Rhymes and Rhythm
Sometimes you'll feel like you've completely run out of things to talk about. That's why we have nursery rhymes. Babies love the rhythm of rhymes. They also like hearing the same rhyme over and over again, and come to anticipate what you'll say next. You don't need to know a lot of them; a few basic ones are sufficient. You can also get a Mother Goose book from the library and learn a few of the more obscure rhymes just for fun.
Nursery Rhyme Refresher Course
Here are some favorite rhymes to share with your baby:
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
Hey diddle diddle
The cat and the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed
To see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Bouncing and Movement Rhymes
Gently bounce or move your baby on your knees to the rhythm of these poems:
As I was walking down the street,
down the street,
down the street
A bumblebee (refrigerator, flower, teakettle — name anything)
I chanced to meet,
Chanced to meet,
Chanced to meet.
Hi Ho Hi Ho Hi Ho
Riga-jig-jig and away we go, away we go, away we go
Riga-jig-jig and away we go
Hi Ho Hi Ho Hi Ho
(Repeat using another object)
To market, to market, to buy a fat pig
Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog.
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.
Row, row, row, your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream.
Finger (or Toe) Play Rhymes
Here are some fun rhymes that you can do with your baby using her digits:
These are baby's fingers (touch fingers)
These are baby's toes (touch toes)
This is baby's bellybutton (touch bellybutton)
Round and round it goes (draw circles on belly)
This little piggy went to market
This little piggy stayed home
This little piggy had roast beef
This little piggy had none
And this little piggy went wee-wee-wee-wee
All the way home
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake
Baker's man
Bake me a cake!
As fast as you can
Roll it, and fold it,
and mark it with a B,
And put it in the oven
for Baby and me.
Here sits the Lord Mayor (touch forehead)
Here sits his two men (touch eyebrows)
Here sit the ladies (touch cheeks)
And here sits the hen (touch nose)
Here sit the little chickens (touch chin)
And here they run in (touch mouth).
