World Nursery Rhyme Week 2023
World Nursery Rhyme Week (13 - 17 November 2023) is a great opportunity to review children’s current experience of rhymes and songs in your setting.
Celebrate nursery rhyme week by learning a new rhyme each day or use it as an opportunity to communicate with parents how valuable rhymes and songs are in supporting their children’s literacy development.
Our nursery rhyme tips posters include suggestions to further embed songs and rhymes in your provision, and reminders of why they are so important.
Why nursery rhymes?
Nursery rhymes are extremely valuable to support language and communication skills, build confidence and prepare children for reading and writing as they get older. Opportunities to hear, learn, and sing rhymes and songs have been missed for many children due to the pandemic. Nursery Rhyme Week is an excellent opportunity to introduce these activities as regular practice.
With so much to fit in to your daily routine it’s easy for nursery rhymes to become a transitional tool rather than a planned part of the day. We’ve put together some simple tips for making sure nursery rhymes remain an important part of your curriculum. Print and display our posters to remind your colleagues in early years, and in KS1, how important rhymes and songs are.
Things to consider:
- Choose the rhymes and songs you introduce with care, ensuring they are relevant and appropriate to your setting.
- Introducing new and alternative versions of rhymes and songs will enthuse children with their quirky rhythms and lyrics.
- Introducing more traditional rhymes and songs, which are likely to be familiar to parents may be more effective in encouraging and supporting singing at home.
- Nursery rhymes and songs also provide an opportunity to invite children, parents, and carers to share or teach rhymes and songs in their home language.
Useful links for families
Song lyrics, book recommendations and further activities to share with families: