Preschool Nursery Rhymes Theme Activities & Lesson Planning Ideas

Looking for preschool nursery rhyme activities and lesson planning ideas? This Nursery Rhymes theme includes hands-on activities, songs, crafts, dramatic play ideas, and early learning activities for preschool, and pre-k, and classrooms. Use these flexible ideas to build a full Nursery Rhymes theme week that fits your students and schedule.

Nursery Rhymes Theme- Lesson Planning Overview

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Featured Activity Ideas for This Theme

These activity ideas are featured in our Nursery Rhymes sample plan.
Club Members download their full Theme Planning Guide and
all of the related resources from the Activity Library at no additional cost.
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Download our Free Nursery Rhymes Preschool Sample Activity Plan

Featured Plan Activities

Below you’ll find activity ideas featured in our Nursery Rhymes sample plan.

Art & Creativity
Mix & Match Muffins
Do you know the Muffin Man? Children create their own muffins using a simple mix-and-match recipe that allows them to choose and add their own mix-ins.

Dramatic Play
Nursery Rhyme Dramatic Play
Choose a nursery rhyme and invite children to dramatize it using simple props and costumes. You can also set up a pretend bakery to act out Do You Know the Muffin Man?, Hot Cross Buns, and Pat-a-Cake.

Building & Small World Play
Humpty Dumpty Small World Play Invitation
Use Duplo bricks and an egg to build a small world scene inspired by Humpty Dumpty and encourage storytelling and problem-solving.

Language and Literacy
Little Bo Peep Letter Flip and Mark 
Students will cover the letter of the card that is flipped over.

Mathematics
Humpty Dumpty Counting Mat
After identifying the numbers, students will put on that number of band-aids.

Science & Discovery
Peas Porridge Sensory Bin
Explore the senses with our Peas Porridge Sensory Bin! This activity allows preschoolers to touch and listen to frozen peas, while also experiencing the changes in temperature and texture. Adding warm water enhances the sensory experience and teaches cause and effect. Perfect for your Nursery Rhyme Theme!

Physical Fine Motor
Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Pre-Writing
Students will trace over the dotted lines.
Physical Gross Motor
Jump Over the Candlestick
Students will jump over the number that is rolled.

Other
Nursery Rhyme Charades
Engage preschoolers in a fun game of Nursery Rhyme Charades! This interactive activity promotes language skills, creativity, physical movement, and social interaction. Children will act out well-known nursery rhymes using gestures and facial expressions while their peers guess. Enhance their understanding of rhyme, rhythm, storytelling, and non-verbal communication.
Sing "Mulberry Bush" & Discuss Routines
Sing Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and Discuss Morning Routines. This activity combines music and discussion to help children learn and understand common morning routines. Through singing and acting out the song, children will develop language, social-emotional, and motor skills while gaining a better understanding of their daily routine.

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More Nursery Rhyme Activity Ideas

Pick and choose the activities that best fit your group, schedule, and interests.

Mix & Match Muffins

Here is a quick and easy muffin recipe to make with your preschoolers! This recipe is easy to customize for each child with tasty add-ins. Read the recipe and directions on my blog.

Try this!

Baa Baa Black Sheep Fine Motor Craft

This cute little black sheep craft is a perfect addition to your Nursery Rhymes theme!
Invite your preschoolers to get crafty and work on fine motor skills.

Click here to see the blog post

Read Your Favorite Rhymes

Break out the instruments and play to the beat of favorite nursery rhymes. Grab a copy of the Pre-K Printable Fun Fingerplays, Songs, & Rhymes for inspiration and lyrics.

I'm a Little Teapot

Get preschoolers moving and dancing with dance moves to go along with I'm a Little Teapot!

Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Preschool Dramatic Play Ideas

​Add a variety of Mother Goose/Nursery Rhyme Themed Props to your Dramatic Play Area this week. Add items such as: Teddy Bears, Red Cape, Basket for Grandmother’s House, Bucket, and Muffin Tins.

Nursery Rhyme Dramatic Play

Check out this adorable Goldilocks and the Three Bears inspired Dramatic Play Space from LC. SLP.

Bakery Dramatic Play

Create a Little Red Hen or Muffin Man Bakery. Add props from the story as well as pretend loaves of bread. Easily create a Bakery with the Pre-K Printable Fun Bakery Dramatic Play Pack

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Re-create a space for "Miss Muffet" in your Reading Nook. Add a Tuffet, Spider, and "Curds and Whey". 

Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Preschool Construction and Small World Play

Add Mother Goose/Nursery Rhyme Themed characters to your Construction Space This week.

Recreate the tale of Humpty Dumpty

Challenge your preschoolers to build a wall for Humpty Dumpty to sit on. If available put little horse and knight figurines at the bottom. Place a plastic egg on top to see what happens. Can you keep him from falling? What else could be done to prevent Humpty from breaking?
Find more details on creating your small world play invitation on our Humpty Dumpty Small World blog post

Try this!

More Ideas from around the web

The Three Little Pigs Small World Play by Growing Book by Book

Discover which material is best for building a home with the Three Little Pigs Pretend Play activity by Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Nursery rhymes present many opportunities for building, be sure to place a book with a collection of nursery rhymes in the block center for inspiration. 

Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Preschool Language & Literacy Ideas

This week add a lot of Mother Goose and Nursery Rhyme books to your classroom. 
Children love to retell these stories, be sure to add props to classroom for children to use when retelling the stories. 

Little Bo Peep Letter Matching

Read your favorite Nursery Rhymes and compliment it with the Little Bo Peep "Letter Flip and Mark" game from the Pre-K Printable fun Mother Goose and Nursery Rhymes Activity pack. 

For some added fun consider creating a sensory bin!
Add cotton balls, and the Little Bo Peep Letter cards to a bin. Once your students have located the matching letter, add a cotton ball to the sheep mat.
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Doggie, Doggie Letter Game

Have the students sit in a circle. Place the lettered dog bones from the Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes Prek Printable Pack. down in the center of a circle. Each student will go to the center to choose a bone. When it's their turn the student selects a bone from the pile and walks around the circle. The class repeats this rhyme: "My doggie had a bone,
 He carried it all around.
 When the bone dropped on the ground, my doggie picked it up and made a funny sound!" (When the student reaches their spot they'll drop the letter on the ground and make the corresponding letter sound). Play Continues until all letters have been collected.

Add items that will allow children to re-tell their favorite stories such as Nursery Rhyme puppets, Felt Stories, and Puzzles.

You can DIY your own Magnets, or Felt Pieces using Coloring Pages (from Coloring Books or Printables).  Laminate your pieces for extra durability

Nursery Rhyme Story Sequencing

Read preschoolers favorite rhymes and then support them in sequencing the rhymes with these cards from the Pre-K Printable Fun Nursery Rhyme & Mother Goose Activity Pack

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• There are many creative ways to set up a puppet theater. Add Nursery Rhyme Puppets, stuffed animals that can be used as such, or make your own!
  

The Jack & Jill Language & Literacy set is a great way to engage preschoolers in learning fun during this theme.  This set supports preschoolers as they learn skills such as: Making Predictions, Retelling a Story, Sequencing Events, Identifying parts of a story, Tracking Print, Engaging in Conversations and more!

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Get more familiar with the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears with this fun storytelling set!
Learn the story then have fun retelling and recreating the scenes.

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Rhyming Basket

Preschoolers are familiar with nursery rhymes but they might not quite understand the concept of rhyming. Give preschoolers the opportunity to practice their own rhymes. Provide a basket of items and invite them to pick one and say a rhyming word

The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney

After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Up Again) by Dan Santat

The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell

Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose by Scott Gustafson 

Five Little Monkeys by Eileen Christelow

Itsy Bitsy Spider: Touch and Trace Nursery Rhymes by Emily Bannister

Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Preschool Math Ideas

Humpty Dumpty counting mat

Children can work together to patch humpty up with this Humpty Dumpty Counting Mat found inside the Pre-K Printable fun Mother Goose and Nursery Rhymes Activity pack. ​​

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Hickory Dickory Dock Shape Clip Cards

Practice shape recognition and matching with these fun shape clip cards from the Nursery Rhymes and Mother Goose Activity Pack

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More Math Ideas

Little Bo Peep Color Matching Tails by Best Toys for Toddlers

Nursery Rhyme Sorting by Play Teach Repeat

Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Preschool Science & Discovery Ideas

Peas Porridge Sensory Bin

Materials:

• Small plastic container
• 1 bag frozen peas
• Plastic bowls and spoons
• Warm water

Instructions:

• Place frozen peas in container - touch to experience smell, sound, temperature and texture
• Add plastic bowls and spoons into the container - experience how frozen peas react to scooping
  
• Next 4-5 cups of warm water - touch to experience change in smell, sound, temperature, and texture, use spoons to see the change in scooping and filling the bowl
  

Make Dog Biscuits

Help out Old Mother Hubbard by mixing up a batch of dog biscuits! These easy no bake dog biscuits are fun and easy to make. Let preschoolers take the lead with measuring and mixing to see how their creation will come out. Follow the steps for this easy recipe on my blog.

Try this!

More Nursery Rhymes Science & Discovery Ideas a

Can Humpty Dumpty Float? by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Playdough by HomeGrown Friends

Discover a new recipe after reading the Muffin Man! Muffin Man Nursery Rhyme Baking and Sequence activity by Fun Learning for Kids

Putting Humpty Dumpty Together Again by Pre-K+K Sharing

Jack & Jill Rolling Activity from Let's Explore

Humpty Dumpty Light Table Exploration from and Next Comes L

Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales Sensory Bin from Two Steps Behind Six Little Hands

Provide craft sticks, twigs, clay, straws, tape, and glue. Challenge children to create the strongest house. Once the houses are built, encourage children to predict which houses will hold up during the test, record the predictions. 
Next, have the children try to blow down each house, record and discuss the results. 

Provide bubbles and a variety of wands. Encourage children to experiment with both the wands and force they use as they huff and puff to blow bubbles. 

Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Preschool Physical Development Ideas

Nursery Rhyme Pre-Writing/Cutting Practice

Practice tracing and build cutting skills with the Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes pre-writing activity found inside the Pre-K Printable fun Mother Goose and Nursery Rhymes Activity pack. ​

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Huff and Puff

Wolf blowing practice: Crumble a pink piece of construction paper into a ball, one per student. Place one piece of tape on one side of the room for the starting point, and one on the other end for the finish line. Provide each child with a straw and pink "ball", encourage students to use the straw to blow their pink ball from start to finish. 

Fetch a Pail of Water

While playing outdoors, challenge children to fill a pail of water and haul it to the other end of the play area.

Jump Over a Candlestick

Preschoolers will love this activity! Roll the playing cube, identify the shape shown then find and jump over the matching candlestick.
Included in the Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes Activity Pack from PKPF

Buy this Activity Pack in our Shop!

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Hot Cross Buns Play Dough by Sunhats and Wellie Boots

Spider Web Lacing from Bright Hub Education

Mother Goose & Nursery Rhyme Preschool Social Studies Ideas

Pretend to be Nursery Rhyme Characters

Play a little game of charades with your preschoolers. Draw a card and read it with your preschooler along with the questions and get your preschooler pretending with their peers.
Included in the Nursery Rhyme and Mother Goose Activity Pack.

Buy this Activity Pack in our Shop!

Read Around the Mulberry Bush

Read the book The Mulberry Bush and then talk about daily routines with your preschoolers.
Recall events and rhymes from the book throughout your day.

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Mother Goose and Nursery Rhymes Activity Pack

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Goldilocks and the Three Bears Puppet Theater

$5.00

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Gingerbread Man Puppet Theater

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Preschool Fingerplays Songs & Rhymes Binder

$5.00

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