A Trip Down Memory Lane and the Power of Nursery Rhymes for Children and Adults!

I was lucky enough to teach 4-5 year olds for over ten years. Among my favourite moments each week was teaching a nursery rhyme.  During initial teacher education, one of my heroes was Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), often referred to as the ‘Father of Kindergarten’ and I remember being particularly struck by his beautifully illustrated ‘Mother’s Songs, Games and Stories’, published in 1888 and available now at https://archive.org/details/motherssongsgame00fruoft/page/n3/mode/2up You will see many of the rhymes that even today we are familiar with,  and the music accompanying these rhymes can be listened to at  http://www.froebelfoundation.org/musicff.html

Research in early childhood education has since confirmed that Friedrich Froebel was indeed on the right track when he suggested that playing with sounds in language has significant benefits for children’s learning and development, and nursery rhymes are one of the best and most fun ways we can do this. Among the benefits of nursery rhymes for young children are:

·    Nursery rhymes are ‘mini’ stories and are a great way to begin to foster children’s engagement with storytelling.

·    Nursery rhymes support children’s receptive and expressive language development.

·    Through nursery rhymes, children become familiar with the sounds and rhythmic patterns in spoken language, referred to as phonological awareness, which is an       essential precursor for later formal reading.

·    Nursery rhymes can reinforce mathematical concepts such number, shape and space in fun and enjoyable contexts.

·    Children’s imagination and creativity are nurtured as they engage with the myriad of characters and scenarios in nursery rhymes.

·    Nursery rhymes, through suggesting actions, physical movement and dance, promote children’s fine and gross motor development.

·    Nursery rhymes create an opportunity for children to participate in enjoyable interactive and social contexts with adults and with each other.

·    Creative expression through Art and Drama is nurtured as children often spontaneously draw/paint/sculpt images suggested by the rhyme and/or naturally                   become the characters in the rhyme.

Most importantly, we know that children enjoy singing, reciting and playing with, and through nursery rhymes, and we know that learning and development flourishes when we are happy and having fun!

Think about your favourite nursery rhyme, how you can still recite it with all those accompanying actions and how much fun it still is!

Mine is ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’!

Now have a listen to children reciting their favourite nursery rhymes for all of us!

Narrated by Lauren age 8

Produced by Dermot Comerford

Music by The Green Orbs

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