10 Play and Learn Nursery Rhyme Activities

Singing nursery rhymes to soothe your baby to sleep from a very young age is not only a lovely bonding exercise for you both, it also provides your baby with essential tools to recognize the language being used around them and sets the ground work for their own future language skills. As your baby grows up into a toddler and then preschooler, nursery rhymes take on a very important role in developing their pre-reading skills. Reciting nursery rhymes together helps them to recognize the different sounds and syllables which make up words, which will help them when they start to read. Nursery rhymes are also a great tool to work on your child’s creativity, as it encourages them to make up their own rhymes as well.

Activities based on nursery rhymes are ideal for groups of children to work on together and provide a fun way to engage little ones in learning.

Make a Hickory Dickory Dock inspired Felt Clock to help teach your child to tell the time. Older children can use it to work on setting the clock face and telling the time. Younger children can use it to work on number recognition and number ordering.

Our 5 Little Ducks Felt Play Mat is perfect for toddlers to sing along and play with, and it can also be used by preschoolers to work on number recognition, making number sets, ordering numbers and doing simple sums.

Bubble wrap is a fun texture to use in a sensory painting activity with kids of all ages. Have a go at making your own Bubble Wrap Wheels on the Bus painting, complete with moving wheels!

This Little Bo Peep Seek and Stick the Tail on the Sheep activity is great for giving little fingers a fine motor skills work out.

Baa Baa Sheep Sponge Painting is fun and simple to set up for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Upcycle TP Rolls into Old MacDonald Inspired Animal Puppets ideal for pretend play.

Sitting down to do a craft activity with your child provides a calm and relaxed environment to chat about any big changes coming up. Chat and make these Little Miss Muffet Bouncing Spiders.

Let your kids take charge of making the play dough in this sensory play activity and then invite them to make their own Incy Wincy Spiders with it.

Host a Pretend I’m a Little Tea Pot Party and enjoy a water play activity, which works on scooping, pouring, fine motor skills and imaginative play.

Go outside and forage in your garden for flowers, mud, twigs and stones (and maybe a fairy!) to make your own Mary, Mary Quite Contrary Miniature Garden.