As 'entertainment', nursery rhymes with actions can be used anywhere — whether it be during a nappy change, while getting dressed or going for a walk. There are no limits to your imagination.
The older your baby becomes, the stronger their urge will be to discover new things. Already within the second and fourth months, everything that rustles, is colourful or moves is inspected with great curiosity.
Not only your child's eyesight and hearing come into play with the exploration of their environment, their hands are also increasingly being put to good use.
After the initial stage of gripping as a matter of reflex, at the age of about four months, a baby can intentionally grasp and hold items.
If you, for example, move a soft toy or their special blanket from side to side about 20cm in front of their face, you can provoke your little sunshine to make a grab for it. Sometimes your baby simply observes their little hands, moving their fingers and trying to cram them into their mouth.
Not only do their own hands fascinate your little one, but also those of their Mommy or Daddy. With simple finger play you can thoroughly captivate your child.
For this, while you recite a nursery rhyme or song, you either use your fingers and hands as things, people or actions, or you use them to gently stroke the parts of your child's body that come up in the text. Older children can also join in with their own actions.
Nursery rhymes with actions aren't only a lot of fun for parents and children, and a chance to be affectionate, but they also strengthen your child's language skills and intellect naturally at the same time because:
There is now a considerable wealth of texts for action songs and nursery rhymes — from catchy classics for the little one to sophisticated rhymes for the older ones. We have put together a few examples for you.
Incy Wincy spider climbed up the water spout (Walk your fingers up your baby's arm)
Down came the rain (Drum your fingers on your baby's tummy like raindrops)
And washed poor Incy out (Stroke your baby's arm in the opposite direction to the spider's climb)
Out came the sunshine (Stroke your baby's tummy from one side to the other in a semi-circle)
And dried up all the rain (Drum your fingers on your baby's tummy going from their navel to their neck)
So Incy Wincy spider climbed up the spout again (Walk your fingers up the baby's arm again)
Incy Wincy spider (Touch your right index finger to your left thumb and your left index finger to your right thumb)
Climbed up the water spout (Release your right index finger and left thumb and swivel them to touch again at the top. Then do the same with the left index finger and right thumb. Keep alternating which pair is on top for the climbing action)
Down came the rain (Wiggle your fingers downwards to show the raindrops)
And washed poor Incy out (Shoot your hands out away from your body)
Out came the sunshine (Sweep your hand in a generous arch above your head to mimic the sun coming out)
And dried up all the rain (Wiggle your fingers and move your hands in an upward direction to show the rain evaporating)
So Incy Wincy spider climbed up the spout again (Repeat the climbing gesture from the beginning of the nursery rhyme)
