Singing nursery rhymes for your kids might seem like little more than a traditional cliche. However, nursery rhymes can lead to improving multiple forms of development for children.
If you’re asking yourself how these simple rhymes are important for your kids, here’s a few reasons.
Building language skills
Nursery rhymes offer a fun way for kids to begin their language development. It creates fun ways for them to memorize the meaning of certain words, as well as increase their memory in general. The sooner that they start memorizing, the sooner they will start increasing their cognitive development. They may even be introduced to words that they would otherwise have no exposure to and therefore will increase their vocabulary.
Children are also exposed to enhancing the skill known as listening. One that I think everyone wishes their children were a little better at. Listening comprehension is an early predictor of reading comprehension skills. Kids are forced to listen to what you’re saying and derive meaning from it.
Practicing voice modulation
Nursery rhymes alter the pitch, inflection, and volume of various words, and this knowledge is imparted on kids practicing them. They can start to understand the importance of not just words themselves, but how saying a word a certain way changes emphasis. They will also learn proper pronunciation during these exercises. For younger children, the pat a cake lyrics have a great deal of inflection for their practice. Kids who love the nursery rhyme will especially want to be able to perform it well, giving them added incentive to practice saying words correctly.
Spelling
When kids become adept at a nursery rhyme, they might want to start reading it for themselves. This is great because it forces them to learn how to spell words properly. As some nursery rhymes contain great vocabulary for kids this is a beneficial way to teach them spelling. Some kids might even try to write out the nursery rhymes for themselves, or create their own. For especially younger children some rhymes can help teach individual letters. It’s important to develop a base level of understanding prior to jumping into anything too complex.
Understanding of words
Nursery rhymes can help start to define the meaning of words, and help them use context to find out what a word means. There is a benefit from rote memorization of vocabulary, but it can be more difficult for younger kids. This is why you should always choose nursery rhymes that are appropriate for age, and the child’s current level of understanding. They also introduce certain literary components like onomatopoeia and alliteration. While your child may not understand these literary components on their own, they’ll begin to understand the idea of these concepts.
Imagination development
You probably don’t think that kids need help with developing their imagination, they already seem to be powerhouses of creativity. But nursery rhymes can help further develop how their imagination works, and helps them visualize scenarios based on words alone. This can lead to greater creativity in the future. Imagination also plays a role in predicting how solutions to social problems will work. They’ll be able to envision how the things they say may impact them after further development.
Early math development
Here Is the Beehive is an awesome nursery rhyme because it starts developing counting skills for those at an, especially young age. Other nursery rhymes might invoke counting backward as well, enhancing a young child’s understanding of numbers. If you’re looking for a way to make early math fun, nursery rhymes are definitely a solution for you. Some nursery rhymes include concepts like size and weight, and this can help your child begin to understand the sort of role they play in the math world.
Motor skills
Some nursery rhymes have a physical component included with their execution. These can help introduce your child to the world of fine motor movement, as well as give them a physical comparison to what words mean. If they’re required to count down, on one hand, they’ll start to understand what numbers actually mean. They can relate five fingers to five apples. Children often struggle with the fine motor movements that we take for granted as adults, but it is just as important for them to learn this as any other factor of their education.
Nursery rhymes should be included in any parent’s arsenal of teaching methodologies for their children. It can help lead to greater motor movement, creativity, language understanding, and some early math skills. If you are looking to help give your child an edge at understanding the world and how to harness their language skills, these rhymes are a great medium of education.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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