RHYME TIME
RHYME TIME
Play with PomPom and explore rhyming in these fun, full bodied ways to remind your little one that language can, and should be surprising, adventurous, and utterly fun.
Rhyming is more than the delightful playfulness of singing a children’s song or paging through a rhyming story. This challenging work of listening to language and matching units of sound is pivotal in laying the foundation for phonemic awareness and reading. As you explore early rhyming, we encourage you to focus on the playfulness of language as your little ones’ ears attune to rhyming patterns and become flexible with sounds. Have fun coming up with both real and nonsense rhyming words, move at your child’s pace, and have lots of laughs along the way!
SET THE STAGE FOR PLAY: 2 minutes
Rhyming Pairs
Take out your favorite crayons and get ready to make some rhyming matches!
Print out this Color the Rhymes sheet.
Identify and say the name of each pair of rhyming images.
Use the same color crayon on each rhyming pair.
- Can you find and say all of the rhyming words?
- Can you think of other words that could join the rhyming pair (e.g., dog, frog…and log)?
- Do you want to think of & draw any other rhyming pairs on the back of the page?
SET THE STAGE FOR PLAY: 2 minutes
Build a Rhyming Bag
Work together to collect household items and place them in a bag.
- Some suggestions include: Spoon, pen, book, cup, sock, doll, key, pan, etc.
Take turns pulling an item out of the bag, saying its name, and generating a corresponding rhyming word (e.g., spoon-moon).
You can (and should) come up with nonsense words if necessary (e.g., crayon and...brayon!).
Get Silly with your Language
Substitute the initial letter/sound of a word and see if you can guess what the real word is.
- For example, “It’s time to crush (brush) your teeth and put on your tajamas (pajamas).”
Choose one word to start (e.g., “cake”) and take turns generating rhymes for that word (they can be real or nonsense words) until someone gets stuck and can’t think of another one. Then, the next person starts with a new word (e.g., “ring”) and the play continues. Try playing this game at your next family meal or on a car trip.
Sing/chant this silly “Banana Fana Name Song” using your family and friends’ names!
- “Rachel, Rachel bo Bachel, Banana Fana fo Fachel, Me my mo Machel, Rachel!”
- “Annie, Annie bo Bannie, Banana Fana fo Fannie, Me my mo Mannie, Annie!”
