Nursery Rhyme Charades

I use this activity with my really little ones when they are learning about nursery rhymes and Mother Goose.  It is very simple, and a lot of fun for my students.

 

We begin by discussing nursery rhymes in general, and by naming as many of them as we can.  Then we play the game.

 

Each student in turn goes to the center of the circle and pantomimes an element from a nursery rhyme.  (For instance, he might pantomime someone sleeping for "Little Boy Blue.")

 

The rest of the class tries to guess what nursery rhyme is meant.

 

When dealing with very young students--although I suppose this activity would work with older kids as well--it is very important for the teacher to carefully guide the acting and guessing, and to make positive comments about the performances ("Wow!  that's a really interesting way to act out Bo Peep!") and about the guesses ("Well, no, that isn't what he's doing, but I can see what you mean.  He does sort of look like he's jumping over a candlestick, doesn't he!") so that everyone feels a part of the learning.