One classic and effective way to introduce farm animal rhymes is to get a book or coloring book based on nursery rhymes. Some old and familiar rhymes include "Baa Baa Black Sheep," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Little Bo Peep," "Little Boy Blue" and "Hey Diddle Diddle." Some other nursery rhymes that might be a bit less familiar include "To Market, To Market," "Goosey, Goosey, Gander" and "Dapple Grey."
One of the most beloved and probably one of the oldest finger plays about farm animals is "This Little Piggy." However, there are countless others -- some that are old like this one, and others that are recently made up, perhaps even by you. An example would be "I Hop on My Horse." This finger play begins, "I hop on my horse and go to town," while pretending to ride horse. "I ride up high and I don't fall down," while putting arms up high, then low. The next line is, "I wear a hat so my hair won't blow," said while acting out holding onto a hat. "And when I want to stop, I just say 'HO!'" which is said while pulling back on imaginary reins.
Children enjoy the challenge of riddles and posing some farm animal-themed riddles will stretch their critical-thinking skills while building on their language skills as well. Create your own riddles to share with a class. For instance, "I love to chew grass in the fields all day. If you hear me talk, 'MOOO' is what I'll say. I love to give milk. Do you know my name now? I live on a farm and I am a ______. (cow)" Fashion your own farm riddles to share with children who are younger, and challenge older children to create their own.
Another way to teach children about farm animals through rhymes is to construct a memory game. Take index cards or squares of cardboard and glue on pictures of farm animals and a corresponding picture of something that rhymes. For instance, "cow and brow," "chick and stick," "pig and wig," "goat and moat," "sheep and leap," "duck and puck" and "hen and pen." Instruct students to place all the memory cards picture side down and then take turns turning over two cards at a time to see if they have uncovered a matching rhyme pair. If so, they take those two cards and take the next turn. If not, they turn the cards over and the next player takes a turn. Play continues until all the matches have been found.