Nursery rhyme action time

Did you know that nursery rhymes are not just great for language development, but when you add in actions, they also help build fine motor control and hand-eye coordination? Hand eye coordination is the ability to do activities that require your hands, eyes and brain to be in sync. We use them every day from simple things like being able to unlock a door with a key, to more complex things like driving.

So what’s that got to do with language and early literacy for 0-5 year olds? Hand eye coordination is a foundational skill that children need to have in place before they learn to read and write. Eyes and hands need to be ready to be used to not only guide where or how a child forms letters when writing, but they track the text or words of a book.

You can help support the development of this skill in your little one by cuddling up together and singing nursery rhymes that have actions. If you have a baby or toddler try guiding their hands into the actions as you sing nursery rhymes. As you sing the songs more regularly your child can become more confident and may start to do the actions independently. If this happens, then you get the extra benefit of your little one being able to tell you the rhyme they want you to sing just by showing you the action before the words are even in place!

Some action nursery rhymes to learn and share

Twinkle, twinkle little star

Incy wincey spider

If you’re happy and you know it

Open shut them

Five cheeky monkey’s jumping on the bed

The wheels on the bus

Dingle, dangle scarecrow