. If they do not know it teach them the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. Using one-to-one correspondence, one tile for each word said, for several phrases model several examples. (Student full names could be modeled as examples.) Make sure that each child knows how to name the tiles. Set up a pool of tiles in the middle of the table. Then have the children name each tile as she/he lines them up. Be sure to use a left-to-right orientation. The children will be building Humpty Dumpty's wall. When Humpty Dumpty's wall has been built give each child a picture of a "Humpty Dumpty" to place on top of her/his wall.

If the children are able to easily do the activity above move on to this activity. Again using the same technique have children name each syllable as they line up tiles to build a wall for Humpty Dumpty.

Humpty Phonics
Materials: set of sound cards with pictures of words beginning with vowels
Explain to the children that Humpty Dumpty wasn't the only one who "had a great fall". Hold up a picture of an a sound such as a card with a picture of an apple. Tell the students to listen for this sound in the poem. Then recite poem changing the short /u/ sound to an /a/ sound.

Hampty Dampty sat on the wall,
Hampty Dampty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Hampty Dampty together again.

Now hold up a picture of an /o/ sound word. Work with the children to help them change the rhyme to the following:

Hompty Dompty sat on the wall,
Hompty Dompty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Hompty Dompty together again.

Continue in this manner next using the /i/ sound and finally the /e/ sound.

If the children have difficulty with the vowel game, initial sounds may be used changing the name of Humpty Dumpty to a targeted sound such as Bumpty Dumpty. Children's name sounds can be used to personalize it, increase interest and draw attention to matching sounds. For example:

Bumpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Bumpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Bumpty Dumpty together again.

Rhymin' With Humpty
To further emphasize the rhyming nature of these activities children can brainstorm words that rhyme with wall/fall, men/again These new words can then be substituted in the rhyme. For example:

Humpty Dumpty sat in the mall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great ball,
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's ten,
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty into the pen.

  

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep
Has lost her sheep
And can't tell where to find them.
Leave them alone
And they'll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.

Hey, Diddle, Diddle

Hey, diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Fiddle Painting
Finger-paint or use markers to "feel" the rhythm of the music while listening to country fiddle or classical violin music. When dry, decorate with cat stickers.

Little Jack Horner

Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner
Eating his Christmas pie.
He stuck in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said,
"What a good boy am I!"

Little Jack Horner Relay
The children hold a pie plate above their head, run down the course and back handing it off to the next student until each team member has had a turn. 

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Caught in a Web?
Preparation: Make a spinner game board. I use a piece of poster board and put a spinner in the middle of it. Divide the board into four equal sections. Draw a box in each section. Two boxes are labeled IN and two boxes are labeled OUT. In the IN sections draw a spider IN the web and in the OUT sections draw the spider OUT of the web.  Write "Little Miss Muffet" on the game board. For spider webs, glue Halloween webbing over a paper plate.

To play: Each player is given four spider rings to start play.  In turn, each child spins and puts a spider in his basket or takes one out of his basket as decided by the spinner. Play goes on until one player has all four of his spiders in the basket.

Curds & Whey for All
Bring in some instant grits and have each child make a bowl of grits to eat.  Call it "Curds & Whey."  Stress the sequencing of following directions in the recipe.  

Twinkle, Twinkle,
Little Star

    Twinkle Stars   
I had my students use glue to make dots on a piece of dark blue construction paper and then sprinkle glitter on them to make "twinkle stars."  I gave them a copy of the poem and let them glue it on.  This was a page in our Nursery Rhymes book!  We found the rhyming words with our reading fingers!

Sorting Stars  
I had my students sort stars by color.  They could also graph the colors of the stars that they sorted.  But we were just learning to sort at the time.

Counting Stars Book
Give each child di-cut stars and have them glue the appropriate number onto pages of a book programmed with: 1 little star twinkling in the sky.  2 little stars twinkling in the sky, etc.

A Visual Memory Game
Recite the nursery rhyme. Then place eight to ten, different colored star cut outs on a table or floor.  Give the children time to look at what is there.  Ask the children to close their eyes and remove a star. The children guess what color star is missing.  As children get better, you can remove more than one star.

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.

Everywhere that Mary went,
Mary went,Mary went.
Everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

Wee Willie Winkie
Wee Willie Winkie
Runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs
In his nightgown.
Rapping at the windows,
Crying through the lock,
"Are the children all in bed?
For it's now eight o'clock.

Counting Book
Use stamp pads to make thumbprint spiders on programmed booklet pages.
"I see 1 spider on the web.  I see 2 spiders are the web.  I see 3 spiders on the web. etc"

Draw a big shoe shape with sidewalk chalk (or masking tape for indoors.)  Estimate how many children will fit inside.  Squeeze as many children as will possibly fit into the shoe outline.  Talk about things the children would have to do to get along in such a crowded space.  Relate it to classroom rules and the importance of following them.

Each child traces a simple shoe pattern out of cardstock, and cuts it out.  Punch holes for lacing. Children take a piece of yarn to lace the shoe with. Look for a picture of an "Old Lady"  and lots of children's faces in a magazine or copy one that the students can color, cut and glue onto the shoe.

 Will it Sink or Float?
Fill a pail full of water. Create two poster-board cutouts. (Label one with sink and the other with float.) Provide several objects that will sink and several that will float. For each object, make a matching picture card. Attach a ziploc baggie to each cutout - making the float baggie appear to be above the water line. Make predictions and then try your guess. Move the appropriate card to the correct pail when trying and concluding your guesses.

Jack and Jill Relay
Each child must dip a small pail in a LARGE bucket of water run to the other end (without spilling it), dump the pail into another waiting bucket, run back and pass the pail to the next child in line. At the end the team that has the most water in the large bucket is the winner. The trick is not to spill water or fall down and break your crown.

Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker's Man
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man,
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it, and prick it, and mark it with a "B"
And put it in the oven for Baby and me!

Prick it With a ___.
Give each child a toothpick and a slice of cut-and-bake cookie dough. After patting the slice to mold it somewhat, have each child use his toothpick to prick a configuration of holes representing the first letter of his name.  Bake in a toaster oven and enjoy!

Counting  Book
Have children glue the appropriate number of di-cut candles on a birthday cake on programmed pages that say: 1 candle on the birthday cake.  2 candles on the birthday cake. 3 candles on the birthday cake. etc. 

Cake Frosting
Give each child a Ziploc bag with shaving cream inside.  Add a couple of drops of food coloring (good opportunity to show them what mixing colors will produce: ex. red & blue make purple, yellow and blue make green, etc.)  Provide a paper with nursery rhyme and a picture of a cake on it.  Let children "frost" the cake with colored shaving cream. This could be a page in the nursery rhymes book.

Bake a Cake
In a large bowl mix: 5 cups of flour, 5 tsp. baking powder, 1 1/2 c. sugar, make a hole in the dry ingredients and add: 5 eggs, 1 c. oil, and 3 t. vanilla. Mix into dough. Give each child a fork. Let each take some dough and roll it into a ball about 2" in diameter. Then as you recite the Pat-A-Cake aloud, let them pat it flat on the table, prick it with a fork, and then with the fork mark their initials. Carefully remove the cakes from the table with a spatula and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.

Haystack Snack
Melt two packages of butterscotch chips on a hot plate or microwave. Do not stir. Mix a large package of chow mein noodles with the melted butterscotch chips. Drop spoonfuls of this mixture onto waxed paper to cool. Serve theses mouth-watering treats for snack. (You can also used peanut butter chips as some children do not like butterscotch, but be careful for allergies!)  
Another way to do this would be with peanut butter and shredded wheat!

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
One, two, buckle my shoe;
Three, four, knock at the door;
Five, six, pick up sticks;
Seven, eight, lay them straight;
Nine, ten, a good fat hen;
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve;
Thirteen, fourteen, maids a-courting;
Fifteen, sixteen, maids a-kissing;
Seventeen, eighteen, maids a-waiting;
Nineteen, twenty, I've had plenty.

Read "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe," focusing on the pairs of rhyming words.   Students complete a rhyme booklet.  The booklet is a piece of legal paper folded in half like a book.  The poem is on the cover and the inside reads:
 
"What rhymes?"
   2   and  ___
   4   and  ___
   6   and  ___
   8   and  ___
  10  and  ___

Students glue the rhyming picture in each blank (shoe, door, etc.) and write the rhyming words.

The King was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The Queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes.
Along there came a big black bird
And snipped off her nose!

I went to school.
My lamb followed me.
Who Am I? ( Mary)

We went to fetch water.
We fell down the hill.
Who are we? ( Jack and Jill)

I'm nimble and quick.
I jumped over the candlestick.
Who am I? ( Jack)

I sat on a wall.
When I fell off the wall, I broke.
Who am I? ( Humpty Dumpty)

I'm a merry old soul.
I called for my pipe, my bowl and three fiddlers.
Who am I? ( Old King Cole)

I blow my horn to call the sheep.
I fell asleep under the haystack.
Who am I? ( Little Boy Blue)

Nursery Rhyme 
Story Box

  Choose a nursery rhyme that is familiar to the children. Find the "pieces" needed to tell the story.  Put them in a box large enough to hold the biggest pieces (a shoe box would work) and put the words to the nursery rhyme or a brief outline of the story on the inside of the lid. These can be used independently by the children or a parent helper can work with a small group.

*Draw Jack and Jill going up the hill.
*What do you think they did with all Humpty Dumpty's broken pieces?
*Hickory Dickory Dock! Draw the mouse going up the clock.
*Draw yourself jumping over the candlestick.
*Draw pairs of pictures that rhyme.

Great Nursery Rhyme Ideas!

Hubbard's Cupboard

Kindergarten Treehouse 

K-Crew

Apples for a Teacher

The Virtual Vine

Mrs. Stuart's Nursery Rhyme Unit

Perpetual Preschool

Preschool Education

Mrs. Solley's Kindergarten

DLTK's Nursery Rhymes

In the Kitchen with Mother Goose

Nursery Rhyme Time

Nursery Rhyme Olympics

World of Kindergarten

Rebus Rhymes

Zelo Nursery Rhyme Collection

Nursery Rhyme Coloring Pages