Do you remember how your mother taught you your first rhyme? Nursery rhymes are an integral part of everyone’s childhood. But they are not just songs; they have the power to impart important lessons to your child. From Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Humpty Dumpty – there is a deep meaning behind each rhyme.
Most parents use nursery rhymes to calm down a cranky child too. Since you’re a parent now, you might want to learn how to teach nursery rhymes to your little one. It requires a lot of attention and dedication. Whether it’s parents or teachers, one has to think about getting the child’s attention first.
Don’t worry about it! This post will shed light on the subject, ‘

How to teach songs and rhymes to toddlers?

Exposure To Nursery Rhymes Is Essential

The first step is to expose the songs and rhymes to your little one. Make sure they hear it time and again. Have you ever noticed that kids pick up words you may repeat? Their mind is developing, so there is a possibility that your child will learn sooner.
Sing the rhyme or song to them when they are young. Whether changing their diapers or putting them to sleep, you must sing the rhyme or song repeatedly. Consider it a fun activity – you will also connect and spend time with your child.
When you sing the song or rhyme repeatedly, the words and tunes are naturally drilled into your child’s mind.
You might think something else will be needed, but let’s give you an apt example. In most movies, you will see that an adult gets flashbacks of their childhood, and they remember their mother singing a lullaby for a nursery rhyme. It’s a vivid memory that most of us remember. So that’s why you need to expose nursery rhymes to children more often.

Learn To Be Patient

We need to share this with you because parents tend to get excited and impatient when trying to teach a nursery rhyme to their little kids.
Memorizing anything needs a lot of patience. Nursery rhymes should not be force-fed to the child. It should be a fun process. Let’s say you teach your child Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; it’s always good to dance and sing with your little one. It’s okay if your child sings the wrong tune or messes up the words – you need to be patient.
If you find that your child is not able to pick up the song at all, you can sing it to them. It should be a relaxing activity for your child and YOU.

Try and Explain What The Song Means

Your child may think you’re just singing, but they can’t comprehend the lyrics.
That’s alright! They’re probably 5 or 6 years old, so they don’t have to understand everything. But the process becomes fun and enjoyable when you try to explain the song to your little one.
Children are sensitive and keen learners, so if you try to explain what the lyrics mean, you may have an interested audience.
Your child doesn’t have to know what each word means, but give them a gist of what the song is about. Is it about a boy? Why did he fall from the wall? What happened after falling? There is learning here. Wouldn’t it be nice if your child explained to everyone what the song or nursery rhyme means?
Make sure your child understands the moral of the story.

Using Hand Gestures

Whether it’s Humpty Dumpty or Twinkle Twinkle, you must use hand gestures to make the learning process fun and engaging.
We’ve also learned it this way, haven’t we? Our teachers used hand gestures too. It made the process easier, and we still remember how they did it.

Ask Questions The Next Day

Teaching nursery rhymes to a young child can be gruelling for most people. But that’s alright; let it be a fun time for you and your child.
Once your child memorizes the song or the nursery rhyme, you can ask questions daily. For example, you could ask, ‘Where was Humpty Dumpty sitting?’
You could also ask simple questions like, ‘What twinkles?’ They will immediately say, ‘Little Star.’
Asking questions is a good practice because it allows the child to think, remember, and engage.
You can make this game a lot more fun if you give little prizes to your little one if they answer correctly.
Isn’t that a fun game to play with your little one?

Drawing Can Be Engaging and Helpful

Yes, we understand that there is no connection between songs and drawings. But, if you think about it, a child can sing and then draw the whole story on paper.
You have to be present for this activity. So, get a drawing paper, and start singing with your child. While singing, you and your child can draw a wall and Humpty Dumpty sitting on it. Then, as you reach the end of the nursery rhyme, you can draw Humpty Dumpty lying on the ground.
Drawing a star with a smiley face can also be a fun way to teach Twinkle Twinkle.
Another famous rhyme is, ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill.’ You could draw a hill and then draw a boy and a girl going up the hill.
This is probably one of the best ways to teach your child a new song or a rhyme. But let’s not forget you will also make new memories with your child. They will remember these sweet memories of drawing and singing with you when they grow up.

Concluding Thoughts

There are many ways of teaching rhymes and songs to a child. Keep your patience. Sometimes your child will irritate you by singing the wrong lyrics, but they do it deliberately.
Let this be a precious time shared between you and your child. You will cherish the memories, and soon enough, your child will also grasp the lyrics. You can also use instruments to add some music and make it more interesting.