8 Silly & Fun Ways to Play with Rhymes for Kids
Rhymes for kids is a great way to enhance language skills. Rhyming words for kids is the basis of many traditional children’s literature books because rhyming phrases helps kids learn.
Rhyming Words For Kids
Today we are super excited to have a guest, Melissa Taylor from Imagination Soup to tell us more about silly rhymes for kids. She has a passion for teaching literacy in a fun and unexpected way.
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Children Rhymes
I love that learning to rhyme and playing with rhyming are foundational skills for reading.
Don’t you?
Rhyming is so much fun! Plus, the sillier you make it, the more kids will enjoy it.
Here are my top eight favorite ideas for fun, playful rhyming activities for kids.
1. Sing Rhyming Songs
Sing these familiar songs to practice rhyming.
Silly variation: When you get to the last word in a line, change it!
Example: In the Ants song, see what other words you can rhyme with the number words.
Songs
Down By the Bay
Miss Mary Mack
The Ants Go Marching One by One
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
2. Rhyming Thumbs
Take rhyming with you anywhere like this easy-to-play game that is perfect for the waiting room, a restaurant, or a sister’s lesson.
Say two words that may or may not rhyme. Have your kids decide if the words rhyme or not:
- Thumbs up if they rhyme.
- Thumbs down if they don’t.
3. Toss, Rhyme, Catch
My daughter who is seven still loves to play this with me. We get a ball and stand (or sit) facing each other.
The person who tosses the ball says a word. The other catches and throws it back, saying a word that rhymes. Keep going until you run out of rhyming words. Then, start with a new word.
Example: Hall “ ball and turtle “ surtle (yes, you can use nonsense words in our game!)
4. Funny Rhyme Treasure Hunt
Write your own treasure hunt clues using rhyming end words. Not only is it a great way to be active, but you can use so many funny rhymes to keep your child engaged.
5. Magnet Letter Words
Do you have magnetic letters for your fridge? Use them to start a word tower. Make an easy word like HAT. Ask your child to make list of rhyming words underneath. This way it’s easy to see the letter family in the pattern:
- HAT
- CAT
- BAT
- SAT
- RAT
- MAT
- …AT
6. Explore Nursery Rhymes
Read nursery rhymes together. Find several that you can learn by heart. Now, try to say them in silly voices: cowboy, fancy person, squeaky mouse, loud talker.
Nursery Rhyme Books
- My First Book of Nursery Rhymes is a padded board book perfect for younger kids.
- Check out this beautiful Mother Goose Treasury: A Beautiful Collection of Favorite Nursery Rhymes
- Or take a deep dive into nursery rhymes with Classic Nursery Rhymes that will have some nursery rhymes you have never discovered!
7. Read Rhyming Books
As your reading these rhyming stories, see if your child can guess what rhyming word is coming up. (Especially in Guess Again! Because there’s a trick!)
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin
- Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car by Eileen Christelow
- Guess Again! By Mac Barnett
- King Hugo’s Huge Ego by Chris Van Dusen
- Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
- Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
8. Fingerplays
Fingerplays are chanting rhymes with hand movements. You probably know more of these than you think. They’re great because they add movement to rhyme!
- The Itsy, Bitsy Spider
- Pat-a-Cake
- I’m a Little Teapot
- Open, Shut Them
So rhyme and play,
this very day.
Your kids will say,
Hip-hip, hooray!
Rhyming Finger Play Books for Toddlers & Preschoolers
- The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider Fingerplays and Action Rhymes
- The Book of Finger Plays & Action Songs
- Grab these finger puppets for even more finger play fun!
Want More Children Rhyme Activities?
What better way to learn about rhyming than with poetry and limericks!
- With this free download, you can have worksheets that will teach you how to write a limerick. Put as many funny rhymes in it as you want!
- Learn other children’s rhymes and funny rhymes with Shel Silverstein children’s poems.
- Check out this sweet nursery rhymes craft about the Owl and the Pussycat.
- Make the giving tree poem.
What is your favorite way to play with rhymes? Do rhyming word games come naturally to you?
These are great ideas. I am always looking for new ways to incorporate rhyming into our day. I can’t wait to try out the thumbs up if if rhymes, thumbs down if it doesn’t.
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He always kept talking about this. I will forward this information to him.
Fairly certain he’s going to have a great read. Many thanks for sharing!
Great ideas – rhyme all the time!! I use the thumbs up thumbs down all the time in my Kindergarten classroom – for rhyming and so much more too! A great way to quickly see who gets it in a large group 🙂
Thanks for posting the simply timeless, incredible rhymes. Well guys, I have also found a YouTube channel of beautiful nursery rhymes for kids, named “Kiddy Dreams”. This channel has very popular English nursery rhymes for kids. If you have time then take a look. For more popular English nursery rhymes for kids, follow the channel here http://bit.ly/2xvOx3A!!
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I am so grateful for all these great ideas. I care for a brother and sister, she is almost 6 and he is almost 10. We love reading and singing and using our imaginations. Thank you so much for the new ideas. It is sometimes difficult to come up with new activities that are both educational and fun.