Outside Exploring / Seek and Ye Shall Find

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the brain pathways to make new connections.

Activities for Infants

 

Outside Exploring

 

Brain research says that early childhood experiences exert a dramatic and precise impact, physically determining how the intricate neural circuits of the brain are wired.

 

The brain takes in information through the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound) and translates that information into a response.

 

Playing outside on a lovely day is a wonderful way to experience all of the senses.

 

There are so many things to do.

 

Let your baby crawl in the grass while you crawl along with him.

 

Name each thing that your baby seems interested in.

 

Smell flowers, tickle with grass, look for bugs, etc.

 

Rolling over in the grass is fun to do and your baby will enjoy the light, prickly feel of it.

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Say to your baby, “We are having fun playing outside.”

 

For developing the idea – Do activities that use the senses. Look at flowers, smell the flowers, listen to the birds, touch the grass, and taste some herbs.

 

For moving forward – Repeat the same activities and use say the name of the body parts you are using. For example, “I see the flowers with my eyes.” or, “I smell the flowers with my nose.” Continue on with all of the senses.

 

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Seek and Ye Shall Find

 

Brain research says that an infant’s brain can discern every possible sound in every language. By ten months, babies have learned to screen out foreign sounds and to focus on the sounds of their native language.

 

Listening for the source of a sound is a very good game for developing auditory awareness.

 

This kind of game needs to be played in the early years to strengthen brain connections for the future.

 

You will need a wind-up clock that makes a nice sound.

 

Hold the clock and sing a little tick, tock song with your baby.

Tick, tock, tick tock

Goes the clock,
Tick, tock

 

Now take the clock and put it under a pillow.

 

Ask your little one, “Where is the tick tock?”

 

Help guide him to the clock, using the sound to locate it. Once he understands how to play this game, he will want to do it again and again.

 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Hide the clock in the same place several times so that your baby will know exactly where it is.

 

For developing the idea –Begin hiding the clock in different places while your baby is watching you.

 

For moving forward – Ask your little one “where shall we hide the clock?”

 

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Ordering a Pizza & Pass the Potato

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the brain pathways to make new connections.

Activities for Toddlers
Communication with a young child creates the patterns for understanding. Laughter, especially, helps in releasing feel good chemicals and responses in the body, thereby increasing attachment and feelings of self-worth.  

Ordering a PizzaYou will need pictures of pizza.

Ask the children if their parents have ever ordered a pizza by telephone.

Talk about what information you would give on the phone.

What kind of pizza?

What size pizza?

Your name.

Your address.

Your telephone.

Have a pretend conversation with the children and order a pizza.

After you have played this a few times, you will see the children start to play this game with their friends.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence –Ask the child “what kind of pizza do you like to eat?”

For developing the idea –Tell the child that you are going to pretend to talk on the phone and order a pizza. As the child to tell you what he would like on his pizza.

For moving forward – Look at the pictures of different pizzas and talk about what others like to eat on their pizza.

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Pass the Potato  You will need pictures of potatoes and a large russet potato.

Talk about all of the ways that you can cook a potato…boil, fry, mash, bake, etc

Sit the children in a circle and sing the following to the tune of the song "London Bridges."

Round the circle, here it comes

Here it come, here it comes

Round the circle, here it comes

Pass the potato
As the children are singing this rhyme, they pass the russet potato from one to another. When the rhyme is finished, the child left holding the potato gets to come into the circle and pretend he is eating a potato. He can also tell what kind of potato he is eating...mashed, fried, boiled, etc.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Let the children tell you what kind of potatoes they like.
For developing the idea – What sound does the word “potato” start with?

For moving forward – I’ll name some words and you tell me if they have the same sound as “potato.” Pig, party, happy, funny, pony……etc.

Cardboard Music & Animal Songs

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the brain pathways to make new connections.

Music Activities for Infants and Toddlers

Cardboard Music
Playing this game will develop rhythm and memory.

You will need a toilet tissue paper tube (ARTROLL) for each child.

Show the children how to make a musical sound by singing into the tube.

If you sing "toot, toot, toot" you will make an interesting sound.

Try "toot tooting" familiar songs like " Happy Birthday" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Playing this game is a forerunner to playing a kazoo and later perhaps a wind instrument.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Ask the child to toot a song and you sing along.

For developing the idea - Try tooting the songs in a high voice and a low voice.

For moving forward – Pick out three favorite songs and play them together. Let the child choose which song he will toot in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. 

If your child is enjoying this, change to new songs every few days.

This is a great pre-cursor to poetry and reading in general.

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Animal Songs
This activity encourages creativity, cognitive thinking and the joy of singing.

Young children are particularly fond of songs, games and books about animals. 

The more that you sing with your child, the better language he will have and the better reader he will be.

Here are some songs about animals. Can you think of some more?

Itsy Bitsy Spider, Five Little Ducks, Old Macdonald, All the Fish, Shoo Fly, Bingo, and Hickory Dickory Dock.

A wonderful website to find Animal Songs is Kididdles.com.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:For building confidence –Sing an animal song with the child and praise him for doing such a good job.

For developing the idea - Pick an animal song and ask the child to make the sound of that animal. Now sing the song in the animal voice that the child made.

For moving forward – Make up a song with the child about an animal. It’s best to use a familiar tune like “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Here is an example.

Bobby had a little dog, little dog, little dog,
Bobby had a little dog
It’s fur was black and white.

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Maestro Baby Instruments - Set of 4 (MAESTRO)
Circus Sorting Train Banner - 29 Pieces (CHUCHU)

Peek-a-Boo and Laughing Fun Activities

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the brain pathways to make new connections.

Activities for Infants

Peek-a-Boo

Playing “peek-a-boo” with an infant will reward you with smiles. It’s definitely a favorite game.

Why is peek-a-boo so important? This game makes connections between a child’s brain cells. The more they use these connections, the stronger these pathways become. 

Here are some different ways to play peek-a-boo.

• Cover your eyes with your hands.
• Put a towel over your face.
• Hide behind an object and pop out.
• Place a toy or stuffed animal under a cover and then pull away the cover.
• Draw a face on your thumb with magic marker and hide it under your other fingers.
• Make your own peek-a-boo pictures,
• Cut out pictures from a magazine and tape one picture each on a separate piece of cardboard.
• Cut out pieces of fabric that are bigger than the cardboard picture and tape it on one end of the cardboard to cover the picture. You should be able to lift the fabric and see the picture.
• Make up a story about the picture and then lift the fabric and show your baby the picture. For example: The little dog said “Bow Wow, Bow Wow, I want to see you.”
• Lift up the fabric and show the dog picture and say “Peek-a-boo.” Soon your little one will learn to lift up the fabric himself.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Play the game with your baby and praise him as he plays

For developing the idea - Try to switch roles. Put your baby’s hands over his eyes and take them away as you say “peek-a-boo.”

For moving forward –Show your infant how to play the game with a stuffed animal.

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Laughing Fun

Once you hear a baby's laugh, you won't be able to get enough

Laughter helps in releasing feel good chemicals and responses in the body, thereby increasing attachment and feelings of self-worth.

Baby's first smiles easily melt your heart. Soon your baby will learn to laugh out loud. Sometime between three and four months of age, she'll likely begin giggling along with her cooing.

What will inspire that first giggle?

The sight of your face, a silly grin, a favorite toy or a silly sound could stimulate the giggle.

Your baby is learning to recognize her voice and seeing how others react to it. She is also learning to move her mouth and tongue to produce different sounds.

Here are some ways to encourage your baby to laugh.

• Funny faces: Scrunch up your face and stick out your tongue. Your baby will laugh and soon try to imitate you.
• Peek-a-boo: Always guarantees a giggle.
• Silly sounds: Make up a silly sound of your own as you smile and laugh. This will tell the baby that she can smile and laugh at the sound.
• Fingerplay: Short poems that have a surprise.
• Jack in the box, you sit so still (hand folded with index finger of other hand tucked inside the folded hand). Say, "Won’t you come out?" and then say, "Yes, I will!" (say in a big voice as you pop out the index finger.)
• Looking in a Mirror: Look with the baby in a mirror and make funny faces.
• Dancing: Hold your baby and dance and glide around the room. If you add music, it makes it even more special.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:

For building confidence – Imitating and mimic your baby’s sounds.

For developing the idea - Play games that encourage laughter with your baby.

For moving forward – Laugh often and show spontaneous joy at what your baby can do.

Diddle Diddle Dumpling and The Blue Danube

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the brain pathways to make new connections.

MUSIC
Diddle Diddle Dumpling
Poem – Anonymous
Song – by Jackie Silberg

This musical game is fun to sing or say and teaches beginning sounds.
Ask the children to each take off one of their shoes. Now say the following poem or sing the song.
Diddle diddle dumpling, dumpling , dumpling,
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.
Went to bed with his stockings, stockings,
Went to bed with his stockings on.
One, one shoe off.
One, one shoe on.
Diddle diddle dumpling
Diddle diddle dumpling,
Diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.
The words “Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling” are fun to say and to sing. “Dumpling” is a term of affection.
What other words are terms of affection? ...sweetie, cutie, honey? There will be a lot of laughing in this discussion.

Sing the song with different beginning sounds. Try a “b” sound: “biddle, biddle, bumpling.” Or a “z” sound: “ziddle, ziddle, zumpling.” 

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Do you wear your shoes when you go to bed? What do you wear on your feet?
For developing the idea: Can you tell me what the boy did with one of his shoes?
For moving forward: The words “diddle diddle dumpling” all start with the same sound. What sound is it? Can you think of others words that start with that same sound?

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Waltzing- The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss

This is a video of the Vienna Philharmonic playing the Blue Danube. The children can see a symphony orchestra, watch a conductor, see dancers and hear the wonderful music.

You will need waltz music or you can play this wonderful YouTube video and use various stuffed animals.
Play waltz music and dance around the room..
Hold the stuffed animals and dance with them....swirling and twirling
When the music is over, fall to the ground and shout “viva le waltz!”

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: “That music makes me want to dance.” Let’s dance together.
For developing the idea: “Isn’t dancing fun? It makes me feel good.”
For moving forward: “Would you like to dance to a different kind of music?” "What kind of music do you like? Fast or slow?"

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Old MacDonald Had a Farm

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the pathways of their brains to make new connections.
MUSIC
A favorite song with young children is “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.”
They love to make the animal sounds.
Read the book Old MacDonald in the City to introduce the idea of different kinds of jobs Old MacDonald could have and the different sounds they would make.
Try singing the song using other ideas.

Old MacDonald had a cold, e,i,e,i,o
And with his cold he had a cough

Think of sounds you have with a cold.
Old MacDonald could also have a yard, a house, a candy store, etc.
Changing the words will develop vocabulary.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Let’s sing Old MacDonald together
For developing the idea: “If Old MacDonald had a candy store, what kind of candy would he have in the store?” Let’s sing about it.
For moving forward: Let’s sing "Old MacDonald Had a Car" and make up car sounds.”

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"Carnival of the Animals": By Camille Saint-Saens
This music tells the story about how the animals are having a carnival, and the guests are arriving. There's the majestic lion, the braying mules, the dancing elephant, and the graceful swan. There are also many other animals.

You probably will need to explain to the children what a carnival is.
I’ve selected two videos that you can show the children and then let them pretend they are the elephants and the swans as they listen to the music.
For your own personal interest, there are many, many videos of this delightful piece of music with poetry by Ogden Nash.
I urge you to expose your children and yourself to this lovely experience.

Ideas for taking this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Show me how you walk like an elephant. Can you swim like a swan?
For developing the idea: What other animals do you think came to the Carnival? Let’s find out
For moving forward: If you had a carnival, who would you invite?

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Naptime Classics - 4 CDs (LULLABIES)
Infant Poster Set - Set of 12 (BABYPIC)
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Exploring Texture with Infants

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the pathways of their brains to make new connections.

FOR INFANTS
Babies need a variety of tactile experiences to become familiar with their world. An infant spends the majority of his first year of life learning through these tactile experiences.

Babies need touching experiences to “grow” the brain and “grow” the body. It is as critical as nutrients and vitamins.

Exploring texture is something that babies love to do. You can uses silky cloth, materials that are fuzzy, smooth, and furry.

Another lovely tactile experience is to take a hair dryer and blow gentle air on different parts of the baby’s body.

Here is a wonderful tactile game that you can play with your baby.

Using your index and middle fingers, gently tap on different parts of your infant’s body. As you tap, name the part of the body.

Use the following poem as a guide:

Tap, tap, tap
On my baby’s (or use baby’s name) cheek.
Tap, tap, tap
On my baby’s cheek. (take his hand and put it on his cheek)

Repeat this little poem, tapping on different parts of the body.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Each time you tap a body part, clap your hands and shout “Hooray!”
For developing the idea: Reverse the game. Take your baby’s fingers and tap them on your body.
For moving forward: Play the game with a stuffed animal or doll.

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Through songs and fingerplays, many important skills can be taught which are vital in the development of the brain.

The following rhyme develops sensory perception and fine motor skills. Say the rhyme as you touch your baby’s fingers one by one. On the final verse, wave your baby’s hand.

Tommy ThumbTommy thumb, Tommy thumb,
Where are you?
Here I am, here I am.
How do you do! (wave baby’s hand)
Peter pointer, Peter pointer,
Where are you?
Here I am, here I am.
How do you do! (wave baby’s hand)

Continue on with Toby tall, Ruby ring, Sally small, and fingers all.

Your baby will respond to your touch and your voice.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Each time you touch your baby, kiss the finger you are touching.
For developing the idea: Reverse the process. Put the baby’s hand on your fingers.
For moving forward: After you play the game, add the song “Where is Thumbkin” to play with the fingers.

Beginning Rhythm Ideas

Learning Objective – Beginning rhythm ideas
Rhythm experiences for young children are vital for their development. It puts them in sync with the world.

Play some recordings for your children that use drums.

If you can bring a drummer to your room or take the children somewhere to see a drum set, that would be wonderful.

As you listen to the music, pretend you are playing air drums.

Here are some ways to make drumbeats to the music.
Hit your fists on different surfaces.

Use wooden spoons or rhythm sticks to play on different surfaces.

Shake your entire body to the rhythm of the music.

Some children will naturally feel the rhythm of the music. Others will need more time to develop a sense of rhythm.

Hit a steady beat with a drum or your hands and ask the children to hop on the beat, stamp on the beat and march on the beat.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Awareness of drums and their different sounds.

For developing the idea – Listen to instrumental music and identify the drums. If the drum beat is simple, clap your hands with the drums.

For moving forward – “How could we use drumbeats in the classroom? Could the teacher hit the drum to tell you it’s time to sit on the circle?’

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Learning Objective – Encourages musical learning
The newest brain research says: The earlier music is introduced, the more potential a child has for learning and enjoying it in the future.

If You're Happy and You Know ItSit on the floor with your child facing you.

Sing the song "If You're Happy and You Know It."
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
(take your child’s hands and clap them together two times.)
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
(repeat clapping)
If you're happy and you know it
Then your smile will surely show it
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.
(repeat clapping)
Keep repeating the song and changing the action.
Move your child’s hands for clapping, waving, wiggling, snapping, etc.

Do the action first and then let your child do it.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Repeat the song and clap softly and loudly.
For developing the idea – Do other movements with the song. Hop, jump, tap your foot, turn in a circle are a few to try.

For moving forward – Play the game with a stuffed animal. Let your child move the animals hand, feet, or paws to the words of the song.


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The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays, and Chants (RHYMES)
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Again, Please!

FOR TODDLERS

Learning Objective – Developing Reading Skills
Again, Please!
When toddlers like a poem, a books or a song, they want to hear it again and again. Sometimes that is very boring to the caregiver.

Here are some ideas to make it more interesting and develop reading skills in the children.

Ask the children to tell the story in their own words.

Read the story and let your children fill in words. They probably have it memorized by now.

Select simple stories that the children can memorize and they will become favorites at this age.

Help the children act out the story.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: What story do you like to hear over and over again?

For developing the idea: Let’s look at the pictures and talk about the story.

For moving forward: Can you tell me the story?

FOR TODDLERS

Learning Objective – Language Skills

Important Accents
The current brain research says: that young children develop a clear bias for words with first-syllable accents .
With this information, you can help develop your child’s language abilities.

For example, the rhyme “Baa Baa Black Sheep” is a good rhyme for playing this game. Say the rhyme and put an accent on the first word of each line.

Baa Baa black sheep
Have you any wool
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full
Some other rhymes that work well with accenting the first word in each line are; London Bridge, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: Let’s say the poem Baa Baa Black Sheep and make some of the words louder than the others.

For developing the idea: Can you ask me a question and make the first word louder than the rest?”

For moving forward: Can you sing a song making some of the words louder than the others?

Tell Me What It Says

These games will help to grow the brains of infants and toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the pathways of their brains to make new connections.


FOR INFANTS
Learning Objective– Developing language

The current brain research says: that young children develop a clear bias for words with first-syllable accents For example, the rhyme “Baa Baa Black Sheep” is good to say with your infant. Say the rhyme and put an accent on the first word of each line.

Baa Baa black sheep
Have you any wool
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full

Some other rhymes that work well with accenting the first word in each line are: "London Bridge," "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Babies pay closer attention to accented words.

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence: As you say the accented words, raise your voice to a higher level using a parentese voice.

For developing the idea: Holding the baby in your lap, each time you say the accented word, clap the baby’s hands together.

For moving forward: Sing familiar songs with your baby and pick out certain words to accent. When you sing the accented word, do a movement activity at the same time. For example, jump, walk very slowly and sing the word slowly, march, and twirl slowly.

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Activity: Tell Me What It Says

You will need a picture of a baby, a clock, a bird, a drum, and some water.

Point to one of the pictures and say to your your baby “Tell me what the baby says.”

Then answer the question – “Ma ma, ma, ma” or “Da da da da.”

Repeat the same question asking about each picture and giving the answer.

Tell me what the clock says
Tick, tock, tick, tock
Tell me what the birdie says
Tweet. Tweet, tweet, tweet
Tell me what the drum says
Boom, boom, boom, boom
Tell me what the water says
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle

Ideas that take this activity to the next level:

For building confidence: Make the sounds with the baby and encourage him to copy you. Praise all of his efforts.

For developing the idea: Look at books and magazines with the baby and find things that make sounds.

For moving forward: Show your baby different mouth sounds. Clicking, moving your tongue back and forth on your lips, the raspberry, and any others that you can think of. Babies love to look at faces and will try to copy you.

Develope Your Toddler's Vocabulary

These games will help to grow the brains of toddlers. Whether it’s through singing, dancing, cuddling, rocking, talking, smelling, or tasting, you can encourage the pathways of their brains to make new connections.

Learning Objective – Developing vocabulary
Sit the children on the floor gathered around you. If they understand sitting in a circle, that would be ideal.

Ask the children if they can tell you what is in their house…tables, chairs, lamps, TV, etc.

Sing this song to the tune of "London Bridge" and leave out the last word for the child to fill in.

Tell us please, what’s in your house
In your house
In your house
Tell us please, what’s in your house
Tell us …..(Lakeesha)
(Lakeesha names something in her house)
Continue the song giving the children an opportunity to tell about their houses.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence -  Can you name some of the things at your house?

For developing the idea - What do you like to do in your house at the table?

For moving forward - What does your mother do at the table? What does your grandpa do at the table?

Learning Objective – Growing motor skills
Cut out large apple shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and place them on the floor. If this presents a problem, you can cut out the apple shapes and tape them in different parts of the room.

Ask the children to hop from one apple to another as they sing to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Hopping, hopping for my health
For my health
For my health
Hopping, hopping for my health
I am healthy.

Continue with other movements such as jumping, marching, turning, and running.

Follow with a conversation about exercise and health.

Things to do to take this activity to the next level:
For building confidence – Tell the children “hopping makes up feel good and is a lot of fun”.

For developing the idea – Ask “where are places that you like to hop”?

For moving forward - Can you hop like different animals? A rabbit, a frog, or a bird?

Learning Rhythm

THE ANTS GO MARCHING
Sing to the tune of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.’

The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching out to the big parade.

Additional verses
two by two- the little one stops to tie his shoe
three by three - the little one stops to climb a tree
four by four - the little one stops to fall on the floor
five by five - the little one stops to joke and jive
six by six - the little one stops to do some tricks
seven by seven -the little one stops to point to heaven
eight by eight - the little one stops to shut the gate
nine by nine - the little one stops to read a sign
ten by ten - the little stops to say “THE END.”

1. March around the room and sing the song. Act out each part that says, “the little one stopped to...”

2. Substitute other actions for the word marching, as follows:

The ants go skipping . . .
The ants go hopping . . .
The ants go swimming . . .

3. Experiment with ant voices. Teeny, squeaky voices are lots of fun.

4. Party stores carry plastic ants. Singing and counting the ants as you move them along is a great game.

Moving to Music
The more rhythm experiences a young child has, the better they will relate to the world. Talking, reading, and moving all improve with rhythm activities.

Play some instrumental music and move with your child. If the music is fast, move quickly. If the music is slow, move slowly.

Encourage the children to copy your actions. Say things like “Can you turn like me?” or “Can you bend like me?”

Vary the musical sounds from high to low, loud to soft, and fast to slow.

Nursery Rhymes

Nursery rhymes can play an important part in children’s lives. For many children, nursery rhymes are the first songs and stories that they hear.

I remember as a child learning and singing nursery rhymes at home and at school. Think about the ones that you know and teach them to your children.

Nursery rhymes stimulate memory, improve language skills, develop appreciation for music, enrich vocabulary, phonemic awareness, encourage thinking skills, and develop pre-reading skills….and best of all, they are fun!

LITTLE MISS MUFFET
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider and sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

This is a lot of fun to role play. You will need a group of children.

The children take turns being Miss Muffet pretending to eat curds and whey. Another child pretends to sneak up behind her as the spider. Students are encouraged to scream a really good "eeek!"

I wrote an additional verse to Miss Muffet. It appears on the Sniggles, Squirrels, and Chickenpox CD and in the I Love Children Songbook.

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider and sat down beside her
And said “what a very nice day.”

WHO AM I?
Using nursery rhymes that your children are familiar with, play this game.

When the subject is identified, everyone says the nursery rhyme together.

Give clues to nursery rhyme characters. For example:
I am a girl.
I have an animal that follows me to school.

Mary Had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece as white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went
That lamb was sure to go.


It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rules,
It made the children laugh and play,
To see a lamb at school.

Clue: I am a mouse
I like to run up and down clocks

Hickory, Dickory, Dock
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse did run,
Hickory, dickory, dock.

Clue: I am round.
I sat on a wall and fell down.

Humpty Dumpty
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.

Nursery rhymes will help stimulate your child's memory, improve their language skills and develop their appreciation for music.