Rhyming is a playful way for children to learn that words are made up of “word families” and other smaller parts.
Nursery rhymes are a delightful way to introduce the rhythm and patterns of language to your child from birth. Adding clapping, bouncing, and other age appropriate movement makes them even more fun for both of you, while supporting fine and gross motor development, along with balance and coordination.
Counting and alphabet rhymes help with school readiness.
Play rhyming games! Rhyming games help build your child’s ability to play with parts of words, sound out words when they start reading, and increase their vocabulary. Play different games at different ages/stages:
For the youngest children, start by asking questions that let them hear the rhyme: “Does cat rhyme with bat?” “Does door rhyme with floor?”
Next, move on to words that don’t rhyme to see if they understand the concept and if they can identify what rhymes and what doesn’t: “Does chair rhyme with floor?” “Does cat rhyme with sat?” “Does dog rhyme with kite?”
Once your child understands the concept of rhyming, you can ask questions like, “What rhymes with cat?” “What rhymes with house?” Anything counts in this game, even nonsense words.
Attend Library Storytimes! They include lots of songs and rhymes, as well as books.
