Nursery rhymes are one of the best ways to teach your child how to read. Learning to read is quite difficult without language, listening, and writing skills. Nursery rhymes have been developed to teach your child all of the necessary cognitive skills and help them expand their imagination and education.
Using nursery rhyme activities will help your child learn how to read and to understand words. Exposure to the written word is one step in taking your child toward proper reading skills. Start exposing your child to different words by playing nursery rhyme activities with them. For one game, you can draw a picture of a character from a nursery rhyme and on the other side of the paper; you will write one word that describes what character you have drawn. For example, you can draw a picture of Little-Bo-Peep and your child will have to say her name in order to properly associate the word with the character.
Remember that learning to read is difficult and it requires a lot of time and patience on your part. Sit and read to your child every day and have them read along with you. Take your child to the library with you and have them pick out a few books they want to read. When you get home, have them get out the new books and begin reading them to you. Teach your child how to enunciate words using nursery rhymes. Rhymes that have a lot of repetition will help your child communicate the words efficiently. A great nursery rhyme to start with is “Hey Diddle Diddle”. “Hey Diddle Diddle” has a lot of repetition with the letter “d” and it forces your child to think and work hard to create the appropriate noise for the letter with their tongue.
When you read the nursery rhymes you should use rhythm with your language. Instead of having a monotone voice, encourage your child to add rhythm to their voice with nursery rhymes. When you are reading to your child, keep a bright, cheery attitude and encourage your child to engage in finger play. Using finger play during nursery rhymes will help them increase their cognitive skills. Finger play will play a role in developing hand-eye coordination and it promotes thinking skills.
You can help your child develop problem solving skills by asking them questions when they are reading nursery rhymes. After they have read the nursery rhyme, ask them certain questions about it such as “what instrument did the cat play?” or “what did the cow jump over?” If your child can recite the answer without referring back to the nursery rhyme book, you can see that their memory is working and developing. Encourage your child to think of questions that they can ask you about the nursery rhyme too, so your child doesn’t feel like you are just putting them on the spot.
Use mazes, puzzles, building blocks, card games, or board games to teach them about nursery rhymes. When you take an ordinary nursery rhyme and incorporate it into a game, your child will begin to develop other skills. For example, playing the memory game will promote memorization and will help develop thinking skills. When you are playing some of the games, explain to your child what you are doing and why you are doing it. Explaining things will help your child develop their skills and learn how to play certain games and even teach others how to play.
Nursery rhyme activities are a great way to teach reasoning skills to your children. Spend time with your child each day and read nursery rhymes together. Nursery rhymes are a fun way to watch your child’s brain develop, but it is a fun way to bond with your child.