Reading books to children daily helps to develop important early speech sounds, pre-reading skills, vocabulary and basic concepts. Did you know that reciting nursery rhymes and singing children’s songs also helps to improve these important developmental areas? It’s true! The cadence, rhyme, and repetition of words in nursery rhymes and children’s songs help develop an awareness of speech sounds. By singing songs loaded with early developing sounds such as p, b, t, d, k, g, and m, you give them a “head start” to great listening and speaking skills.

The following ten common nursery rhymes and/or children’s songs are ideal for targeting early developing speech sounds. The number of times a sound occurs in each song/nursery rhyme is listed below.

Once you get used to stressing the early developing sounds, you’ll begin to notice them in many other songs and nursery rhymes. Be aware of these sounds and stress them when speaking to your child, often allowing him/her to look at your face while listening. Be a good speech model, and you will help your child have excellent speech and language skills!