Benefits of Nursery Rhymes

Benefits of Nursery Rhymes

12 October 2024

Nursery rhymes are great for developing early literacy skills like repetition, listening for syllables, identifying homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings, eg new and knew), and defining and identifying rhyming words.

In nursery rhymes, tamariki hear the sounds that vowels and consonants make. Listening to these stories helps teach them how to put these sounds together and make words. Through rhymes, they also practice the rhythm, pitch, and volume of the spoken word.

“The ability to hear and generate rhyme is the strongest indicator of literacy success. Children who can recite a nursery rhyme at the age of three are better readers at the age of seven than the three year olds who could not.” (MacMillan, 1997 as cited in Soryl, 2014).

Babies hear rhythmic sounds from inside the womb, so singing nursery rhymes can start before baby is even born. Studies have shown that singing, even more than talking, keeps babies calm and helps to strengthen social bonds with parents.

Through the stories and characters of nursery rhymes, children discover humour and emotional awareness which are important social skills. The rhythmic nature of rhymes encourages children to sway, clap, or tap along, promoting physical coordination and a sense of rhythm. This holistic approach to learning enhances motor skills and overall physical development.

Nursery rhymes can be sung any time of the day – at nappy changing times, cleaning up times, in the car, and during play. You can make it fun by experimenting with using different voices and vary your tone and pitch, for example whispering a nursery rhyme or using a deep voice. Singing nursery rhymes regularly throughout any time of the day is a great way for tamariki to learn and before long, they’ll be able to recite some favourite nursery rhymes themselves.

Information from Developing Phonological Awareness workshop by Yolanda Soryl