Rhymes for kids is a great way to enhance language skills.   Today we are super excited to have a guest, Melissa Taylor from Imagination Soup to tell us more about kids rhymes.   She has a passion for teaching literacy in a fun and unexpected way.   Kids Activities Blog is really excited about Melissa’s new book, Book Love: Help Your Child Grow from Reluctant to Enthusiastic Reader.   Her book goes on sale today! Read below for a secret way to get special discounts this week…

I love that learning to rhyme and playing with rhyming are foundational skills for reading.

Don't you?

Rhyming is so much fun!

Rhymes for Kids

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.         Rhyming Treasure Hunt

Write your own treasure hunt clues using rhyming end words.   Or, print out a free rhyming treasure hunt from the Book Love website.

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

6.         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.

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.         Fingerplay

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!

For more fun ideas to encourage literacy and a love of books, you ™ll want my new book, Book Love: Help Your Child Grow from Reluctant to Enthusiastic Reader. Now available in Kindle and soon in paperback.   Click here for information about extra bonuses available during the week of November 15 “ 21!

Thanks Melissa!