Nursery Rhymes Songs
Nursery Rhyme Week: Why your children need them
What is the real power of story and song when it comes to our children?
Writer, actor, voice artist, director and author Bianca Flanders is here to answer all our questions!
Bianca is the author of the bestselling children’s book ‘Pumpkin Finds Her Queen’ and 'Pumpkin Finds Her Kindness’.
She has also performed in plays such as 'Krotoa', 'Happy New Year', and 'District 6, The Musical', as well as series 'The Riviera', 'Our Girl' and 'Nerens Noordkaap' and films 'Swirl' and 'A Christmas Chorus'.
It makes complete sense then, that we asked her to talk (and sing) us through why nursery rhymes and stories are still important in our children’s early development and upbringing.
Watch our video below to learn more about nursery rhymes and join our singalong, too!
Brought to you by Fedhealth Medical Aid & supported by Epi-max & Jacaranda 94.2
What can you tell us about nursery rhymes? Why is it so important to know nursery rhymes or even to try? They are so important you know; they really help with learning words! I know it sounds like a silly thing but with kids it really really helps them to learn words because what they do is, if you can do the sounds like, then they can start to predict what comes next, so I think they're actually a really crucial part of development like early childhood development and just helping you learn how to speak.
It's nursery rhyme week which means I’ve picked up every nursery rhyme that I can find, and I’ve also got author and actor Bianca Flanders, tadaaa! I’m going to take my best reading art and read my first nursery rhyme that I really like so my children at the moment are learning about the effects of water at school and one of the nursery rhymes that is actually from this book that they're reading at the moment is: “Rain, rain go away come again another day all the children want to play rain, rain go to Spain never show your face again.” Sweet hey! So, some say Spain and then some say go away right, so I guess it changes. So here's another one, this was actually one of my babies books that we got when she turned one years old, so that same baby is now six years old! Peter Peter pumpkin eater. “Peter, Peter pumpkin eater had a wife and couldn't keep her he put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well.”
What can you tell us about nursery rhymes why is it so important to know nursery rhymes or even to try they are so important you know what they really help with learning words I know it sounds like a silly thing but with kids it really really helps them to learn words because what they do is um if you can do the sounds like then they can start to predict what comes next so I think they're actually a really crucial part of development like early childhood development and just helping you learn how to speak.
The books you write is also in nursery form so, it's not a nursery rhyme but it almost feels like it's flowing, so how do you achieve that and why do you write your books in a way that everything sounds and rhymes? it's funny because when I started writing it wasn't intentional it just kind of came out that way and for me, I’m obsessed with music, our house is basically like Woodstock revival um because all the instruments all the time our poor neighbours. but I write music, so for me um writing the book felt like writing a song because the rhyme scheme is is very similar um yeah so if you had to kind of take any of your favourite Pop or any of your favourite songs like a Whitney or whatever it is and read it out it's going to read like a like a children's book except more grown-up themes probably.
Why do you like nursery rhymes so much? I like them because they are fun I think they're fun and they're quick and I think they can teach us things, um they can teach little lessons and what I think my favourite thing about nursery rhymes is they're just a little bit ridiculous sometimes so anything is possible and I think that's a great quality to share with kids is that you can eat pumpkins as Peter and you know not die, you can just eat all the pumpkins in the world, an egg can fall off a wall um and just carry on like nothing happened you know, which I think is great! And a lady can live in a shoe that's actually not funny we want a house okay! And now Bianca will sing for us! Ooh okay! Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky, twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are! Stay where you are! Ooh Ukelele! Oh my gosh I’m going to get mine but it's in storage I love them.
[Music] Twinkle twinkle on steroids! [Music] Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky. “We should start a band, Elana, we should start a band!” It's happening we could be like the first nursery rhyme band ever! It's going to be wild; it's going to be crazy, people are going to be throwing around Purity jars at us it's going to be nuts! I should be smashing those guitars right now, no don't smash guitars! Bianca it's been amazing having you! Thank you it's been so much fun!