Twinkle, Twinkle little star!
We recently explored the world of Nursery Rhymes at Kindergym!
Counting the five little ducks, learning to fall (safely) with Humpty Dumpty, climbing with Incy Wincy Spider and so much more 🎶
It was three weeks full of joy and dancing as we immersed ourselves in the story lines of lots of nursery rhymes!
Discover the Set Up
We sang and danced our way through bars, beam and tumble track circuits during our nursery rhymes theme!
Over on the beams and red floor space, one of our favourite activities was climbing over the hills like the Grand old Duke of York - marching all the way up and down both hills before a big jump into the foam pit ⛰️ Another favourite was the Three Blind Mice activity, where we helped each mouse across the beam using kinder tongs, then sent them swooshing down the little mouse tunnel 🐭🐭🐭
On the bars circuit we found more nursery rhyme fun! Humpty Dumpty reminded us to keep our arms and hands tucked in when we practise our safety falls, and when we were hanging on the bars, we stretched our legs out wide to hang as a star ✨ ✨ Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star ✨✨
We counted 5 little ducks as we jumped down the tumble track 🦆 before bouncing and landing still and strong from the mini trampoline. And we all loved the Rock a bye baby rock and roll station, where we rocked back and forth before tipping over to the wedge and somersaulting down the hill.
Benefits of Nursery Rhymes
Perhaps nursery rhymes are not as simple as they first seem! We discovered a raft of benefits directly related to singing nursery rhymes during our kindergym classes.
Nursery rhymes are one of the best ways to introduce storytelling to young children. Each song offers characters and narratives to engage the listening ear and pique an interest in the unfolding story. Learning to listen from beginning to end is achievable for young children as each song holds a simple, short story with repetitive words and sounds. For young children who are constantly building their language and communication skills, the simple, rhyming phrases are perfect for developing phonological awareness, an essential skill that underpins a child's ability to learn to read and spell in the future. Phonological awareness is an ability to think about the sound structures of language and allows children to discriminate, remember, and manipulate sounds at different levels. Here are some ways that nursery rhymes help with phonological awareness:
Sentence level: how many words are in the sentence, "She sells sea shells by the sea shore?"
Word level: do these words rhyme: stream and dream?
Syllable level: the rhythm of the rhymes helps to break down words into syllables, such as hick-or-y or spi-der
The rhythm, flow and tone of nursery rhymes also reinforces speech patterns that improve verbal communication. Practising singing improves the pitch of the voice and quality (timbre) of the sound and helps with volume control (soft and loud), all of which contribute to clear speech that is easy to listen to and can also be quite persuasive.
Along with storytelling, each song/nursery rhyme also invites movement - a perfect link to gymnastics. For example, Incy Wincy Spider guides children through finger movements as well as whole body movements for the rain and sunshine. Our leaders cleverly combined gross motor skills and stretches that also promoted team work when we sang Row, Row, Row your Boat and Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. When rhythm and movement are combined, a unique learning experience is created for children - one which stimulates their brain and body, which is the best way to build memory and retention.
Nursery rhymes work wonders for relationships too! The feeling of chanting or singing together is exciting and the joy evident when a child and carer share a rhyme with an exciting finish, like Row, Row, Row your Boat or Ring a Ring a Rosy. We loved watching the Grandparents, Mums, Dads and other special adults rediscover the joy and nostalgia of nursery rhymes and share that with their children - it brought smiles and giggles all around!