Poems for kids with rhyming words

30 Short Poems for Kids (for Every Occasion)

Nursery rhymes, song lyrics, Dr. Seuss books — without realizing it, we are surrounded by poetry every day. Poems can make children laugh, but more than that, they can help with cognitive development.

Short poems for kids can help your child understand patterns, which aids the brain in learning to process and retain information ⁽¹⁾. Poems can even help with the development of speech. Plus, children enjoy poetry when it’s age-appropriate.

Table of Contents

• Funny Poems for Kids
• Rhyming Poems for Kids
• Famous Short Poems for Kids
• Silly Poems for Kids
• Mother’s Day Poems for Kids
• Christmas Poems for Kids
• Easter Poems for Kids
• How To Choose Poems For Kids
• Tips for Teaching Your Kids Poetry
• The Last, Non-Rhyming, Word

Funny Poems for Kids

Funny poems are an excellent starting point when you begin to share poetry with kids. Whether it’s wordplay that makes the poem funny or a joke or a twist at the end, these poems will tickle their funny bone and encourage them to recite it.

Eletelephony

Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—

(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)
Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;

The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee—
(I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)

— Laura Elizabeth Richard

At the Zoo

First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys – mercy, how unpleasantly they smelt!

— William Makepeace Thackeray

The Purple Cow

I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one!

— Gelett Burgess

Our Kittens

Our kittens have the softest fur,
And the sweetest little purr,
And such little velvet paws
With such cunning little claws,
And blue eyes, just like the sky!
(Must they turn green, by and by?)

Two are striped like tigers, three
Are as black as black can be,
And they run so fast and play
With their tails, and are so gay,
Is it not a pity that
Each must grow into a cat?

— Evaleen Stein

The Picture-Book Giant

Once there was a fierce, defiant,
Greedy, grumpy, grizzly giant
In the pages of a picture-book, and he
Sometimes screamed, in sudden rages,
“I must jump out from these pages,
For this life’s a much too humdrum one for me!
Fiddle-dee!
Yes, this life’s a quite too quiet one for me!”

So one rainy day he did it,
Took the picture-book and hid it,
Stamped his foot, and shouting loudly,
“Now I’m free!”
Boldly started out, forgetting
That he could not stand a wetting!
He was just a paper giant, don’t you see?
Dearie me!
Just a gaudy, picture giant, don’t you see?

— Evaleen Stein

Rebecca

Who Slammed Doors For Fun And Perished Miserably

A trick that everyone abhors
In little girls is slamming doors.
A wealthy banker’s little daughter
Who lived in Palace Green, Bayswater
(By name Rebecca Offendort),
Was given to this furious sport.

She would deliberately go
And slam the door like billy-o!
To make her uncle Jacob start.
She was not really bad at heart,
But only rather rude and wild;
She was an aggravating child…

— Hilaire Belloc

Rhyming Poems for Kids

Rhyming poetry gives children the opportunity to anticipate what’s coming next and sometimes have the satisfaction of being right.

Most nursery rhymes are basic rhyming poems. Beyond that, there are endless examples of rhyming poems for kids, some more modern than others.

A Million Little Diamonds

A million little diamonds
Twinkled on the trees;
And all the little children cried,
“A jewel, if you please!”

But while they held their hands outstretched
To catch the diamonds gay,
A million little sunbeams came
And stole them all away.

— Mary Frances Butts

Room For One More

There is always room for one more
I see by his coat he must be a stray,
The untidy look gives him away.
He’s lost his will and is so thin,
Hasn’t eaten since God knows when.
I know as I coax him through the door,
There’s always room for just one more.

— Author Unknown

The Forest

The forest is the town of trees
Where they live quite at their ease,
With their neighbors at their side
Just as we in cities wide.

— by Annette Wynne

Robin Redbreast

Goodbye, goodbye to Summer!
For Summer’s nearly done;
The garden smiling faintly,
Cool breezes in the sun;

Our Thrushes now are silent,
Our Swallows flown away –
But Robin’s here, in coat of brown,
With ruddy breast-knot gay.

Robin, Robin Redbreast,
O Robin dear!
Robin singing sweetly
In the falling of the year.

— William Allingham

The Cow

The friendly cow, all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.

— Robert Louis Stevenson

What is Pink?

What is pink? A rose is pink
By the fountain’s brink.
What is red? A poppy’s red
In its barley bed.

What is blue? The sky is blue
Where the clouds float through.
What is white? A swan is white
Sailing in the light.

What is yellow? Pears are yellow,
Rich and ripe and mellow.
What is green? The grass is green,
With small flowers between.

What is violet? Clouds are violet
In the summer twilight.
What is orange? Why, an orange,
Just an orange!

— Christina Rossetti

Ladybird Ladybird

Lady-bird, Lady-bird, fly away home
The field mouse is gone to her nest
The daisies have shut up their sleepy red eyes
And the birds and the bees are at rest

Lady-bird, Lady-bird, fly away home
The glow worm is lighting her lamp
The dew’s falling fast, and your fine speckled wings
Will flag with the close clinging damp

Lady-bird, Lady-bird, fly away home
The fairy bells tinkle afar
Make haste or they’ll catch you and harness you fast
With a cobweb to Oberon’s star.

— Author Unknown

Famous Short Poems for Kids

There is both modern and classical children’s poetry available. The issue of copyright prevents us from including some of the best modern children’s poetry, but you can find examples from poets such as Roald Dahl, Shel Silverstein, and Jacqueline Woodson all over the internet.

Here are some of our favorite classical examples.

When I Was One

When I was one,
I had just begun.
When I was two,
I was nearly new.
When I was three,
I was hardly me.
When I was four,
I was not much more.
When I was five,
I was just alive.
But now I am six,
I’m as clever as clever.
So I think I’ll be six
Now and forever.

— A.A. Milne

My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest things about him is the way he likes to grow-
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an India rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;
I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

— Robert Louis Stevenson

Old Mother Hubbard

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard,
To give the poor dog a bone;
When she came there
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.

— Author Unknown

As I Was Going To St. Ives

As I was going to St. Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Every wife had seven sacks
Every sack had seven cats
Every cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St. Ives?

— Author Unknown

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.

— Author Unknown

Silly Poems for Kids

The beauty of silly poems for kids is that they can stimulate different thought processes as well as dissolve your little ones into puddles of giggles.

In our first silly poem for kids, there are some actions, through which your child can join in and play along. These actions are in brackets, after the relevant line.

I’m a Little Teapot

I’m a little teapot
Short and stout
Here is my handle (one hand on hip)
Here is my spout (other arm out straight)

When I get all steamed up
Hear me shout
“Tip me over
and pour me out!” (lean over toward spout)

I’m a clever teapot,
Yes, it’s true
Here let me show you
What I can do
I can change my handle
And my spout (switch arm positions)
Just tip me over and pour me out! (lean over toward spout)

— George Harold Sanders

There Once Was A Man With A Beard

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said “It is just how I feared,”
Two Owls and a hen,
For Larks and a wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard

— Edward Lear

There Was A Young Lady Whose Eyes

There was a young lady whose eyes,
Were unique as to color and size,
When she opened them wide,
People all turned aside,
And then ran away in surprise.

— Edward Lear

Mother’s Day Poems for Kids

Mother’s Day poems for kids are often short and sweet.

This makes them excellent not only for reciting, but for putting inside or on a Mother’s Day card or craft.

Dear Mother

Dear mother, your love is special,
I cannot help but show.
Like flowers in a garden,
Your love makes me grow.

— Author Unknown

I Love My Mommy

I love my mommy, yessiree!
She is very good to me!
She makes me cookies and yummy treats,
That’s my mom and she’s real neat!

Oh, oh, oh, who wouldn’t know?
Oh, oh, oh, who wouldn’t know?
I love my mommy and she loves me,
That’s the way it’s supposed to be!

— Author Unknown

Dear Mother

You sew the buttons on my clothes
You give me a hankie for my nose
You make good things for me to eat
You buy me candy for a treat
You wash my clothes and mend my socks
Dear Mother, I love you lots and lots!

— Author Unknown

Christmas Poems for Kids

Google Christmas poems for kids and you’ll find page after page of Christmas songs, carols, and the like.

We’ve included some lesser-known children’s poems for Christmas, along with some of the actions for those interactive rhymes. Just remember not to read the words in brackets!

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat
Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat;
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’ penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’ penny then God bless you!

— Author Unknown

When Santa Comes To Our House

When Santa comes to our house (hands point to roof)
I would like to peek (peek through fingers)
But I know he’ll never come (shake head no)
Until I’m fast asleep (tilt and rest head on hands together)

Isn’t it the strangest thing
That Santa is so shy
We can never, never catch him
No matter how we try

— Author Unknown

Peppermint Stick

I took a lick of my peppermint stick (pretend to lick candy)
And was it ever yummy (lick lips and rub your belly)
It used to be on my Christmas tree (form tree shape with hands)
But now, it’s in my tummy (Point to belly)

— Author Unknown

Easter Poems for Kids

Use these poems in the weeks before Easter.

Enjoy plenty of fun, laughter, and bunny-focused dance moves before the real Easter bunny comes to make his chocolatey deliveries.

Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One ha’ penny, two ha’ penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha’ penny,
Two ha’ penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

— Author Unknown

Easter Is Here

Easter time at last is here
Bunnies, chickies, let us cheer
(clap and cheer)
Easter Bunny hops with joy
Eggs for every girl and boy
(hop around)
Easter time at last is here
Bunnies, chickies, let us cheer

— Author Unknown

I’m An Easter Bunny

Here is a bunny (raise two fingers and bend them)
With ears so funny
And here is a hole in the ground. (make hole with the fingers of the other hand)
At the first sound she hears,
She pricks up her ears (straighten fingers)
And pops right into the ground. (put fingers in hole)

I’m an Easter Bunny, watch me hop, (hop around)
Here are my two ears, see how they flop. (hold hands at sides of head and flop them)
Here is my cottontail, here is my nose, (wiggle hips, then point to nose)
I’m all furry from my head to my toes. (point to head, then to toes)

— Author Unknown

How To Choose Poems For Kids

If you’re unsure about how to find suitable poems for children, here are some tips that will help:

• When you are choosing poems for children, look for examples of poetry that cover familiar topics.
• Don’t break out the abstract, freeform poetry to share with your children. Stick to poems that rhyme and have a simple, clear, distinct rhythm.
• The poems you choose can encourage wordplay. That stimulates your child to see words and the way they are used in a different fashion.
• Your poems of choice should be vivid and allow your child to create a clear mental picture of what’s going on.
• With young children, the sillier or the funnier the poem is, the better.
• With younger children, poems that can be accompanied by physical actions are an excellent way to help “paint the picture.”
• Think about attention spans. The poems here are short enough to keep your child interested right to the end.

Tips for Teaching Your Kids Poetry

To help teach your kids poetry, we’ve put together our best hints and tips.

• Make it fun. Don’t sit your child down and inform them they’re going to learn some poems. Instead, introduce them casually.
• If you are going to read a new poem to your child, be sure to run through it so you can read it aloud, without hesitation, and not ruin the experience for you both.
• Use an expressive voice when you’re reading your child a poem. Different voices for characters, the appropriate emotions, raising your voice or lowering it where appropriate will all enhance the experience.
• For older kids, have them choose a favorite song, and recite them as a poem. They’ll discover they already know plenty of poetry.
• Use poems in artwork, crafts, and other places so they are an everyday feature. That way, when the time comes for your child to learn about poetry at school, they’ll have a headstart in poetry appreciation.
• Dress up as a character in the poem you’re reciting. That will increase their interest.
• Make it age-appropriate. For toddlers, stick to a poem with four or six lines.

The Last, Non-Rhyming, Word

Just the word poetry can be an instant turn-off for some people, but don’t let it put you off.

Sharing poems with your child can help you bond, aid their development, and it can be a whole lot of fun.

So use some of our poems or find some of your own, and discover short poems for kids — you’ll be glad you did.

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34 Best Nursery Rhymes for Kids (Lyrics and Activities)

Table of Contents

• 1 Free Nursery Rhymes for Kids
• 2 A Tisket, A Tasket Lyrics
• 3 Baa, Baa, Black Sheep Lyrics
• 4 Hey Diddle Diddle Lyrics
• 5 Hickory Dickory Dock Lyrics
• 6 Humpty Dumpty Lyrics
• 7 I’m a Little Teapot Lyrics
• 8 It’s Raining, It’s Pouring Lyrics
• 9 Itsy Bitsy Spider Lyrics
• 10 Jack and Jill Lyrics
• 11  Jack Be Nimble Lyrics
• 12 Little Bo Peep Lyrics
• 13 Little Boy Blue Lyrics
• 14 Little Miss Muffet Lyrics
• 15 Mary Had a Little Lamb Lyrics
• 16 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe Lyrics
• 17 Polly Put the Kettle On Lyrics
• 18 Rain, Rain Go Away Lyrics
• 19 Row, Row, Row your Boat Lyrics
• 20 Star Light, Star Bright Lyrics
• 21  
• 22 The Wheels on the Bus Lyrics
• 23 There Was An Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe Lyrics
• 24 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Lyrics
• 25 Wee Willie Winkle
• 26 A Wise Old Owl Lyrics
• 27 Hot Cross Buns Lyrics
• 28 One, Two, Three, Four, Five (Once I caught a fish alive) Lyrics
• 29 Little Jack Horner Lyrics
• 30 Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary Lyrics
• 31 Old Mother Hubbard Lyrics
• 32 Pat a Cake Lyrics
• 33 Pease Porridge Hot Lyrics
• 34 Roses are Red Lyrics
• 35 Three Blind Mice Lyrics
• 36 Three Little Kittens Lyrics

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Nursery Rhymes for kids lay the foundation to early language and reading skills. Children who are frequently read and sang to early on, are much more likely to develop strong reading skills.

After using poems to teach kids how to read over the past 17 years, I have found nursery rhymes to be the most effective tool. I’m so excited to share this list of the nursery rhymes for kids with you. They will build vocabulary, fluency, expressive and receptive language, rhyming skills, and expand the kids’ imagination.

Free Nursery Rhymes for Kids

In this blog post, you will find the some of the best nursery rhymes lyrics and suggested activities.  Before you start scrolling, grab your FREE poetry guide with checklists, activities, and printables.

A Tisket, A Tasket Lyrics

A Tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow basket.

I wrote a letter to my friend, and on the way I dropped it. 

I dropped it, I dropped it, 

and on the way I dropped it.

The little boy, he picked it up,

and put it in his pocket. 

• A Tisket, A Tasket Build a Poem activity for in the classroom or at home.
• Have the kiddos write or draw a letter to a friend, then act out the poem.

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep Lyrics

Baa, baa, black sheep

Have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir

Three bags full.

One for my master

And one for the dame

One for the little boy

Who lives down the lane. 

• Color a sheep template black, then use cotton balls to incorporate a sensory craft
• Estimate how many cotton balls it will take to fill three lunch bags
• Baa, Baa Black Sheep Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Hey Diddle Diddle Lyrics

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. 

Get “Hey Diddle Diddle”, HERE or on TPT

• Introduce a fiddle, and let the kids have turns acting out the cat’s role
• Paint a picture of a cow jumping over the moon.
• Have a jumping contest
• Do a sight word hunt using the printable Hey Diddle Diddle Poem.
• Hey Diddle Diddle Build a Poem

Hickory Dickory Dock Lyrics

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck one, the mouse ran down.

Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck two, the mouse said “BOO!”

Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck three, the mouse said “WHEE!”

Hickory dickory dock.

Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck four, the mouse said “No more!”

Hickory dickory dock.

• Use with a Teaching Time kit to integrate lessons about clocks and time.
• Talk about and act out position words: up, down, etc.
• Come up with a list of rhyming words for mouse.
• Hickory Dickory Dock Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Humpty Dumpty Lyrics

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the Kings horses, and all the king’s men,

couldn’t put Humpty together again. 

• Grab your FREE Humpty Dumpty Printable and Build a Poem when you sign up to my Little Learning Corner Newsletter, HERE.

Get Humpty Dumpty, HERE or on TPT

I’m a Little Teapot Lyrics

I’m a little teapot short and stout.

Here is my handle, here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up, hear my shout.

Just tip me over, and pour me out!

• Have a tea party using a kids Tea set
• Integrate lessons on measurement. Compare compacity and weight of a teapot verves a teacup

This printable poem is exclusive to the Poem of the Day Bundle, HERE or on TPT.

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring Lyrics

It’s raining, it’s pouring.

The old man is snoring.

Went to bed, and bumped his head

and couldn’t get up in the morning.

• Act out the poem (the kids love being the old man who snores
• Integrate a lesson on weather 
• It’s Raining, It’s Pouring Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Itsy Bitsy Spider Lyrics

The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.

Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.

Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain.

And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.

• Integrate Spider Facts for Kids sentence building activities.
• Use hand movements to reinforce the poem or song.
• Focus on positional words
• Make a paper plate spider craft
• Add the Itsy Bitsy Spider printable poem to the kids’ poetry notebook
• Itsy Bitsy Spider Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Jack and Jill Lyrics

Jack and Jill went up the hill

to fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down, and broke his crown,

and Jill came tumbling after.

• Get a class set of plastic pails, and let the kids act out this popular nursery rhyme for kids.
• Jack and Jill poetry packet
• Jack and Jill Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

 Jack Be Nimble Lyrics

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.

Jack jump over the candlestick.

Jack jumped high. Jack jumped low. 

Jack jumped over, and burned his toe! 

• Get a cheap candlestick mold and candle making kit to make candles with your kids. (This is great to do with a parent volunteer)
• Let the kids practice jumping over a candlestick while reciting the nursery rhymes for kids.
• Jack Be Nimble Build a Poem – replace the Jack card with the students names to personalize this fun nursery rhyme for kids (see video above)

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Little Bo Peep Lyrics

This traditional nursery rhyme is one I like to include in my farm themed lesson plans. For example, the introduction of sheep allows for the talk of other farm animals. It’s great a bridge into more mother goose nursery rhymes naturally occurs. For example, you can then teach more English nursery rhymes such as “This Little Piggy”, “Five Little Ducks”, “Three Little Pigs”, “Five Little Speckled Frogs”, “Old MacDonald”, and more popular rhymes.

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Little Bo Peep lost her sheep,

and doesn’t know where to find them.

Leave them alone, and they’ll come home,

bringing their tails behind them.

• Grab this set of 3 Sheep stuffed animals to let the kids act out the nursery rhyme for preschool, kindergarten, or first grade.
• Little Bo Peep Build a Poem

Little Boy Blue Lyrics

Little Boy Blue come blow your horn.

The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.

But where’s the boy who looks after the sheep?

He’s under a haystack fast asleep.

Will you wake him? No – not I.

For if I do, he’s sure to cry.

• This a great nursery rhyme for kids to incorporate your favorite farm animal lessons.
• Set up a farm pretend area 
• Little Boy Blue Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Little Miss Muffet Lyrics

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,

eating her curdy and whey.

Along came a spider who sat down beside her,

and frightened Miss Muffet away.

• Do a nursery rhyme for kids comparison with Little Miss Muffet and Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Introduce vocabulary, such as tuffet, curds and whey, and frightened.
• Swap out frightened for another word to describe emotions and act them all out.
• Little Miss Muffet Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Mary Had a Little Lamb Lyrics

Mary had a little lamb,

it’s fleece was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went,

the lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day

and broke the teacher’s rule

And what a time did they have

that day at school.

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

• Swap out the name “Mary” for the kids’ names. It’s a great way to personalize nursery rhymes for preschoolers.
• Send home a little lamb stuffed animal with the kids and have them recite the poem to their family. Rotate through all of the kids.
• Mary Had a Little Lamb Build a Poem

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe Lyrics

One, two, buckle my shoe.

Three, four, shut the door.

Five, six, pick up sticks.

Seven, eight, lay them straight.

Nine, ten, a big fat hen. 

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

• Work on number word recognition – highlighting the number words in the printable poem.
• Identify the rhyming patterns throughout the nursery rhyme for kids.
• Act out the poem
• Try to come up with new lyrics
• One Two Buckle My Shoe Build a Poem 

Polly Put the Kettle On Lyrics

Polly put the kettle on.

Polly put the kettle on.

Polly put the kettle on.

We’ll all have tea.

Sukey, take it off again.

Sukey, take it off again.

Sukey, take it off again.

They’ve all gone away.

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

• Do a compare and contrast with “I’m a Little Teapot”
• Set up a kitchen area with a toy kettle
• Let the kids role play as Polly and Sukey
• Polly Put the Kettle On Build a Poem

Rain, Rain Go Away Lyrics

Rain, rain, go away.

Come again another day.

Little Johnny wants to play.

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

• Integrate with your lessons about weather.
• Replace “Johnny” with your kid’s name.
• Rain Rain Go Away Build a Poem

Row, Row, Row your Boat Lyrics

Row, row, row your boat

gently down the stream. 

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,

life if but a dream.

• Sink or float activities
• Water table
• Row Row Row Your Boat Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Star Light, Star Bright Lyrics

Star light, star bright,

First star I see tonight;

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight.

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

• Get a telescope for kids and let them look at the stars
• Integrate this nursery rhyme for kids with your lessons about shapes.  Making Words Shapes and Write the Room Shapes are two popular activities.
• Star Light Star Bright Build a Poem

The Wheels on the Bus Lyrics

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

round and round, round and round.

The wheels on the bus go round and round

all through the town.  

• Sing with hand motions
• Each kid and be a part of, or people on, the bus (wheels, wipers, babies, mommy, etc) and act out their part.
• The Wheels on the Bus poetry packet

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Some may debate that The Wheels on the Bus is an American Folk song, while others claim it to be a classic Mother Goose song for kids. Either way, it was published in 1939, and remains a popular song for kids of all ages.

This nursery rhyme for kids has variations, changing “wheels” to wipers, kids, babies, bus driver, mommies, daddies, and horn – to name a few.   Each variation has a different hand motion or sound effect, making this a very engaging and interactive song for kids.

There Was An Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe Lyrics

This fun, classic nursery rhyme, inspires young children to use their imagination. The kids say this is a funny nursery rhyme because how can an old lady actually live in a shoe. They ask questions such as “how many little boys live in the shoe?”, and “Is there a little girl?” While you may want to work on more thorough reading comprehension questions, and focus on learning new words, this is a fun poem for kids of all ages.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do. 

She gave them some broth without any bread.

Then, whipped them all soundly, and put them to bed. 

• Free coloring page of There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
• Practice tying shoes with kids
• There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Lyrics

Twinkle twinkle little star,

how I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

like a diamond in the sky. 

Twinkle twinkle little star,

how I wonder what you are.  

• Put up glow in the dark stars throughout the room
• Work on shape identification: Making Words Shapes and Write the Room shapes are two great resources to learn shapes.
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Wee Willie Winkle

 Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,

Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown;

Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,

“Are the children in their beds?

Now it’s eight o’clock.

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

• Have a pajama day with the kids.
• Integrate learning to tell time.
• Have the kids graph when their nap time is.
• Wee Willie Winkie Build a Poem

A Wise Old Owl Lyrics

A wise old owl sat in an oak.

The more he heard,

the less he spoke.

The less he spoke,

the more he heard. 

Why aren’t we all like

that wise old bird? 

• A Wise Old Owl Build A Poem
• Make a cute set of Owl Eyes as a STEM project
• Foam Owl Art Crafts

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

Hot Cross Buns Lyrics

Hot cross buns,

Hot cross buns,

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns

If your daughters

Don’t like them,

Give them to your sons.

Hot cross buns.

• Hot cross bun taste testing and graph
• Make fresh buns with the kids.
• Play a money game from Learning Resources
• Hot Cross Buns Build a Poem

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

One, Two, Three, Four, Five (Once I caught a fish alive) Lyrics

One, two, three, four, five.

Once I caught a fish alive.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because he bit my finger so.

Which finger did he bite?

This little finger on the right. 

One, Two, Three, Four, Five Suggested Activities | Nursery Rhymes for Kids

• Go fishing for sight words! Put a small magnetic dot on the back of sight word cards, attach a paper clip to a string on the end of dow rod, and fish for sight words.
• One, Two, Three, Four, Five Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Little Jack Horner Lyrics

Little Jack Horner

sat in a corner

eating a Christmas pie.

He put in his thumb

and pulled out a plumb

and said, “What a good boy and I?”

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

Little Jack Horner Suggested Activities

• Pie tasting and graphing your favorite pie
• Plumb tasting
• Little Jack Horner Build a Poem

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary Lyrics

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells

and cockle shells,

and pretty maids all in a row. 

Get this poem on TPT

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary Suggested Activities

• Kids Plant and Flower Growing Kit
• Make paper flower patterns
• Intro to flower facts for kids
• Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary Build a Poem

Old Mother Hubbard Lyrics

Old Mother Hubbard

went to the cupboard

to get her poor dog a bone.

But when she got there,

the cupboards were bare,

so the poor dog had none.

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

Old Mother Hubbard Suggested Activities

• Fun printable and digital pet activities
• Sew your own pet craft for kids
• Old Mother Hubbard Build a Poem

Pat a Cake Lyrics

Pat a cake, pat a cake bakers man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can.

Roll it and pat it and mark it with a B.

But it in the oven for baby and me.

Pat a Cake Suggested Activities

• Integrate your lesson about community helpers
• Set up a bakery dress-up area with a cake pretend playset.
• This is the perfect song to integrate hand movements and support kinesthetic learners.
• Pat a Cake Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Pease Porridge Hot Lyrics

Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold.

Pease porridge in the pot

nine days old.

Some like it hot, some like it cold,

Some like it in the pot

nine days old.

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

Pease Porridge Hot Suggested Activities

• Do a nursery rhyme for kids comparison with Little Miss Muffet, and with the fable, Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Pease Porridge Hot Build a Poem

Roses are Red Lyrics

Roses are red.

Violets are blue.

Sugar is sweet 

and so are you. 

Get this poem HERE or on TPT

It’s the simplest nursery rhymes for kids that often stick out the most!

Roses are Red Suggested Activities

• Do a nature walk and collect wild flowers, then sort them by color or type
• Plant roses
• Roses are Red Build a Poem

Three Blind Mice Lyrics

Three blind mice,

three blind mice,

See how they run,

see how they run.

They all ran after the farmer’s wife

who cut off their tails with a carving knife.

Did you ever see such

a sight in your life,

as three blind mice?

Three Blind Mice Suggested Activities

• Blindfold three students, and have them run a short distance (if there is an open, safe, area)
• Integrate 5 Senses activities
• Three Blind Mice Build a Poem

Get this printable poem HERE or on TPT

Three Little Kittens Lyrics

Three little kittens,

they lost their mittens,

and they began to cry.

“Oh, mother dear,”

we sadly fear, 

that we have lost our mittens.

Three Little Kittens Suggested Activities

• Incorporate a pretend pet area in the classroom to support these traditional rhymes.
• Read “The Mitten” by Jan Brett
• Do a poem comparison with Three Blind Mice
• Three Little Kittens Build a Poem

Get this printable HERE or on TPT

Thanks for stopping by Little Learning Corner to check out these favorite nursery rhymes for kids. Leave your favorite ideas for Mother Goose rhymes in the comments below.

If you’re interested in getting 35 Printable Nursery Rhyme poems, check out the bundle below.

Before you go, here are some blog posts you may enjoy:

30 Best Nursery Rhyme Books for Kids

17 Simple Humpty Dumpty Printables

90 Quick Report Card Comments

All About Build a Poems

25 Popular Nursery Rhymes Songs

15 Nursery Rhymes Sequencing Printables

Nursery Rhymes for Kids

Learn to write poetry

BACK TO MAIN

Thirty-three cows
or Learning to compose poetry

“Thirty-three cows, a new verse is born…” Remember the song about the little a poet? It is about games in rhyme that we will talk today. These games are not only fun pastime. It is a means of developing both speech, and imagination, and non-standard creative thinking of the baby.

To compose poetry, one must be able to observe, to notice the brightest and unusual, to be able to choose expressive words and, most importantly, one must be able to rhyme. And let the little "inspired rhymers" not become great poets (although, who knows!), but they will get great pleasure from the process itself creativity, from the joy of creating your own poem. And how unusual and verses written by a child can be figurative! No wonder Korney Chukovsky said: “At the beginning of life, we are all poets, and only then we gradually begin to speak prose."

There is one more nuance. It's no secret that many modern kids don't like read poetry. But they love making them! So let's take advantage of this to raise a small writer to a great reader!

Poems and kids

Starting to read nursery rhymes and nursery rhymes to a very small child, we do a great and important matter. And it does not matter that the kid does not yet understand the meaning of what he read. Importance not in that. Reading, from early childhood, we discover beauty and beauty for the child. the melody of native speech, we instill love for the word, we learn to understand rhyme and meter. A kid grown up on “quality” children's poems will most likely not lose interest in poetry in the future. In the first rhyming games we play with the child intuitively, without even perceiving them as games. Reading a familiar rhyme, we we stop at the end of the line, giving the crumbs the opportunity to pronounce familiar word. And he does a great job with it. As the baby grows, it vocabulary is getting bigger. And if you read and read a lot a variety of poems, a 2-3 year old child may well play a game with you "Give me a word." For this game, use unfamiliar quatrains with simple, easy to guess rhymes. Riddles are also good, in which the answer goes into rhyme. And do not rush to immediately answer for the baby. give him opportunity to find the correct answer.

If you don’t have a book with riddles or poems at hand, you can do it right “on the go” invent rhymes. They help the child to feel the rhythm verse. I often play this game with my youngest daughter:
- Cha-cha-cha, we were at…
- Doctor! - happily picks up Masha.
- Zha-zha-zha, they found in the forest ...
- Hedgehog!
- From-from-from, redhead purrs ...
- Cat!
- Ib-ib-ib, in the forest grew up…
- Mib! – Here are those! The situation was not entirely clear to Wave, because we often say not “mushroom”, but “fungus”. That's what my daughter came up with a word that rhymes but means absolutely nothing. And in order not to get any “mibs”, select situations that are well understood by the baby, and then the guess word will be just ask for the tongue. And then you can make it harder. And praise, be sure praise anyway! Out-of-the-box thinking is great! Why and some “mibu” cannot grow under a Christmas tree? Who knows...

Versification is a wonderful activity on the way to kindergarten or standing in a long line. And time will help pass, and the benefits are undeniable. You can compose poetry just by looking around: what I see, I sing about. And by all means in turn: the line is mom, the line is baby.
So more fun:
By on the path we go
We won't fall for anything!
A bee flies over a flower.
me bangs interfere with watching…

Playing a poem

Abracadabra
the words. Well, he does not understand what rhyme is, and that's it. Try to act in the following way. Take some well-known poem and retell it in your own words. For example, like this:
The hostess left bunny.
Bunny stayed in the rain.
Could not get off the bench,
Wet all over to the thread.

Ask the child: is this a poem? Not! And why? Yes, because the rhymes in it no. Now we rearrange the words, and everything falls into place. Find with baby rhyming words: hostess-bunny, could not-wet. Play this a permutation game, first “spoiling” the poem, and then correcting it.

Applause
For this game we need hands. You call a couple of words, and the child should clap his hands if there is a rhyme, and raise your hands if the words don't rhyme. Sand-sock: bang! Table chair: handles up! Such a game will very quickly help the baby figure out what's what.

Extra Four
You name four words, and the child must choose one of them that does not rhyme with the other three. For example, in a chain “mimosa, birch, goat, splinter”, an extra word, of course, “goat”.

Rhymed lotto
For children who can read, you can make a lotto. Take a stack of thick paper "for notes" and write large letters on each by one word. Choose them so that every 3-4 words rhyme. Begin play. We shuffle the cards and distribute 10 cards to the players. Beginner game puts any of his cards on the table and reads the word aloud. Every player chooses from his cards those where there are words that rhyme with the name. Then the next player in the circle puts his card on the table and reads the word, and the rest lay out cards with rhyming words, if they have them. The first person to run out of cards wins.

“Catch the rhyme”
must return the ball to you and answer with a rhyme: a watch-mustache, a squirrel-plate, etc. Can throw the ball and rhyme one word, making a chain: cat-midge-spoon-brooch-okroshka, etc. And it doesn't matter if it doesn't work right away. A little practice, and wonderful and unusual rhymes will appear. Incidentally, such games are much more fun to play with a company of kids, for example, in a children's birthday or during a walk. And we often play with the whole family in the car, choosing a word and coming up with rhymes to it in turn until someone fantasy is not exhausted. In such a family competition, it is appropriate to call and not very common words, like a yoke or a grip, and at the same time explain their meaning to the child. It’s just that daddy doesn’t really come out with rhyming, and he increasingly chooses wonderful rhymes like “brother-cousin”.

"Nonsense-Nonsense-Nonsense"
Here is a game for older children. After all, often it happens that moms and dads do not know what to play with a grown child. But our little schoolchildren crave to play and communicate with us no less than kids.
The game "Nonsense" came from my childhood. There was a period when we enthusiastically played it not only at breaks, but also, what is there to hide, at lessons. I think that this game is familiar to you. Several players (two are possible, but what the more the better) take a piece of paper. Covering your paper with your hand prying eyes, write any phrase on top, for example: “Once we have under school desk” or “Once, in the cold winter season”. Then fold the sheet so so that what is written is closed, and they pass it around, telling the neighbor the last word per line. Now the task of the players is to write the next line in rhyme with the previous one. Then the sheet is folded again and passed on. This continues until the end of the sheet or until you get bored. Then the sheet is unfolded and what is written is read. aloud. All the players roll with laughter, because they turn out to be meaningless, but very funny combinations. Well, that's why she's a jerk. And if you rainy autumn in the evening you dare to play this game with the whole family, you will be in a good mood secured despite the gloomy weather.

Miracle charades
Our next fun is charades. They have a given word is divided into several parts, each of which is an independent word: f-salt, top-ears, etc. In old children's magazines, this useful game was given a lot of places. And for good reason. Charades are a wonderful task for ingenuity and erudition. Guessing such riddles helps to better understand the native language and its manifold. And we will try to compose charades, and then make them to dad. Let him break his head! Charades have many varieties. The most popular among them is an anagram. In it, the word is found by rearranging letters. Here is an example:
To the seas and oceans
I release fountains.
Vice versa write -
You will hear me in the clock.
(kit-tic)

In order to write an anagram, you need to first pick up a couple of words, and then on its basis to come up with a poem-explanation. There are many such couples many, but here's a start for you: pump-pine, linden-saw, clever tsunami, jar-boar, entrance-inhale, mosquito-chamomile, park-carp, hair-word.

Shall we play Burim?
In addition to the games described, there are others that have come to us from distant times, when any well-educated person was a bit of a poet. Such poems were written in the circle of close people, used as gifts to friends.

Burime (from French bout - end, rime - rhyme) is a fun game, a poetic task where you need to write poems to predetermined rhymes. It is interesting to play it with the whole family, reading out their works in turn. And this is not just entertainment, but a useful activity that develops creativity, a sense of humor to expand vocabulary. Rhymes for burime should be unexpected and a little strange. The main requirement for the future poem: common sense and humor. For kids, use simpler rhymes: bunny-flock-box-roll. Here what can happen:
A hare came out into the clearing.
Sees - there are titmouse flock.
He opened his box,
Gave a bun to the tits with poppy seeds.

And then it is possible and more difficult: in the zoo-business-hot-chalk. Interesting to play burime, using rhymes from famous children's poems. Come on, let's try compose your own version of the chain: half-paw-throw-good or in mink-shut up-peel-candles. And you can play “guessing games” by asking the baby remember in which poem these rhymes were found.
One of varieties of burime is monorim (from Greek monos - one and French rime - rhyme). In this game, one base word is taken, and the whole poem must be built on the same rhyme. You can invent lines queues. For example, we choose the word "duck" and compose such poem:
There once was a duck in the world,
She loved forget-me-nots.
Oni blossomed in her stomach.
And this, you know, is not a joke!
One day to visit for a minute ...
... well, and so on.

Surely the kid will be interested in composing together with you an acrostic. This is a poem in which each line begins with a certain letter. If you read these letters in a row, you should get some word:
M scarlet girl
A bricotes eats
Ш a squirrel.
A x, doesn't listen to me!

Try to play with the name of the baby and his friends or come up with an acrostic as a gift dad or grandma.
A variety of acrostic is tautogram, in which all words begin with the same letter. That's where large vocabulary required:
Lilac petal flies,
Light summer patch…

If you manage to get your baby interested in rhyming games, it will be great for him in the future come in handy. Write funny wishes for the birthday of a loved one, remake a song at a school party, come up with anagrams for a student KVN - where you just do not need the ability to write poetry.

And most importantly - the child will have the opportunity to express his non-standard, its amazing inner world, whose name is childhood.

Yulia Kasparova
"The World of the Family"
December 2005

Children's verbal creativity "Learning to compose poetry" | Material on the development of speech (preparatory group) on the topic:

Preschool age is a period of intensive development of creative abilities. It is at preschool age that all types of artistic activity arise, their first assessments, the first attempts at independent composition. The most difficult type of creative activity of the child is verbal creativity.

The social and pedagogical value of children's creativity is obvious, since the child reveals his understanding of the environment, his attitude towards him and helps to reveal his inner world, features of ideas, interests. In his work, the child discovers something new for himself, and for those around him, something new about himself.

Verbal creativity is expressed in different forms:

- in word creation (inventing new words and phrases)

- in writing riddles, fables, own stories, fairy tales

- in composing poetry

- in creative retelling

Psychologists emphasize that not all children master the ability to create their own compositions. Difficulties are explained by the following reasons:

1. Insufficient formation of mental processes: thinking, perception, imagination.

2. Little life experience.

3.Undeveloped language ability.

Conditions for the development of verbal creativity:

1. General pedagogical:

- development of observation, fantasy, imagination.

- Education of independence, initiative, hard work

- personality of the teacher himself (creative)

- the nature of the relationship of the teacher with children

- Assessment by adults of the child and its results

2. Special

- A comprehensive solution to the problems of speech development of speech on mother tongue lessons.

- teaching children the structure and composition of the text

- development of poetic ear (the ability to perceive the artistic word and the ability to use it in one's own verbal activity)

- the use of folklore (especially for inventing fairy tales)

- A special role is given to the teacher, how he himself is a creative person and on what tasks he gives to children.

B.V. Afanasiev wrote: “A child who has experienced the joy of creativity, even to the smallest extent, becomes different. Upbringing will not be successful if one does not evoke a creative instinct in children and educate their creative skills.”

It is very important to educate children in a spiritual need for poetry.

Before teaching a child to recite poetry, children must be taught to listen, see and observe the beauty of the world.

When analyzing poems, we pay attention to artistic techniques, the meanings of words and phrases.

As a result, poetic ideas begin to form in children, and a poetic vocabulary is accumulated.

- A work of art (prose, poetry) gives food to the imagination, enables children to see images and pictures, and not just understand the meaning. It is necessary to explain to children that the author, in order to describe vividly, beautifully and interestingly, specially selects words, that the writer and poet draw with words just like an artist paints.

- Listening to and memorizing poetry contributes to the development of a sense of rhythm, which is very important for the development of literary abilities.

From the age of four, children can easily master such concepts as rhyme, comparison and comparison, which are already interesting for children of this age. Such a technique as animism - animation, endowing with the qualities and properties of a person everything that surrounds the child, is used very early by children. Literature itself contributes to the consolidation of these concepts. So, the concept of rhyme can be introduced by reading to children a chapter from the work of N. Nosov (“How Dunno wrote poetry”, D. Ciardi’s poem “Rhymes”, B. Shergin’s fairy tale “Rhymes”. Working on rhyme improves phonemic hearing, contributes to the creative development of the child.

In my work I use the following techniques that help teach children to compose their own poems:

- insert a missing word into a line of poetry;

“We will not go to sleep early

Daughter need . ...... (bathe)

Warm water

We lie on our ........” (Bird)

-choose a rhyme for words (for example, stump, frost-be )

- compose a riddle (for example, he is prickly, but not evil and eats a mouse (hedgehog) - this was composed by children)

- recall an excerpt from a poem on a given topic (rain, autumn, holiday, toy) For example, “cold rain pours and pours, does not allow us to take a walk ....)

- - guess the author and title from the read passage of the poem

I use in my work didactic games aimed at developing the creative abilities of children.

The game "Continued".

The teacher reads a line of poetry, and the children continue on in rhyme.

-What is silence? (tutor)

- Where does she live now? (children).

Game "Add two lines" The teacher comes up with the first two lines, and the children the last two. For example:

“Today I came to the garden,

Thank you very much.

I brought him a horse,

Well, he gave me a spatula "(composed by children)

Game "Compose a poem using 4 words" The teacher calls the child 2 words each, and the child must come up with a poem with them.

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