Nursery Rhymes 1

Small children love nursery rhymes. But actually, even if you are a little older – perhaps even grown up – you will find the charm and the fun of these traditional verses hard to resist. Perhaps you heard them long ago? We bet you will remember them like you heard them only yesterday.

Nursery rhymes are really important for early speech development. They also seem to reflect the eternal aspects of childhood. Each rhyme might be several hundred years old – but the playground tunes and games never change. Bertie thinks that this is a very special reading of several of the best known rhymes. We hope that you will agree.

For some educational activities that you can do with Nursery Rhymes, see Learning With Nursery Rhymes.

Read by Natasha. Duration 7.10

Hello

This is Natasha,

And I am dropping by with some English nursery rhymes. I expect you might have heard some of them before, but they are always really nice to hear. Most of them are really short. The first is about a little insect that will bring you luck. Next time a ladybird lands on your hand, chant this rhyme as fast as you can and make a wish -

Ladybird, ladybird,

fly away home.

Your house is on fire;

Your children all roam.

Except little Nan

Who sits in her pan

Weaving her laces as fast as she can.

And remember, it’s meant to be really bad luck to kill a ladybird…so make sure that you never do that.

The next rhyme is also about a small creature, but this one is a creepy crawly -

Little Miss Muffet,

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

Along came a spider,

And sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Ugh! Poor little Miss Muffet. Spiders can be really creepy. I’m glad to say that the next rhyme is a little more happy -

Mary Mary Mary

Quite Contrary how does your garden grow?

With Silver Bells and Cockle shells

And pretty maids all in a row

Yes, I love that one. It’s really pretty. And this is a verse that I really like because, well, it’s kind of crazy -

Hey diddle diddle,

The Cat and the fiddle

The Cow jumped over the moon

The little dog laughed to see such sport

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Oh, I’d just love to see a cow jump over the moon, and sometimes at night I look up into the sky and hope to see it happen….but I’m still looking, and I’m still hoping.

And this rhyme is about a slightly naughty boy -

Georgie Porgie pudding and pie,

Kissed the girls and made them cry

When the boys came out to play,

Georgie Porgie ran away.

And there was another naughty boy called Tom -

Tom Tom, the Piper’s Son,

Stole a pig and away he ran

The pig was eat

And the boy was beat

And Tom went roaring down the street.

Now here is a little piece of a good advice -

A wise old owl lived in an oak

The more he saw the less he spoke

The less he spoke the more he heard.

Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird? 

Yes, silence is golden. 

And those were a few short rhymes. I’d like to leave you with a longer one. There’s a game that goes with it. Two people stand facing each other and hold up their arms to make the shape of an arch. Everyone else passes through the arch in turn. When the rhyme ends, the arch comes down and catches who ever is underneath just at that moment.

Well here’s the rhyme. I’m going to give you the slightly older version. And by the way, in old English, gay means happy -

London Bridge

Is broken down,

Dance over my Lady Lee.

London Bridge

Is broken down

With a gay Lady.

How shall we build

It up again,

Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.

Build it up with

Gravel, and Stone,

Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.

Gravel, and Stone,

Will wash away,

Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.

Build it up with

Iron, and Steel,

Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.

Iron, and Steel,

Will bend, and Bow,

Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.

Build it up with

Silver, and Gold,

Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.

Silver, and Gold

Will be stolen away,

Dance over my Lady Lee, &c.

Then we’ll set

A man to watch,

Dance over my Lady Lee.

Then we’ll set

A man to watch,

With a gay Lady.

And that was London Bridge is Broken down. If you have enjoyed these nursery rhymes, remember you can leave a comment on Storynory.com and if enough people like them, perhaps we will do some more.

For now, from me, Natasha

Bye Bye.