Table of Contents
Introduction to this Nursery Rhymes List
Here is an Epic Nursery Rhymes list compiled with the intention of helping you keep your younger students engaged, as well as giving them an educational lesson from their meaning.
So let’s get to what you came here for – a list of 10 Children's Nursery Rhymes, and how to use them in online teaching jobs.
1. Baa Baa Black Sheep
Baa Baa Black Sheep is one of the most famous nursery rhymes, the earliest versions of which can be traced all the way back to the early 18th Century! I know what you’re thinking: you’re teaching English, not history, you don’t care how old it is. Well tough, get used to it, because some of these songs are practically ancient.
There are various proposed meanings to the song, but none of them really have any strong basis in fact. It’s quite possible that it’s simply a nice little rhyme for children.
We want to know how to best to incorporate them into your lessons, though. Nursery Rhymes are nice and simple to remember, which means that they’re a perfect ‘song’ for your students to memorise.
Consider using picture cards alongside repetition of the words to encourage your students to attach the meaning of the word to the word itself.
2. Wheels on the Bus
The wheels on the bus is a relative new-comer to the Nursery Rhyme scene – originating in the 1930s, I’m sure it comes as no surprise to learn ‘the wheels on the bus’ is no medieval ballad.
As with Baa Baa Black Sheep, the song has no real deeper underlying meaning; it’s just a nice and simple rhyme for children to remember.
When you’re thinking about using this nursery rhyme in your classes, you’ll want to stress the repetition of words like ‘round and round’, to really hammer home the wording.
It’s great for teaching kids a quick and efficient way of attaching the word to the thing, and ensuring your Cambly Kids students retain the information you’ve given them.
3. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle twinkle little star is another rhyme from the 1800s, played to the same tune as Baa Baa Black Sheep. It’s one of the oldest rhymes on our list, and probably the best known.
The repetition of certain key phrases makes this an ideal rhyme to incorporate into your Cambly Kids classes.
It will really ensure that your younger students take away a strong grouping of words, and the overt catchiness of the tune will make sure they remember these words for your next lesson.
4. Little Miss Muffet
Little Miss Muffet is another older rhyme – less well-known than the other entries on our list, but still an old favourite.
It’s also one of only a few nursery rhymes that really emphasises a female character, so that might be something worth keeping in mind if you’re trying to teach online to female children on a platform like Lingostar.
It tells a very straightforward story with no real underlying ‘sinister’ undertones – you won’t google it to find it’s actually an allegory for plague or war, which isn’t the case for all nursery rhymes.
It’s a good choice for teaching English online, because the somewhat less rigidly formulaic structure (at least, relative to our other choices on this list) will be ideal for those students easily bored by the twinkle-twinkling of little stars.
5. Humpty Dumpty
Despite never being described as an egg, but it's almost guaranteed that many of you thought he was an egg. How weird is that? Nowhere in the song does it say he’s an egg.
But, for your purposes in teaching, an anthropomorphic egg is a perfect character to employ in your lessons.
Similar to Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty has a strong rhyme scheme but doesn’t prioritise repetition. This makes it an excellent rhyme to try out with your more advanced early learners, who don’t want to say the same word over and over again.
6. Jack and Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill, and suffered a surprisingly brutal accident. The poor lad cracks his skull open.
More recent renditions of the rhyme depict him wearing a literal crown so as to not unnerve the younger children too much, so this might be something you’ll want to keep in mind.
Similar to some of the rhymes we’ve discussed above, this rhyme breaks away from incessant repetition of one or two words – this will encourage your student to learn a greater vocabulary while still keeping the skill level relatively junior.
7. Ring o’ Ring o’ Roses (Ring Around the Rosy)
You’ll know this one under one of two names, depending on where you live. The general premise is the same though.
The urban legend is that it’s talking about the black death, ‘pocket full of posies’ in particular seems to link in with the idea of sickness being carried via ‘miasma’, or bad smells – the posies would provide a natural antidote. And it’s true they thought this, but beyond this rather tenuous link there’s not really any reason to suppose it’s about the plague.
So long story short, don’t feel too uncomfortable including it in your child-friendly lessons.
8. The Muffin Man
Anyone who’s seen Shrek knows the Muffin Man, and they’ll know exactly where he lives, too.
What they may not realise is that the Muffin Man is making English muffins, not the kind we’re accustomed to seeing baked in America.
The rhyme is more of a callback to earlier entries on this list, emphasising repetition over a more defined rhyme scheme. It’s a good one for your early learners.
9. Rock-a-Bye Baby
I’m not even going to take a stab at guessing what this one means. What it’s doing in a tree is anybody’s guess, and it’s a matter for the CPS and none of our business.
It’s a useful rhyme for teaching younger children though – the repetition of key words as well as adhering to a strict melodic structure will ensure that they quickly pick up the language.
10. London Bridge is Falling Down
This rhyme has been around for so long that we don’t even know its original version.
There have been various versions throughout the centuries, some catchier than others.
But the current rendition is sure to be a hit with your students learning English online – especially if you pair the rhyme with picture cards, really making sure they remember key words like ‘bridge’
Anything I can do to add a little character to my Epic Nursery Rhymes?
Why yes, there is. Funny you should ask.
Kids are going mad for things with ukuleles in them. It’s an incredibly simple instrument to learn to play, and if you fancied incorporating it into your lessons, then all of the sheet music for the rhymes we’ve discussed are available freely online. And for more insight on how to incorporate your ukulele into lessons, check out the ukulele for teaching article. You could experiment with creating your own nursery rhymes using AI tools like Suno AI.
Whether you choose to use these videos, play them with ukulele, or create your own, make sure you put nursery rhymes to good use in your online classes:
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