Action rhymes combine singing with movements of the arms, legs or whole body. Well-known action rhymes include Humpty Dumpty and Ring O’ Ring O’ Roses. They support many aspects of children’s development and, once you know the actions and words, they are a wonderful way of engaging young children.
WHEN AND HOW
Action rhymes are a great way to stimulate babies and toddlers, so are best played at times when children are not tired and can enjoy joining in. They are therefore best avoided before naps or times when children need to rest. They can also be used to create a positive mood among children and so can be useful as a distraction technique with toddlers.
• Start by learning the words, actions and, if appropriate, the tune of the action rhyme.
• Say or sing the action rhyme. With babies, put them on your lap or hold them during the rhyme. With toddlers, make eye contact as you say the rhyme.
• Emphasise key parts of the rhyme such as clapping or bending down.
• Repeat the rhyme slowly and encourage the child to join in.
• Repeat the rhyme again, observing which parts appeal to the child.
• Repeat again immediately if the rhyme seems to engage the child, or otherwise introduce it again later in the day or session.
DEVELOPMENTAL BENEFITS
Action rhymes support many aspects of children’s development and so link to the Prime areas of the EYFS very neatly. They are a great way of developing and strengthening the key person-child bond as well. It is therefore worth planning for at least one action rhyme a day.
Action rhymes:
• encourage vocalisations as babies and toddlers join in with the sounds of the rhyme (language)
• help build vocabulary as children associate words with actions (language)
• provide opportunities for children’s auditory discrimination as they hear rhymes and sounds in words (language)
• support co-ordination as children make the actions (physical)
• give them opportunities to feel connected to others if action rhymes are carried out alongside other children (social)
• support children’s attachments with their key person and other children (emotional)
NEXT STEPS
Once you have introduced an action rhyme to a child, the next step is to keep repeating it until the child is clearly anticipating the words and the actions with the eventual aim that toddlers can join in and may even start to initiate the rhyme.
When children clearly recognise one rhyme, it is worth introducing the next one so they build up a collection. You can start to look out for picture books that have some of these rhymes.
WHAT TO OBSERVE
Aspects of development that are worth observing are:
• Social skills Consider whether the child is making eye contact with you or with other children and so developing early social skills.
• Communication and language Look out for any vocalisations that babies and toddlers make that are clearly linked to the action rhyme.
• Co-ordination While toddlers will find it hard to sing and make actions at the same time, look for signs that they can make the action at the same time as the words.
HOME LEARNING
For a time, rhymes went out of fashion so parents may not know many action rhymes, nor their benefits to babies and toddlers. So it’s worth showing parents some of the action rhymes that you are doing with their children. You could also create a few film clips to upload onto your professional social media page.
Parents whose home language is not English should be encouraged to use action rhymes in their own tongue with their children as they are such a powerful tool in language learning. Ideally, you should try to learn some of children’s home rhymes and build these into your practice.
RHYME TIMES
There are many wonderful action rhymes for very young children. This classic one works well with babies as they can sit on your lap:
Row, row, row the boat
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream
VIDEO
To hear the song and some additional verses, visit http://wordsforlife.literacytrust.org.uk/songs/row-your-boat.
For a wide variety of action rhymes, many with video clips, visit: http://tmas.kcls.org/category/rhymes__songs.
BOOK TIME
Look out for simple picture books that illustrate some of the action rhymes that you are using. For example, Child’s Play publishes a series of nursery rhyme books. Visit: www.childs-play.com/bookshop/toddler.html
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