Word Nursery Rhyme Week Day 4 Horsie, Horsie, Don't You Stop

We are on the fourth day of Nursery Rhyme Week already...

Horsie Horsie 

Horsie horsie don't you stop,

Just let your feet go clippety clop,

Your tail goes swish and the wheels go round,

Giddy up, we're homeward bound.

This is one of our all time favourite nursery rhymes. Both my girls and everyone at our Baby English sessions LOVE it! Perhaps it's because of all the bouncing that goes on or perhaps it's because of the onomatopoeia in the rhyme. The words 'swish' and 'clippety clop' really do sound like the the actual sounds, don't they?

I usually start off just by clicking my tongue on the roof of my mouth to make a clipperty clop sound and then ask, What's that? I then present and invite the children to play with a little treasure basket (a very simple one with a horse, a carriage and some coloured scarves. I introduce some words and little phrases as they are playing; a horse, a swishy tail, the wheels go round, go, stop. We play with the scarves, swish, swish, swish. 

I start to sing the rhyme as they are playing, encouraging the parents to join in when they are ready. I check pronunciation (especially horsie, round/bound). We tap our knees or clap our hands to the beat.

 But the best part, as I say, is the bouncing! We tidy up the things and sit in a circle. The children sit on their parents' laps, either facing one another or children facing into the circle. We start by clicking our tongues as we gently bounce our youngsters on our knees, and then we start singing. Children of all ages just ADORE this!! My seven year still really enjoys it. We sing it slowly, bouncing gently, we sing it fast as the children bounce high in the air. 

Sometimes we take hold of a scarf and move them up and down to the beat of the rhyme. Sometimes we tuck the scarves into the back of our waistbands and trot around the room (toddlers trotting, babies on parents' shoulders or carried on hips)  pretending to be horses, stopping and starting to the beat of the drum, but mostly we just bounce and giggle!! 

When we are feeling energetic (as we often are on a Monday morning, as you can imagine) us parents lie on our backs, bend our knees and perch our babies and toddlers onto our shins. We then hold their little hands and bounce, again!

Here is my nearly 2 year old trotting her teddy on her shins. Don't be shy, just sing with your kiddies, they LOVE it!

You can find the nursery rhyme here. 

Home Activity

Play a go/stop game. Choose a horsey action together like jump, trot or gallop. Tap a tambourine, drum or even clap your hands and have your child do the action around the room keeping to the steady beat. When the tambourine stops they freeze. Play the tambourine quicker or slower to change the pace. Try singing this nursery rhyme on a sea-saw, going up and down to the beat of the rhyme.

Main Communication Aims

• Vocabulary: A horse, Stop/go, a tail, wheels, clipperty clop, swish
• Listen to spoken English, develop an awareness of other languages spoken
• Enjoy listening to a nursery rhyme
• Begin to repeat words, phrases and parts of a nursery rhyme