Welcome back to the next simple tip from our Getting Ready for Kindergarten series! This week, we’re talking about rhyming and I can’t wait to share some of my favorite fun rhyming songs {with a free animal rhyming cards.}
*This post contains affiliate links.
**The free download link is towards the bottom of this post. Just look for and click on the teal download button.
Fun Rhyming Songs for Kids
The ability to recognize and produce rhyming words is an important part of understanding how the English language works {phonological awareness}. It is the foundation for reading and spelling words like cat, bat, and rat and understanding that they are connected by a rhyming word pattern.
Rhyming is a skill that can be totally FUN to learn! Today, I’m sharing some fun rhyming songs, but if you want more fun activities, be sure to check out rhyming songs for your daily routine, ways to play with rhyming words, or rhyming books you can sing!
If I could only choose 2 rhyming songs, by far my choices would be:
- Down by the Bay {made most popular by Raffi}
- A-Hunting We Will Go {a traditional song, I have the book}
I’ve used these two rhyming songs for 20+ years when singing with and teaching music {my undergraduate degree is music} to young kids. They are fantastic because they are open-ended. Once kids understand rhyming, they can use these two songs to create their own silly rhymes.
I have created 24 FREE Animal rhyming card pairs that you can use in particular with these two songs, although I’m sure you can do so much more with these rhyming cards! {keep scrolling for download link}.
There are rhymes that match Raffi’s Down by the Bay. The colored rhyming sets even have a watermelon-themed background.
But you can substitute them for other rhymes/cards like, “Did you ever see a snail delivering the mail?” or “Did you ever see a frog hopping on a log?”
The same is true for A-Hunting We Will Go. Silly rhymes like, “We’ll catch a spider and give him apple cider…” will always get a laugh!
When kids feel more comfortable with rhyming skills, a fun idea is to leave the rhyming word out as your child fills it in, like: “We’ll catch some ants and put them in mom’s ______.” Of course, you don’t have to have the rhyming cards to make rhymes, but they can certainly help make the rhyming more visual and fun!
If you want to use them with multiple learners or at a center, the cards will fit nicely into a pocket chart!
More Rhyming Songs & Resources
A few more rhyming songs I’ve enjoyed using with kids include:
1- Willowby, Wallaby {also on Singable Songs for the Very Young album by Raffi},
2- My Aunt Came Back {from Kids in Action by Greg & Steve}, and
3- an open-ended Mary Had a Little Lamb that you can sing like: “Mary Had a little fish, little fish, little fish…she put it in a dish.”
4- The Corner Grocery Story {another fun rhyming song by Raffi}
5- Those you can read AND sing at the same time
20 Songs that Add Rhyme to Your Routine
I love these Rhyming Resources from The Measured Mom!
Rhyming Bingo
Rhyming Matching
Rhyming Word Sorting Mats
Rhyming Clip Cards
~Becky
*First image from Adobe Stock.
Thank you so much for the cute rhyming resource.
You are very welcome! 🙂
It is a treasure!!! Thank you very much! We played your cards a rhyming memo game!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed using them. 🙂
Your resources are wonderful cannot wait to set up and try.