Irish blessing

May you always have....
Walls for the winds
A roof for the rain
Tea beside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
Those you love near you
And all your heart might desire

On top of spaghetti

On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table
And onto the floor,
And then my poor meatball
Rolled right out the door.

Row, row, row your boat

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

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.

Hickory, dickory, dock,

Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down!
Hickory, dickory, dock.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full.

One for my master,
One for my dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives in the lane.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full.

Fingerplays helps improve fine motor skills

Fingerplays is communicating with your fingers or "talking with your hands."   Storytelling is illustrated by hand positions and movements.  

Fingerplays help teach rhythm, muscle control, language and disciplinary diversions (in some cultures).

Ring-a-ring-a-roses

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies,
Husha Pusha

We all fall down.

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet, sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider, who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Dr. Thomas Muffet (possibly Moffett or Moufet), an entomologist who died in 1604, wrote The Silkwormes and their flies "lively described in verse". Miss Muffet is said to depict his daughter, Patience. Accreditation is deemed shaky by some, as the first extant version is dated 1805 in Songs for the Nursery, whose 1812 edition read "Little Mary Ester sat upon a tester . . . ." Halliwell's 1842 collection read "Little Miss Mopsey sat in a shopsey . . . ."

Mother Goose scholars agree that "Little Miss Muffet" is not about Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), supposedly frightened (according to some speculators) by John Knox (1505-1572), Scottish religious reformer.

— based on text in Mother Goose: From Nursery to Literature (McFarland Pub.) by Gloria T. Delamar

I wound this information at the following source: http://www.librarysupport.net/mothergoosesociety/rhymes/littlemissm.html

May 1 Celebration

Mother Goose Day Celebration on May 1

Purpose: To re-appreciate the old nursery rhymes.

Motto: "Either alone or in sharing, read childhood nursery favorites and feel the warmth of Mother Goose's embrace."

Mother Goose Day was founded in 1987 by Gloria T. Delamar in tandem with the publication of her book, Mother Goose; From Nursery to Literature (MFarland Pub.). The day is now listed in many calendars of events and celebrated throughout the world. It has been noted by municipalities, a cereal producer, banks, etc. and has a particular appeal to Kindergarten-Primary grades, libraries, and nursing homes.

The preface to The Only True Mother Goose Melodies (1843) showed an illustration of an old crone patting two toddlers on the head.

 

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 keep her very well.

The orginal dates back to Mother Goose's Quarto c1825.

Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater,
Had another, and didn't love her;
Peter learned to read and spell,
And then he loved her very well.

— Mother Goose's Quarto, c 1825

Birds of a feather

Birds of a feather
 
Birds of a feather flock together,
And so will pigs and swine;
Rats and mice will have their choice,
And so will I have mine.