Nursery Rhyme For Children: A List of 20 Rhymes
Nursery rhymes for children have been around for centuries! I have a list of 20 nursery rhymes for your children today with a little back story for a few of them. Furthermore I am in awe with the thought the same nursery rhymes my children enjoy are the sames one enjoyed by families hundreds of years ago.
Welcome everyone to my blog! My name is Merrilee McDonald. I am a huge lover of nursery rhymes for children! As a child I loved them when my mother read them to me, (anyone else love My Book House?) and now I have the great pleasure reading them to my children.
Such sweet memories of my now teen aged daughter, reciting:
“Jack be nimble, Jack, be quick, Jack jumped over a candle stick”
Usually a couch cushion was the candle. Sometimes Jake was nimble, but sometimes “Jake” fell down instead! Don’t worry, kisses mended all the boo boos.
Today I am going to share with you 3 things.
- First a list of 20 of the most favorite nursery rhymes
- Second two wonderful nursery rhyme books to snuggle up with those precious little ones of yours
- Third a sweet story detailing why Peter Pumpkin Eater (it’s a nursery rhyme) and his wife lived in a pumpkin shell
Enjoy!
The Most Popular Nursery Rhymes
- As already mentioned, Jack be nimble.
- Pease Porridge Hot. I learned recently that peas porridge taste better with time. So the part where it says “some like it in the pot 9 days old is true! I’m such a nerd about things like this! I hope you can forgive me. 😉 I found this out by watching this video.
- Jack and Jill. This one is from Norse in the 13th century.
- Lavenders Blue. Disney newest remake of Cinderella features this in song. Oh did I mention there are melodies to many classic nursery rhymes? As if mother goose couldn’t be cooler, the old lady surprises you! Watch the clip I just mentioned here.
- Rock a Bye Baby
- Hey Diddle Diddle
- To Market to Market. This one is the English version of a father’s trotting game to his children. There is also a Norse one, Swiss, Spanish and Dutch version in the “My House Book In The Nursery.”
- There Was An Old Woman. This one came from 15th century England to mock King Henry the V when he wanted to conger France. It was said to be as impossible as an old woman being tossed “17 times as high as the moon”.
- Diddle Diddle Dumpling My Son John. I have a nephew named Johnathon. He often had one sock on and one sock off so my mom would recite this to him. Sweet memories….
- The Queen of Hearts
- A Little Girl with A Little curl
- See the Little Mousy. This one is a tickling game.
- Humpty Dumpty. Did you know this mother goose nursery rhyme is about a king?
- Little Jumping Joan
- Pussy Cat
- Old King Cole. This one makes me thing of Nat King Cole who just happens to have the best Christmas album ever created. Don’t believe me? Listen to this! See I told you! 😉
- Handy Spandy Jack a-Dandy
- Peter Pumpkin Eater. My personal favorite! Keep reading for exciting news about Peter your children are sure to love!
There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this nursery rhymes for children list. All of these are a favorite in our house! I will end this section with the following:
The merry rhymes and jingles of Mother Goose, beloved by children through the centuries in England and America, are true folk literature, spontaneous expressions of joy and life, kept alive in nursery. See Volume 12, History of Mother Goose.
My House Book In The Nursery page 23
Recommended Nursery Rhyme Books
My first favorite nursery rhyme book I will share with you today is called, “Mama Goose: Rhymes and poems For the Little Ones.” Isn’t this an adorable title? This one I love the most because the artwork is darling, rhymes are kept to mostly one per rhyme, and it has a ribbon book mark attached to it. I love those things. In my house our book marks go walk about ALL the time! I would also say it is full of some of the most popular nursery rhymes with some darling, less well known ones too.
If you would like to buy a copy you can find it here.
The second book i am recommending today is one I have already mentioned, “My Book House: In The Nursery”
The book is the first from a wonderful old series that has a theme for each book. Themes like “From The Tower Window”, “Story Time” and more. To learn more about this serious click here.
My mother gave me this series I had as a child. My 6 children have loved them to, though my baby thinks they are delicious more than entertaining!
Nursery rhymes for children are so important to me in raising my children in a wonder filled home.
One of the most Classic Nursery Rhymes For Children Is Now A…
Story!
The above list is just 20 of many nursery rhymes by the famous mother goose, but my favorite nursery rhyme is Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater.
For those who may not remember or know this classic nursery rhyme from great old mother goose, read below!
“Peter Peter pumpkin eater
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her
So he put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her very well.”
I don’t know about you, but I love the tiny, whimsical image that comes to mind with living in a pumpkin shell. I picture tiny brooms and pots. There is a tiny wood stove and tiny art work on the walls.
What do you picture?
My story tells about how Peter got his nick name as a child in school, what Peter does for a living, (any guesses?) how he proposes to his beloved Flossy, which is sweet and simple. You will learn how this tiny adorable couple prepares for their wedding, how friends and family help, plus the wedding itself! Learn what tragedy happened that made them live in a pumpkin shell, which turns out to be a blessing.
No classic nursery rhyme for children has had such a darling story attached! If I do say so myself and I don’t say so myself! My husband and children love it! As I am writing this, my story has not been published, so no one else has seen it yet!
Does this sound darling? Would you like to snuggle up and read it to your children?
Click here to read all about the sweet story of Peter Pumpkin Eater.
Not Just A Popular Nursery Rhyme Story!
I hope you enjoyed the story! What did your children think? I’m going to arrogantly assume your family loved and enjoyed it.
Hurray! I AM SO GLAD!
There is one thing to explain. I have a series of stories featuring wood nymphs that teach embroidery to your children. This works wonderfully well as a handicraft or handwork curriculum for your children ages 8 or so and older. Wood nymphs, if you have the misfortune of not knowing, are tiny people, just like Peter and his wife. In fact Peter is Willow’s great great grandfather.
Willow tells the story of her great great grandfather Peter to Charlotte before they work on learning their second stitch, which is the running stitch, to their embroidery sampler. With new stories comes new lessons and projects. There are Lots of photos to help with the tutorial so mama, you don’t need to know how to embroider already! How is that for making your life less stressed?
Click here to check out the first story!
Don’t Miss A Thing!
There will be many more stories coming for both teaching embroidery and coupled with bringing wonder into your home and to your children’s childhood.
If you don’t want to miss out on any stories, tutorial and free patterns? Then sign up here for the email VIP community so you don’t miss a single thing!
See you next time!
