Fun with FIVE LITTLE DUCKS

If you’ve worked on developing your child’s sensitivity to rhyming words last month, you might like to move to a new level this month. If you missed out last month, don’t worry. This month we will produce a word that is to be rhymed like cat and we will see how many real words your child can make. We will also find out how many non-sense words your child can make, because what is important is the rhyme, not the sense.

If your child has grasped the concept of rhymes, this game is easy and fun to play. The goal is for your child to be able to happily churn out words that rhyme with whatever target word you start with. So after you say “cat,” expect your child to say, “sat, mat, rat, bat, pat” and even “gat or jat.” Do not expect your child to play this game like an adult. Allow him or her to make up even non-sense words that rhyme. Once the game is familiar increase the challenge to make rhymes by using more complex words like mouse, chair, book, face or day, for instance. If your child is beginning to understand the concept of rhymes, teach some simple rhymes and see if he or she can identify which words rhyme. Encourage the child to say the rhyme with you until he or she can repeat it off by heart. Work through the verses until all the little ducks come back.

Read through the lyrics of the song below and take note of the bold words that rhyme.

FIVE LITTLE DUCKS

Five little ducks,
Went out one day,
Over the hill and far away.
Mother duck said,
“Quack, quack, quack,quack.”
But only four little ducks came back.