World Nursery Rhyme Week (November 10th-14th, 2014) promotes and celebrates the importance of nursery rhymes for the under sevens.  Its Rhyme a Day Challenge sees five traditional nursery rhymes chosen and parents and carers challenged to join in and sing one a day with their children.  This year’s rhymes are Oranges and Lemons, Old King Cole, Five Currant Buns, Hey Diddle Diddle and I Hear Thunder…

If you register with the World Nursery Rhyme Week website which is hosted by Music Bugs, the founders and main sponsors of the week, you’ll be taken to a link to download a range of their resources.  Along with a welcome letter and list of resources you’ll also find certificates, colouring in book, posters, quiz, logos and badges, a Sing a Nursery Rhyme booklet containing lyrics, chords and comprehensive details for each of the five rhymes from the Rhyme a Day Challenge and five Rhyme a Day Challenge folders including an audio file, animated PowerPoint presentation, colouring in sheets, sequencing activities, story card templates and themed page borders for handwriting activities.  Extra resources from sponsors Twinkl and Piccolo are also be linked to.

And there’s plenty more nursery rhyme printables to be found elsewhere on the internet too.

Bookstart, the organisation that offers the gift of free books to all children at two key ages before they start school to inspire a love of reading, also regularly hosts rhymetimes for preschoolers in libraries and shares a range of rhymesheets on its website.  The beautifully illustrated pages include a collection of jungle rhymes, pirate rhymes, seaside rhymes and transport rhymes.

Publisher Scholastic offers hundreds of nursery rhyme related downloads on its website including puppets, posters, certificates, illustrated lyrics, music, activity ideas, word play, sequencing sheets, clock faces, jigsaws, literacy worksheets, a Grand Old Duke of York board game and stories.

Piano sheet music for beginners, teacher accompaniment, rhythm game songs and seasonal songs is available to download from Let’s Play Music and includes Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Incy Wincy Spider, Row Row Row Your Boat, The Wheels on the Bus and Horsey Horsey Don’t You Stop.

Does your child have a favourite book of nursery rhymes or are you planning to gift one to another child?  Print out some Free Printable Nursery Rhyme Book Plates from B.Nute productions that Betsy suggests could also be used “If you are planning a Nursery Rhyme Birthday Party or Nursery Rhyme Baby Shower”.  There’s also a word game and scavenger hunt game available too.

An instrinsic part of most of our childhoods, nursery rhymes pop up everywhere.

Remember the sausage finger puppets that we featured as part of our British Sausage Week post?  The Measured Mom had shared them on her blog to accompany the rhyme 5 Little Hot Dogs, a version of Ten Fat Sausages, and they’re just part of a series.  Teaming up with Malia of Playdough to Plato, the pair designed eight different finger puppet sheets to go with the rhymes and songs 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, One Elephant Went Out To Play, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, The Animals at the Zoo, 5 Little Cupcakes, 5 Little Hot Dogs, This Little Piggy and Here is the Beehive.

And don’t forget Emma’s project on My Little 3 and Me that we featured in our Have you been bitten by the baking bug? post where you can learn how to make some currant buns out of a pair of old brown tights and print some sheets of giant pennies along with the words to Five Currant Buns in a Baker’s Shop.

If you haven’t got any old tights to donate to your children’s craft box then head over to PickleBums where Kate provides printable currant bun puppets with some coins.

And we even featured some Baa Baa Black Sheep, Little Bo Peep and Mary Had a Little Lamb printables in our Wool Week 2014 printables post.

Still need convincing to introduce nursery rhymes into your family’s fun time?  Download the What Do Children Learn from Nursery Rhymes? inforgraphic from Heidi Songs where you’ll also find two craft activities based on Mother Goose.

Do you love finding printables on the internet?  Do you have particular favourites?  Or have you featured some on your own blog?  Email karen.malpass@inkfactory.com with your links and we may be able to feature them in a future post.