A nursery rhyme is a short rhyming song or story, usually designed for young children, such as those still living in a nursery. Songs for children are a part of many cultures, and often serve as an interesting oral record of important political and historical events, as well as preserving archaic forms of language. In the English language, the bulk of commonly used nursery rhymes date from the 16th-18th centuries, with some originating in Europe while others, such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” came from the Americas.

Typically, a nursery rhyme has simple vocabulary and a catchy rhyme. Children can quickly learn to sing along with a nursery rhyme, and nursery rhymes are often used to help young children build up their vocabulary. Since counting is often integrated into a nursery rhyme as well, children can also start to learn to count using nursery rhymes. They also show children how to find and keep a beat, and can be used to get children to start reading. When a child learns a nursery rhyme, he or she can also learn to follow it on the page, and many children learn the fundamentals of reading this way.

Nursery rhymes are often consolidated into collections, such as Mother Goose, a famous collection of nursery rhymes which actually originated in France. Translations were published in England and the United States, and later authors added rhymes or new interpretations to the collection. Many English speaking children are familiar with at least one collection of Mother Goose rhymes. Since some of these collections use very old rhymes, the language of a Mother Goose nursery rhyme can sometimes be confusing for modern speakers, but it provides an interesting window into the way that people spoke and lived historically.

In some cases, a nursery rhyme may have actually served as a mode of political expression. Nursery rhymes sometimes dealt with controversial subjects, or carried hidden messages. In these instances, the nursery rhyme would have been designed for adults more than children, in eras when people did not feel comfortable or safe speaking freely. Some of these adult rhymes took the form of satire or mockery, as is the case with “Yankee Doodle.”

A collection of nursery rhymes typically includes songs, poems, short stories, and illustrations. Parents are encouraged to read to and with their children to get them excited about reading and to improve their language skills. Enterprising parents may make up their own nursery rhymes, creating a rhyme using objects and places familiar to the child. In time, these rhymes may be passed through the oral tradition to become songs sung to children in the future.