Believe it or not, rhymes help children learn pre-reading skills. Here are some rhymes to start you off.One of the most helpful pre-reading skills to learn is that words are made up of sounds. To sound out c-a-t is cat and d-o-g is dog. This is the basic principle behind phonics – you might have come across phonics before. Lots of experts believe that practicing lots of rhymes from an early age seems to lower the probability that children will have reading problems when they reach school.
Playing games and singing songs that feature rhymes can be of great benefit. Here are a selection of favourites:
Songs that emphasize the little sounds with a rhythm
This is the way the ladies ride Trit- trot trit- trot trit- trot This is the way the gentlemen ride Gallup, gallup,gallup This is the way the old man rides Hobble-dee hobble-dee And down in a ditch.
The actions (trotting, galloping or hobbleddeing on the knee) emphasise the rhythm. The down in the ditch is a surprise that makes her laugh- and the excitement improves listening next time around.
We do not need to restrict ourselves to nursery songs. Any song that fits the words to a clear rhythm or emphasizes the little sounds works well, even pop songs old or new work!
Rhymes that emphasize the little sounds through repetition.
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the kings horses and all the kings men Couldn’t put humpty together again.
Baba Black Sheep
Baba black sheep have you and wool Yes sir, yes sir three bags full One for the master and one for the dame And one for the little boy that lives down the lane.
Rhyme it
I saw a cat and he was wearing a………… hat. I saw a pig and he was wearing a………….wig. I saw a hen holding a …………pen I saw a stoat and he was wearing a ………coat.
You can either take turns to make up the sentences or you can provide the animals and he can provide the rhymes.
Silly
Silly rhymes are great fun, he’ll be having so much fun he won’t think for one minute he’s learning! The sillier the better!
Playtime hints and tips to help develop pre-reading skillsIt can sometimes feel like you’re under pressure to have your child reading before they’ve even started school. But this really isn’t something you need to worry about. There is no need to rush to give them a head start – did you know that some countries don’t even start their children reading until the age of 7 and those children actually do go on to be better readers than those who start earlier!
The most important things you can do to help are to foster a love of books in your child, even if he can’t read yet and always positively encourage his efforts towards reading. If you help him understand that books are good fun, he’ll learn without even realising it!
Below are some easy tips and pointers for preparing your pre-schooler for reading:
1. Reading is fun!
Encourage a positive view of reading by;
* Setting a good example * - let him see that mummy reads too!
* Enjoy books together * – let him get to know the feel of books and enjoy looking through them.
* Bedtime stories * – sharing story books when you’re safe and cuddled up in bed builds positive images of reading that will last for a lifetime
It’s all in the detail!
Reading needs concentration and attention to detail, so practice these skills through play;
* Look for the surprises * - Look for picture books that have a hidden character on each page.
* Search in the shops * - have him look for one of his favourite foods in the supermarket as you do the weekly shop. Watch out for logos and familiar labels.
* Out and About * – When you’re out and about look carefully at things like leaves, flowers and shells. Point out the details.
Familiarity with Letters
Start building early familiarity with letters through simple play ideas;
* Books * - look for individual letters in books. S for snake or F for Freddy.
*Out and About* - look for individual letters on car number plates, street signs etc
* Toys * - look out for toys with letters for added play value- especially those that tell you the sounds when you press a button
* Food * - look for letters on food packets.
* Words * - look for frequent words like the in his story books.
Familiarity with sounds
Words and sentences are quite rhythmic and built up of a collection of sounds, get them used to this idea with some of these tips;
* Poems and rhyme * - read poems, nursery rhymes and books written in rhyme.
* Game play * - play games that use rhymes.
* Names * - clap out the syllables of his name. Can he do it? Can he clap out his whole name? Freddie is two claps Freddie Walker is four. Who do you know with the most claps?
Familiarity with shapes
Words and letters are just shapes, for example A is based on a triangle, recognising shapes is a good building block for reading;
*Books* – look for objects in picture books that are a particular shape
*Out and About* - look for shapes outside, wheels on cars, round-abouts, road signs, paving slabs etc
Playtime hints and tips to help your child discover wonder of science and natureFrom the mument he can get about by himself, you’ll see that your baby loves to investigate and explore everything! Many of the simple activities that he loves actually do help him learn basic scientific principles. For example, playing with bath toys will teach him simple lessons about solids and liquids, and, the best thing is, he is learning all the time without even realising it.
All the things surrounding him provide ample material to develop his ’scientific’ side. From leaves and animals in nature, to toys and furniture – they all have a part in play as he explores his world.
Early on, he’ll want to know “what happens if…” and will often come up with his own answer. Don’t feel like you need to give any kind of a scientific explanation of the principle at play, the most important thing is to let him experience what happens.
Day to day there are lots of ways to help bring out the scientist in him!
How do things move?
* Try pushing balls down a slope with him to watch what happens
* What happens if you send different shapes down, do they move quicker or slower, or do they get stuck half way?
What floats?
Bath time is a brilliant time to investigate water and its effects.
* What floats? Give him household bits and pieces made of different materials to try.
* What sinks? Try different shapes and materials again.
* Which things soak up water? Try paper plates, face flannels, sponges, ducks, plastic cups.
* What happens to bubbles when he puts soap in the bath?
How does your garden grow?
Growing things is a great way to learn about nature, and the best thing is that children love to grow! They also love creepy crawlies so there are lots of great things to explore in the garden.
* Plant sunflower seeds in pots. How tall will they grow? Watch how they turn to face the sun.
* Put some grass seed (or better still cress) on a wet flannel - keep it damp and watch the roots and shoots pop out of the seed.
* Plant some radishes- it only takes 6 weeks from planting to harvest.
* How many legs do spiders have? See if you can catch one and count the legs.
* How many birds come to the bird table?
* What happens when you put a piece of celery in a jar of coloured water over night? It will come out the colour of the water!
* How quickly does a bamboo cane grow? You will need a tape measure!
These are just a few ideas, I’m sure that you can think of lots more to make everyday learning discoveries.
Bring out the Van Gogh in your little one with some arty games and activities.
Drawing and painting not only offer a child a way of expressing themselves creatively - they are also excellent activities for improving eye-hand co-ordination and the control of tools, primarily pen or pencil. This is a skill they will also need for school.
This is reason enough to give a child plenty of practice, but there are more benefits to art and painting activities;
* Learning 'I can do it'
* Learning to sit still and concentrate.
* Learning to express themselves (especially if you talk about what they have done).
* Building self confidence (especially if you show how proud you are - and if you put the drawings on display)
* Structured painting activities teach a child to work from beginning to end.
* Learning that learning and doing things is fun
Before you start
Accept there will be mess and prepare for it. No child can enjoy painting if they are afraid of making a mess!
* Find a place - if you can’t put a table or easel in an easily cleaned area, put down a plastic sheet or table cloth. If you cover this with newspaper too, you cut down the possibility of slipping.
* Expect children to take care - but don’t be critical of reasonable mess, it’s all part of the fun.
* Dress for the occasion - you can buy painting aprons or one of your old shirts, T-shirts or blouses can be cut down to make a painting overall.
* Cleaning brushes is a source of frustration to children because they tend to get their paintings too wet. You could either show them how to wipe the brush on kitchen paper or have a different brush for each colour.
Tools - Brushes, pens and crayons
Have a variety of different sized brushes to hand, these produce different kinds of pictures. Crayons are also good. Felt tips are okay for older children but not recommended for under threes. Chalk is a great choice as this can even be used on the garden path for fun outdoor art, and then washed down with the hose.
Paper and paint
Art shops offer a range of paper which you can buy in rolls - but for everyday painting you can use make use of lots of your rubbish! The back of cereal boxes, washable wall paper, old letters and circulars, computer print-outs, they are all fine for painting. Do check the absorbency though –too shiny and paint slides off - too absorbent and the paper will rip when it is wet.
Structured and free
First and foremost painting and drawing must be fun - and that means children should paint and draw exactly what they want.
Structured
* Colouring in a drawing
* Drawing to order
* Tracing or drawing around objects
* Printing
Free
* Having a pot of paint a brush and a piece of paper and doing what he feels like.
* Hand and foot prints
* Finger and sponge painting, blow painting
After they finish
Clearing up should be part of the activity
* Encourage him to wash out brushes and put them away.
* Wash down surfaces with a cloth.
* Put paints away
And remember drawing does not have to be messy - A soft pencil and a bit of paper can be used anywhere and everywhere and you carry these around in your handbag for impromptu play. Alternatively you could try a mess-free creative product like Doodle Pro, that lets them explore their creative side without the mess.
Tips and Games to keep them entertained while you're on the go!Travelling with children can be difficult at the best of times, but there are plenty of games and activities that you can do to keep them occupied.
Travel By Car
* Before leaving let them have a good run around to let off steam
* Make sure you stop at regular intervals to let off more!
* Take a good supply of story or sing-along tapes
* A story or two that you know to tell
* Take small toys for baby to hold, watch and feel – Link-a-doos will attach to her travel seat.
* A teddy or doll for an older child to cuddle and talk to
* Small or travel sized toys – think about a Travel Doodle Pro or other drawing toy. You could ask them to draw things they have seen on the journey. * Play games like eye-spy that encourage them to look at their surroundings and spot objects.
Travel by Plane
* Before leaving let them have a good run around to let off steam
* During the flight, get out of your seat and have a good walk round
* Take along story tapes and a personal stereo
* Take a selection of books to read.
* A couple of their favourite toys and a teddy cuddle will also come in handy. * Take paper along – this has endless possibilities. You can fold it into shapes or draw on it.
* Play noughts and crosses – a simple choice but good fun and easy to play.
Games for Journeys
* Scissors-paper-stone *
This is a great game as you don’t need any equipment! It’s a classic so you probably know how to play ! It needs two players.
Each of you puts your hand behind your back and counts to three
On three, you both bring your hand back at the same time in one of three positions –
Scissors – forefinger and middle finger ready to snip
Paper – hand flat palm down
Stone – hand in a fist
Scissors beats paper because it can cut it.
Paper beats stone because it wraps it.
Stone beats scissors because it blunts it.
Guessing games
* How many fingers have I got up? Player hides his hand (easy in the car) and the others try to guess how many fingers he has up.
* Eye-spy - One player gives the first letter of the object they are thinking about and the others guess what it is.
* What is the next animal we will see? – play similar with other searches – what colour will the next lorry we see be etc.
* Fill in the word *
Tell the story of what is happening leaving blanks for her to fill in.
“One morning a mummy, a Daddy and a little girl called Anna got up early to go on holiday. Anna had……for her breakfast. Daddy put the ….. in the boot of the car and so on and then Mummy sat in the front seat and …….sat in her car seat.
Look out for:
Car snap- Look for a car like ours.
ABC- our initial on a number plate
* Arms and legs (when travelling through towns) *
This is another classic car journey game. As you travel through towns look out for the names of pubs. How many arms and legs are there on the pub signs? Take it in turns, and if there are no arms or legs on a sign you score zero for that turn.
Because small children remember actions much better than they do words, action rhymes are brilliant.
The actions help the child to remember long songs, they also help draw the child’s attention to the little sounds that make up words – an important pre-reading skill. Action rhymes are a good option for those muments when you might be hanging about with no access to toys, waiting in line, for a bus or on a long journey for example.
This kind of rhyme is great for letting off steam, improving memory and stimulating communication.
From 6 months
*Five little ducks*
The five little ducks are the fingers, five swim away, four come back, four swim away and three come back- and so on until there are no little ducks left! Five little ducks went swimming one day
Over the ponds and far away
Mother duck said quack, quack, quack
But only four little ducks came back
From 9 months
One two three four five
One two three four five
Once I caught a fish alive
Why did you let him go
Because he bit my finger so
Which finger did he bite?
This little finger on the right.
Count out the fingers on the one two- make a biting mouth with the thumb and index finger, then display the little finger of the right hand.
*Incy Wincy spider*
Incy Wincy spider climbing up the spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sunshine dried up all the rain
And incy wincy spider climed the spout again.
Incy climbs by touching opposite thumb and index finger and alternating fingers and thumbs. The other actions just mirror the words.
From 18 months
*Peter’s hammers*
Peter works with one hammer (Hammer with one fist)
With one hammer, with one hammer
Peter works with one hammer
All day long
*Verses*
Peter works with two hammers (hammer with both fists)
Peter works with three hammers (add one stamping foot)
Peter works with four hammers (add the other foot)
Peter works with five hammers (add the head)
*Row, row, row your boat*
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.
Children sit facing each other on the floor, hold hands and rock back and forth
*I hear Thunder*
I hear thunder I hear thunder (stamp feet)<
Hark don’t you, hark don’t you (put hand behind ear)
Pitter-patter raindrops (mime)
I’m wet through (point to self)
So are you (point to her)
*I’m a Little Teapot*
I’m a little teapot short and stout
Here’s my handle (Put one arm on hip)
Here’s my spout (Put other arm out like spout)
When I hear the tea cups hear me shout
Tip me up and pour me out (bend to the side in a pouring action)
When your child is still an infant, once he is able to hold his head up, he will love to enjoy a song with you on your lap.
Singing along with songs like this help develop him develop socially and emotionally as he’ll love the comfort of spending this time with you. He’ll also learn about the rhythm in language. Songs that have a jump or action at the end also help him to learn to expect – to know that something is going to happen.
When he is very young, sit him on your knee facing you and hold him around his waist. When he’s a little older you can hold him by the hands.
Jogging on the Knee
For these songs, jog and jiggle him on your knee as you repeat the words.
*Ride A Cock Horse*
Ride a cock horse to Bambury Cross
To see a fine lady get on a white horse
With rings on her fingers
And bells on her toes
She shall have music
Wherever she goes.
*To Market to Market*
To market to market to buy a fat pig
Home again home again jiggity jig
To market to market to buy a fat hog
Home again home again
Jiggity jog.
Rides with a Jog and Surprise!
These songs feature a surprise fall at the end to make him giggle.
*This is the way the ladies ride*
This is the way the ladies ride trip trot, trit trot trip trot
This is the way the gentlemen ride gallup gallup gallup
This is the way the old man rides. Hobble-dee hobble-dee
And down in a ditch
Trot on the knee at varying speeds- then open your knees to let her fall through a little.
*Father mother and uncle John*
Father, Mother and Uncle John
Road to the doctors one by one,
Father fell off Mother fell off
But Uncle John road on and on
Ride on the knee, hold him tightly and let him jog to one side and then the other.
Rides with an Up and a Down
*Leg over leg over*
Leg over leg over
The dog went to dover
When he came to a style
Up he went over
Cross your legs and sit him on the crook of your foot. Hold her hands and jog her up and down – but every time you say 'over' move your foot up and down. She’ll feel like she’s flying!
Sometimes the old ones are the best, a selection of traditional games.
Traditional games have been played and perfected by generations of children for hundreds of years. Some of them are very different from their original form, but many have remained almost the same throughout history. These traditional games help teach children vital skills – the reason they didn’t die out years ago!
*Traditional games help to develop many skills*:
* Social skills – learning to play with other people, taking turns, making friends and also putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.
* Predictive skills – what will he do next? Is he going to drop something?
* Physical skills – turning, dodging and getting lots of exercise * Letting off steam
* Learning ’I can do it’.
Traffic lights
One person says the word of their choice from the list, the others do the appropriate actions - the last one to do it is out (but you can leave this bit out of the game if you want to)
Red means stop
Green means go
Crash means lie flat
Bridge means make an arch on the ground.
Farmer Farmer may we cross?
Farmer farmer may we cross your golden river?
Yes if you are wearing red (or what every colour the farmer decides)
Those in red walk across the rest have to run and avoid the farmer catching them
Red lion
Red lion sits in his den, the rest of the players have a second den which they leave to taunt the lion
Red Lion red lion come out of your den
Whoever you catch can be one of your men
When the chant finishes the red lion chases everyone home, if he touches anyone they must go to his den. Next go they become lions too. The game ends when everyone is a lion.
The Farmers in his Den
One child stands in the middle of the ring while the others walk around singing
The farmers in his den
The farmers in his den E-I-N-G-O
The farmers in his den.
The farmer must then choose someone to join him as the children sing
The farmer wants a wife The farmer wants a wife
E-I-N-G-O
The farmers wants a wife.
Then other children join the central group as the circle sings
The wife wants a child, etc
The child wants a dog etc
The dog wants a bone. Etc
In the last verse everyone pats the bone
We all pat the bone We all pat the bone
E-I-N-G-O We all pat the bone.
Kick the can
This is one of the many variations of tag. The person who is ’it’ has a can or object which he must guard, but must also leave to catch other children. If anyone kicks the can he must return and put it back before he can chase again.
Hiding games
* Hide and seek “It” hides his face and counts to twenty while everyone else hides. Then after shouting “coming ready or not she goes in search of the other players. * Bug in a rug. In this game you race “It” for home if you get there first you are safe.
* Cuckoo – a reversal of normal hide and seek in which one player hides the others seek * Toad in the hole- if you are found, you join the seekers. The game ends when everyone is looking and there is no-one left to find.
Grandmother’s footsteps
This game is for a group of children. One of them is picked to be ’grandmother’. She stands with her back to the rest of the children who line up a few metres behind her.
The group must try to creep up behind grandmother without her seeing them. Every so often, grandmother turns around to look at the group and they must stand perfectly still. IF she sees them move, they must go back to the start.
The first person to touch grandmother’s back without being seen wins and becomes grandmother next time.
Oranges and Lemons
Oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clements
When will you pay me say the bells of Old Bailey When I grow rich Say the bells of Shoreditch
When will that be say the bells of Stepney
I’m sure I don’t know says the great bell of Bow.
Her comes a candle to light you to bed
Here comes a chopper to chop of your head.
Chip Chop chip chop.
Two people make an arch and the rest dance through it in turn singing the song. On the last “chop” the arch catches someone- by dropping there arms down to surround them. They then ask “Orange or Lemon”. Oranges go behind one of the arch makers, lemons go behind the other. When everyone has been caught they have a tug of war.
*
Play & Learn activities reprinted from "Preschooler Play & Learn" with permission of its author, Penny Warner, and its publisher, Meadowbrook Press (2000.)
