Nursery Rhymes Activities, Crafts, Lessons, and Printables

By reciting nursery rhymes children will be able to practice the following early literacy skills:

1. Print concept: (Reading text from left to right, learning the difference between letters and words, and understanding that words convey meaning. 
2. Alphabetic Knowledge (Knowing the names and sounds associated with letters)
3. Rhyming words (Recognizes rhyming words)
4. Sight word recognition
5. Comprehension. (Can he or she tell you what happens in the rhyme and/or draw a picture of it?) 

Jack-Be-Nimble Nursery Rhyme Activities and Printable

Jack-Be-Nimble

Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candle stick.

Recite the nursery rhyme "Jack-Be-Nimble," and substitute each child's name to take turns to jump over objects. Vary the heights and the width of the object(s) as the children gain experience and skill.

Variation: Lay a candle on the floor. Recite the rhyme and substitute the name and "number of times".

"Jack" be nimble,
"Jack" be quick,
Jump "Three" times
over The candle stick.

While the other children clap and count, the choosen child jumps over the candle stick three times.

Jack-Be-Nimble Free Jack-Be-Nimble Prewriting Worksheet

"Jumping with Jack" Letter J Activitiy

This is a fun activty to teach children to recognize the letter /j/ sound. Recite the nursery rhyme "Jack-Be-Nimble" emphasizing the letter /j/ sound in Jack and jump. Ask children if they know the letter Jack and jump begins with. Let children color a page with the letter j outline and tape to the floor. Recite the rhyme and let children jump over the letter j evertime they hear the letter j sound.

Extend the activity by saying a pair of words. One word with the letter j in it and the other without. Examples jar / bike. If the words begin with the letter /j/, the children jump over the letter J printout. If the word begins with a diffrerent sound the children stand still. Letter j words: jar, jeep, jacket, jump, jug, jellyfish, jet, etc.

Nursery Rhymes Printables, Coloring Pages, and Resources

Hey Diddle Diddle Poster	Hickory, Dickory, Dock Poster	Hickory, Dickory, Dock Worksheet	Humpty Dumpty Snack and Decoration Idea

Hickory, Dickory, Dock Nursery Rhyme Activites

Hickory, Dickory, Dock

Hickory, Dickory, Dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down.
Hickory, Dickory, Dock.

Recite the rhyme a couple time, then see if the children can recite the rhyme with you. 

Rhyming Words
Recite the rhyme by leaving out the last word in each sentence. Encourage children to fill in the missing words. Reinforce the rhyming pairs in the poem by doing an action every time you come across a rhyming word. For example, clap each time you say a rhyming word in the poem: “Hickory, dickory, dock (clap or jump on dock),” “The mouse ran up the clock (clap or jump on clock).” 

Words: Up and Down

Preschool Activities: 

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Focus on the words up and down. Make a bulletin board display with a large clock as show by our member Gina and let children use the clock printable to draw the mouse running up or down.

Preschool Activities: 

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Clock
Show the children both an analog and digital clock, then compare the two clock types. Point to the hour and minute hand on the analog clock, then have them count from 1-12.  Let children sit in a circle. Place a large hoop in the center for the "clock face". Place large plastic numbers 1-12 on the face of the clock. Use two pointers, one longer than the other, for the hour and minute hands. As you point the hour hand to various numbers, the children will call out the time. 

Paper Plate Clock Craft
Make a paper plate clock.

Preschool Activities: 

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Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses and all the King's men
couldn't put Humpty together again.

Read aloud the rhyme and invite children to join you as you reread the nursery rhyme. Ask question such as:

Where did Humpty Dumpty sit?
What happened to Humpty Dumpty as he fell?
Was the wall a good place for an egg to sit? (Demonstrate by trying to balance a plastic egg on a table.)
Who tried to help Humpty Dumpty after he fell?
Why do you think they couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together?

Let children act out the rhyme as you reread it. 

Humpty Dumpty Puzzle
Print and laminate the Humpty Dumpty Puzzle and let children put Humtpy Dumpty together again.

Preschool Activities: 

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Rhyming Words
Write the words from a set of rhyming words on small self adhesive labels and stick one label to the inside of egg carton cups. Stick the other words on plastic eggs. Have children match the rhyming words by placing the egg in the matching egg cup. 

Egg and Spoon Races
Divide children into teams and give each team a spoon and a plastic egg. Place half of each team at one end of the racing area and the other half at the other end. Explain that each team member must run with the egg in the spoon and pass it to the next team member across the way. If the egg drops off the spoon while a child is running or passing, the runner has to pick it up and start again. The team that has all runners completing their laps first wins, but the object of the game is to have fun and laugh a lot, so all teams should have a chance to finish.

Preschool Activities: 

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Hey, Diddle, Diddle Nursery Rhyme Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten

Preschool Activities: 

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Positional Words (over, under, next to, off, on. in front of, behind)
Write the sentence "The cow jumped _____ the moon." on a sentence strip or on the board. Write the positional words over, under, next to, offf, on, in front of, behind on index cards. 

Let children create a cow and moon craft stick puppet. Recite the rhme and let children use the stick puppets to act out the line "The cow jumped over the moon." 

Point to the sentence on the board and read it together. Ask children what word is missing from the sentence. Then, place the word "over" in the empty space. Review the other positional words with the children. Then replace the word "over" with a different word. Read the revised sentence together and let children act out the sentence with their puppets.

Dish and Spoon Matching Game
Add matching stickers to a plastic spoon and a small paper plate. Let children match the spoon and the dish.

Dish and Spoons Word Family Game

Preschool Activities: 

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The Dish and The Spoon Run Away Game
Place colored sticker dots on plastic spoons. Children sit or stand in a circle. Hand out a plastic paper plate to a child to pretend to be the "dish." The "dish" walks around the outside of the circle.

Say:
The cow jumped over the moon
and the dish rean way with the "red" spoon. (All children that hold a red spoon run around the circle one time with the dish.)

Repeat with another color.

Preschool Activities: 

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