Remember reciting nursery rhymes when you were a child? It really is a misnomer to call them 'nursery rhymes' because they pop up everywhere in our lives, not just in the 'nursery'. References to characters and events from Nursery Rhymes are found all through literature, art, drama and the media.
Recently I was visiting a regional art gallery viewing an exhibition of high school graduates' major art works from NSW schools. It is always a feast for the eyes, food for thought and fascinating to see what young adults, emerging from 13 years of schooling, can create and produce in the visual arts field.
Two works particularly caught my eye because they referenced Nursery Rhymes and the alphabet.
One work was called "All the King's Horses and all the King's Men, couldn't fix the cancer again...". It was a very poignant work about the early death of this young student's mother. The beautiful black and white drawings depicted family scenes and childhood memories. Nursery Rhymes are so evocative of home and comfort and familiarity. So much so that this student named her work with a quote from Humpty Dumpty.
Your children deserve to be taught these rhymes because they pass on family traditions and stories. The rhythm and patterns help young children to learn about words and language. They are easy to remember and recite and kids all over the world love to chant them or sing them out loud. It is also a good memory task.
The other work was so clever using the alphabet in an imaginative and unique way. You wouldn't believe that the ABC could be depicted in a new way but this student did it superbly. Her work, once again drawing in black and white, was called "Inanimalia". It was beautifully drawn with each letter fusing together an everyday object, starting with that letter, with an animal starting with that letter. Hence an animate and an inanimate object/creature made into one new object/being.
For example:
Vulture and vacuum cleaner
Dragonfly and dart
Pig and peg
Butterfly and boat
Wonderful,wonderful stuff.
Sooooo........enjoy reviving the old rhymes of your childhood, they will stand the stead of time in your children's lives too.
Here is a site for you and your children to start choosing your favourites. Enjoy!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/schoolradio/subjects/earlylearning/nurserysongs
