Nursery Rhymes: A Gateway to Learning in the EYFS
Nursery rhymes are a cornerstone of early childhood education, offering far more than just entertainment. These simple verses support language development, enhance memory skills, introduce mathematical concepts, and encourage physical movement. In the context of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, nursery rhymes provide a rich, multisensory learning experience that spans all areas of development.
This article presents 15 popular nursery rhymes, each accompanied by sensory and learning activities tailored to support EYFS goals. We’ve also included adaptations for diverse needs, technology integration suggestions, and ideas for parental involvement to create a comprehensive resource for EYFS practitioners.
These are perfect for individual activities and as circle time activities. We have a Little Bo Peep Sensory story for free download on our main sensory stories page as well.
The Nursery Rhymes
1. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Sensory Activity: Create a dark tent with fairy lights to mimic stars. Children can lie down and watch the ‘stars’ while listening to the rhyme.
Learning Activity: Use star-shaped cutouts to practise counting and number recognition.
EYFS Links:
– Communication and Language: Listening and attention
– Mathematics: Numbers
- Adaptation: For visually impaired children, use tactile star shapes with different textures.
- Tech Integration: Use a star constellation app to show real star patterns.
- Parent Tip: Encourage stargazing at home and counting visible stars.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe children’s ability to count stars accurately.
- Cross-curricular Link: Explore space and planets (Understanding the World).
2. Incy Wincy Spider
Sensory Activity: Set up a water wall with guttering where children can pour water and watch it flow down.
Learning Activity: Practise fine motor skills by creating spider webs using paper plates and yarn.
EYFS Links:
– Physical Development: Moving and handling
– Understanding the World: The world
- Adaptation: For children with motor difficulties, use thicker yarn and larger holes in the paper plates.
- Tech Integration: Use a slow-motion video app to record and playback the water flow.
- Parent Tip: Make spider puppets at home using socks and googly eyes.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe fine motor control during web-making.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss weather patterns, particularly rain (Understanding the World).
3. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Sensory Activity: Provide different textured ‘wool’ (cotton balls, pom-poms, real wool) for children to explore.
Learning Activity: Sort coloured ‘sheep’ (toys or pictures) into different fields.
EYFS Links Nursery Rhyme:
– Expressive Arts and Design: Exploring and using media and materials
– Mathematics: Shape, space and measure
- Adaptation: Use auditory cues (different animal sounds) for children with visual impairments.
- Tech Integration: Use a simple sorting app to reinforce categorisation skills.
- Parent Tip: Sort laundry at home by colour, linking to the sheep-sorting activity.
- Assessment Opportunity: Evaluate understanding of colour and sorting concepts.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss where wool comes from and its uses (Understanding the World).
4. The Wheels on the Bus
Sensory Activity: Create a ‘bus’ using cardboard boxes, allowing children to sit inside and feel the movement as you gently rock it.
Learning Activity: Role-play different bus scenarios, encouraging children to take turns being drivers, conductors, and passengers.
EYFS Links:
– Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Making relationships
– Communication and Language: Speaking
- Adaptation: Include tactile elements on the ‘bus’ for children with sensory needs.
- Tech Integration: A simple animation app creates a moving bus scene.
- Parent Tip: Point out and discuss different vehicles during journeys.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe turn-taking and role-playing skills
- Cross-curricular Link: Explore different types of transport (Understanding the World).
5. Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Sensory Activity: Fill a large tub with water and provide toy boats for children to ‘row’ and explore water resistance.
Learning Activity: Practise rhythm and timing by clapping or using instruments to accompany the rhyme.
EYFS Links:
– Physical Development: Health and self-care
– Expressive Arts and Design: Being imaginative
- Adaptation: Use textured mats to represent water for children who are uncomfortable with actual water.
- Tech Integration: Use a music-making app to create different rhythms for rowing.
- Parent Tip: Practise the rhyme during bath time.
- Assessment Opportunity: Evaluate rhythm and coordination skills.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss water safety (Personal, Social and Emotional Development).
6. Humpty Dumpty
We have written a Humpty Dumpty Nursery Rhyme Sensory Story for this Post you can download it free here.
Sensory Activity: Create a sensory bin with egg-shaped objects of various textures (smooth plastic eggs, rough pebbles, soft fabric eggs).
Learning Activity: Build and knock down walls using soft blocks, discussing concepts of balance and gravity.
EYFS Links:
– Understanding the World: The world
– Mathematics: Shape, space and measure
- Adaptation: Use larger blocks for children with motor skill challenges.
- Tech Integration: Use a simple physics app to demonstrate balance and falling objects
- Parent Tip: Experiment with balancing household objects during tidy-up time
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe understanding of cause and effect when building and knocking down structures.
Cross-curricular Link: Introduce basic physics concepts (Understanding the World).
7. Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Sensory Activity: Set up a small-world farm with different textures representing various environments (sand for fields, artificial grass, etc.).
Learning Activity: Match animal sounds to pictures or toy animals.
EYFS Links:
– Communication and Language: Listening and attention
– Understanding the World: The world
- Adaptation: Use tactile farm animal figures for children with visual impairments.
- Tech Integration: Use a farm animal sound app for audio recognition.
- Parent Tip: Visit a local farm or petting zoo to experience real farm animals.
- Assessment Opportunity: Evaluate animal sound recognition and vocabulary.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss where food comes from (Understanding the World).
8. Five Little Ducks
Sensory Activity: Create a water play area with rubber ducks and natural materials like leaves and twigs.
Learning Activity: Use duck counters or pictures to practise subtraction as ducks ‘swim away’.
EYFS Links:
– Mathematics: Numbers
– Understanding the World: The world
- Adaptation: Use tactile numbers and larger duck figures for children with visual or motor impairments.
- Tech Integration: Use a simple counting app with duck animations.
- Parent Tip: Practise counting backwards during everyday activities like climbing stairs.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe understanding of subtraction concepts.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss migration patterns of birds (Understanding the World).
9. Hickory, Dickory, Dock
Sensory Activity: Make a large cardboard clock with moveable hands that make a ticking sound.
Learning Activity: Practise telling time using a toy clock, focusing on o’clock times.
EYFS Links:
– Mathematics: Shape, space and measure
– Communication and Language: Understanding
- Adaptation: Use a ticking clock sound effect for children with communication difficulties.
- Tech Integration: Use an interactive clock app for additional practice.
- Parent Tip: Involve children in reading analogue clocks at home.
- Assessment Opportunity: Evaluate understanding of basic time concepts.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss daily routines and schedules (Personal, Social and Emotional Development).
10. Jack and Jill
Sensory Activity: Create a ‘hill’ using cushions or soft play equipment for children to safely climb up and roll down.
Learning Activity: Experiment with pouring water between containers of different sizes.
EYFS Links:
– Physical Development: Moving and handling
– Understanding the World: The world
- Adaptation: Provide hand-under-hand assistance for children with mobility issues.
- Tech Integration: Use a video recording app to capture and review safe climbing techniques.
- Parent Tip: Practise safe climbing at local playgrounds.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe gross motor skills and spatial awareness.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss water conservation (Understanding the World).
11. Hey Diddle Diddle
Sensory Activity: Use a torch to create a large ‘moon’ on the wall or ceiling for children to jump towards.
Learning Activity: Sort pictures or toys of the characters in the rhyme into groups (animals, objects, etc.).
EYFS Links:
– Physical Development: Moving and handling
– Mathematics: Shape, space and measure
- Adaptation: Use tactile sorting mats for autistic children
- Tech Integration: Use a simple classification app to reinforce sorting skills.
- Parent Tip: Create silly rhymes at home using household objects and family members.
- Assessment Opportunity: Evaluate classification and categorisation skills.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss nocturnal animals (Understanding the World).
12. Little Miss Muffet
Sensory Activity: Provide bowls of different textures (cotton wool, shredded paper, etc.) to represent Miss Muffet’s ‘curds and whey’.
Learning Activity: Create simple spider crafts using pipe cleaners and beads to develop fine motor skills.
EYFS Links:
– Expressive Arts and Design: Exploring and using media and materials
– Physical Development: Moving and handling
- Adaptation: Use larger beads or buttons for children with fine motor challenges.
- Tech Integration: Use a spider identification app to learn about different types of spiders.
- Parent Tip: Go on a ‘spider hunt’ in the garden, observing spiders safely from a distance.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe fine motor control and creativity.
- Cross-curricular Link: Learn about arachnids (Understanding the World).
13. Three Blind Mice
Sensory Activity: Set up a texture walk with different surfaces for children to feel with their feet.
Learning Activity: Practise scissor skills by cutting out mouse shapes from paper.
EYFS Links:
– Physical Development: Moving and handling
– Expressive Arts and Design: Exploring and using media and materials
- Adaptation: Use textured paper for children with visual impairments.
- Tech Integration: Use a sound recording app to create different mouse squeaks.
- Parent Tip: Play blindfolded texture guessing games at home.
- Assessment Opportunity: Evaluate scissor control and texture recognition.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss the importance of our senses (Understanding the World).
14. Mary Had a Little Lamb
Sensory Activity: Provide lambswool or similar soft material for children to touch and describe.
Learning Activity: Use toy lambs to create simple addition and subtraction stories.
EYFS Links:
– Communication and Language: Speaking
– Mathematics: Numbers
- Adaptation: Use tactile numbers and larger lamb fleece blankets
- Tech Integration: Use a simple math story app to reinforce addition and subtraction concepts.
- Parent Tip: Create math stories using family members or pets.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe use of mathematical language and understanding of basic operations.
- Cross-curricular Link: Learn about farm animals and their young (Understanding the World).
15. Ring Around the Rosie
Sensory Activity: Use scented flowers or herbs in a sensory bin for children to explore smell and touch.
Learning Activity: Practise following directions and spatial awareness through the movements in the rhyme.
EYFS Links:
– Physical Development: Moving and handling
– Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Self-confidence and self-awareness
- Adaptation: Use a smaller circle or partner activities for children with mobility issues.
- Tech Integration: Use a movement-tracking app to create visual patterns of the dance.
- Parent Tip: Play musical statues at home to practise following instructions and body control.
- Assessment Opportunity: Evaluate ability to follow multi-step instructions and spatial awareness.
- Cross-curricular Link: Explore different types of flowers and plants (Understanding the World).
16. Dodo Ti Pitit Manman (Haitian Creole)
And now for an international nursery rhyme. I found this when I was looking for Creole food recipes.
Lyrics:
“Dodo ti pitit manman
Pa kriye, pa kriye
Manman pral bay tete,
Dodo ti pitit manman”
(Translation: “Sleep little baby, Don’t cry, don’t cry, Mama will feed you, Sleep little baby”)
Sensory Activity: Create a cosy corner with soft blankets and cushions for quiet time.
Learning Activity: Practise gentle rocking movements with dolls, discussing the importance of sleep.
EYFS Links:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Self-confidence and self-awareness
Physical Development: Health and self-care
- Adaptation: Use weighted dolls for children who benefit from deep pressure input.
- Tech Integration: Use a sleep sounds app to create a calming atmosphere.
- Parent Tip: Establish a consistent bedtime routine at home.
- Assessment Opportunity: Observe understanding of emotions and ability to self-soothe.
- Cross-curricular Link: Discuss the importance of sleep for health (Physical Development).
Conclusion:
Nursery rhymes offer a wealth of learning opportunities across all areas of the EYFS framework. By incorporating sensory experiences, hands-on activities, and technology, we can maximize their educational potential. Remember to adapt activities to suit individual needs and abilities, and encourage parental involvement to reinforce learning at home.
As you use these rhymes and activities, observe and assess children’s progress in various developmental areas. This will help you tailor your teaching to individual needs and track overall class development.
Safety Considerations
- Always supervise water play activities.
- Ensure all small objects are age-appropriate to avoid choking hazards.
- Check for allergies before using any food items in sensory activities.
Further Reading:
1. “Nurturing Knowledge: Building a Foundation for School Success by Linking Early Literacy to Math, Science, Art, and Social Studies” by Susan B. Neuman and Kathleen Roskos
2. “Literacy Development in the Early Years: Helping Children Read and Write” by Lesley Mandel Morrow
Remember, the joy of nursery rhymes lies in their simplicity and repetition. Have fun with these activities, and don’t hesitate to create your own variations to suit your classroom’s unique needs!