Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes In Motion

The activities described in this article allow your children to make-believe through Mother Goose nursery rhymes. I always like to use the classics because of their simplicity and rhyme which make them easier for the children to remember the words and to recite them with you. When the rhymes are repeatedly recited with them, the children will tend to use the words and phrases in their own play, thus nurturing their creativity and imagination.

This activity requires the children to put Mother Goose nursery rhymes into motion that is, acting them out. You can choose a simple nursery rhyme which the children are familiar with like Jack and Jill or There was a Crooked Man. I would usually recite the rhyme before I ask the children to act it out. I like to build their enthusiasm and excitement by telling the children to listen carefully because they would need to act out the rhyme. This can also train their listening skills and their imagination because as you are reciting they will be trying to imagine the actions to go along with the rhyme. Give them pails to carry and build a small hill by pressing and piling up some cardboard boxes.

Little Miss Muffet is also another great nursery rhyme to play as most of the movements are the same. Play together with the children as you recite the rhyme by taking turns to be the spider and encourage them to be imaginative and creative when they are pretending to be the spider by thinking how a spider moves and how Miss Muffet would respond when she saw the spider. Ask open-ended questions like – did Miss Muffet squeal with fright or fainted from fear? Use and choose appropriate Mother Goose nursery rhymes to play with them as these activities can expand their make-believe abilities and even overcome their fear they might be experiencing.

Some children are very adept in role playing and can make-believe without difficulty but there can be others who are more shy and self-conscious. You can coax them out from their shell by assuring them that pretend play is a fun thing to do and help them get started by offering suggestions or acting them out first. When children see adults doing funny imaginary actions, encourage and bond a trust in them and when they start to trust you, they will slowly come out from their cocoon and you would be surprised that they can be just as inventive and spontaneous as their other more outspoken playmates.

Mother Goose nursery rhymes, poems, songs and stories are remarkable tools to nurture imagination and creativity in children. They provide a structure that they can follow easily and when the themes are discussed by asking the children to imagine new characters or endings may stimulate imaginative thinking. When the children become familiar with them, they tend to use the words they have learned and the roles they have played to help them discover their own creativity and develop confidence in their ideas.

By: Megan Wong

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