The final day of World Nursery Rhyme Week 2020 and we end the week with “Miss Polly Had A Dolly”. Very little is known about the origin of this nursery rhyme which is a fantastic action song and rich with imaginative role play ideas.
“Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know 8 nursery rhymes by heart by the time they’re 4 years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re 8”. (Fox, M 2001, Reading Magic, Harcourt).

Welcome to the penultimate day of World Nursery Rhyme Week 2020! The first version of “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” appeared in 1917 and was originally called “Old MacDougal”. A very popular and engaging nursery rhyme, each verse tells the story about a farmer and the many different animals he looks after on his farm.

When children sing nursery rhymes, they explore:
The story structure of the verse (characters, plot, etc)
The fun of alliteration and rhyming
Listening to and memorisation of short verses
Language patterns
New vocabulary
Counting