Listen to the rhymes

We’ve chosen some of our favourite English and Welsh rhymes that you can enjoy together anytime, anywhere!

Babies

Babies love to hear rhymes that share a happy or loving feeling. They will respond to rhymes which show love and affection, including rhymes with actions and contact e.g. making circles on their hand in Round and Round the Garden, or touching their toes in This Little Piggy. Babies love rhymes with simple vocabulary, lots of repetition and a strong rhythm.

We love Cheek, Chin, Nose and these baby songs by Bookstart Denbighshire because they’re gentle, fun rhymes full of love and with actions to make your baby smile.

Toddlers

Toddlers love rhymes with actions and movement which they can enjoy, including clapping, stomping and jumping. Rhymes which are loud and quiet or in which children need to wait for a certain moment to join in or do an action can help them develop listening and attention.

Down in the Jungle is a really fun rhyme with lots of great actions for children to enjoy. You can make it even more fun by singing the chorus really loudly or really quietly, or help children practise listening by just doing the actions for some of the words and getting the children to sing them.

Mistar Crocodeil ydw i is a fun and simple rhyme with fun animal actions. You can easily make up your own animals or ask your child what animals they want to add. Try making the animal noises really loud or really quiet, or try singing the song really quickly.

Thanks to the Bookstart Denbighshire team for sharing their rhymes. You can find more on their YouTube channel. 

Nursery and Reception

Older children love fun rhymes with plenty of actions. Children at this age will often start to remember rhymes or parts of rhymes and are likely to respond to challenges. Try sharing rhymes with clapping patterns, counting or that challenge their memory. It’s also fun to try changing the words to rhymes with children. For example, change the actions in If You’re Happy and You Know It, or change the animals in Fferm Tad-cu.

You can find lots of our favourite rhymes in English and Welsh in our Pori Drwy Stori programme. 

Click here to watch videos of our favourite rhymes for children in Nursery and use the playlists below to listen to our favourite rhymes for children in Reception.