Why is the use of rhymes so important during the early years?

Activities that involve children in rhyming help to develop their…

• listening skills

  (paying attention to details, words, and sounds)

• auditory discrimination

  (the ability to tell the difference between different sounds)

• oral language expression

  (learning to use oral language to communicate wants, thoughts, and ideas, meaningfully within sentences and with correct grammar)

• ability to manipulate language

  (making strings of rhymes, inventing their own nonsense words that rhyme)

• vocabulary

  (expanding their use and meanings of new words)

Rhyming experiences
lay a firm foundation
for learning to read!

At a young age, children need to have opportunities to engage in rhyming experiences.  They need to be able to have chances to hear, recognize, reproduce, and manipulate the sounds of language in a playful manner.  Rhyming, and specifically nursery rhymes, assists in accomplishing this goal.  Nursery rhymes are short, funny (and sometimes nonsensical), usually have a repetitive beat, can often be sung, memorized, and easily acted out. Since they are oral, you can invite your child to participate in rhymes with you wherever you may be!

Below are two FREE Resources involving rhyming…

While teaching Kindergarten, I implemented the use of Letter and Rhyme a Day at the beginning of our school year.  It was a quick, fun review for some children and an interactive way to introduce nursery rhymes and rhyming to others who had not been exposed to this foundational skill.  I’ve recently updated the printable Letter and Rhyme sheets.  They now have updated graphics and are easy to download in one document!  

I also created new Nursery Rhyme Charts!  There are over 40 colorful charts that you can print and enjoy.  Feel free to use them in your classroom or at home.  Maybe print them for ‘read the room’ or place them in individual nursery rhyme folders for kids to take home and share with their families.  

Please note that this Nursery Rhyme Charts booklet contains all of the rhymes used in Letter and Rhyme a Day as well as the ones utilized in our Joyful Heart Bible and Rhyme preschool curriculum.

For additional free rhyme ideas at Hubbard’s Cupboard, please check out the following…
Nursery Rhyme Olympics – fun for a classroom or at home on a spring or summer day
Kindergarten Rhyme Time – a Nursery Rhyme themed Family Night
Nursery Rhyme Artwork
and, for children who are ready, Word Family Printables