The Best Rhyming Songs for Kids

We have found the best rhyming songs for kids, and they are so perfect for young children! They are fun to sing and they have tons of benefits at the same time.

Rhyming Songs for Kids

Songs, especially rhyming songs, are often overlooked. When we sing rhyming songs for toddlers, such as nursery rhymes, we are teaching them so many skills! We consider them to be some of the best songs for kids.

As children are learning to speak, songs help teach inflection, fluency, and more. These are critical in learning to talk. Early Childhood Education Zone explains it this way:

Studies have shown that children who love music and who sing and rhyme regularly also tend to have an easier time learning to speak. They have already developed the vocabulary to express themselves, and they also become more creative and confident. School is also easier for them, especially reading and spelling.

Rhyming songs are not just great for speaking and oral literacy skills, but they are also important for helping children learn to read. So in other words, not only are rhyming songs great for babies and toddlers, but they are also perfect for preschool and kindergarten too.

For ease of use during circle time, we’ve taken some of our favorite rhyming songs and some other popular kid songs and put them together into a handy printable! Check it out in our store.

Why Learning to Rhyme is Important

Rhyming is also one of the BEST predictors of early literacy success. This invaluable pre-reading skill develops confidence, gives children insight into the way our language works, and is super fun! Learning to read can feel like a daunting task, so opportunities to infuse pre-reading FUN provide ways to help little ones build the foundations of reading.

We love including high-quality rhyming activities and rhyming picture books during our literacy time. These books set the stage for rhyming and allow young listeners to hear an experienced reader pronounce the rhyming words. Better yet, many books encourage young children to try and name the upcoming rhyming word.

For an entire book list of rhyming stories, check out our rhyming stories for kids post!

We have created the ultimate set of rhyming cards for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Whether you’re helping children learn to rhyme, looking to expand their rhyming abilities, or looking for rhyming activities, these rhyming cards are such a win, they’ll make your head spin! Check them out in our store!

Rhyming Songs

To share our favorite rhyming songs with you, we’re going to share more about our favorite children’s musicians and our favorite songs of theirs! These are kid-tested and parent and teacher-approved rhyming songs that you all will love singing together.

Rhyming Songs from Laurie Berkner Band 

Oh, Laurie Berkner, where have you been all my life?! She is so enchanting, and we all at Preschool Inspirations are in love.

The tunes are catchy, the words are clever, and she walks a fine line of being 100% geared to children without being overly silly or slapstick. It’s easy as an adult to love her music too!

Laurie used to be a preschool teacher, so no wonder her songs are so full of educational goodness! Hands down, she has some of the best rhyming songs for preschoolers.

Her music holds tons of musical goodness too, like key changes, tempo changes, harmonies, and echoes. Young kids will probably never notice these additions, but they’re doing tons of great things! They keep the song lively and interesting, help develop critical listening skills, help learn pattern recognition, and build imagination.

We Are The Dinosaurs

This is a great one for movement and action! I love to just play the audio and have the kids act out what the dinosaurs are doing.

Victor Vito

The tune is catchy, the lyrics are incredibly creative, and kids love it! (And to be honest, I’ve had it in my head for a week now and still love it myself!) See how many rhymes your little learners can find. It’s also chock full of alliteration!

Over in The Meadow

Rhyming AND counting in one song? Sign me up! Don’t miss the rest of our counting songs for kids.

The Learning Station Rhyming Songs

We love The Learning Station! Their songs are some of the best in early childhood education, and they teach so much at the same time. Their passions and expertise shine through their music.

From their website:

“Don Monopoli, Laurie Monopoli, and Jan Hrkach are The Learning Station. With combined backgrounds and degrees in early childhood education, child development, and music, this trio, has achieved international stature as leaders in the children’s educational music industry. They presently have a collection of 31 award-winning audio and video releases and they have published over 400 children’s songs that are part of educational curriculums worldwide.”

All of their songs revolve around the concept of “Healthy Music for a Child’s Heart, Body & Mind!” Does anyone else hear that tune in their head too?

Down by the Bay 

A classic rhyming song! The Learning Station re-imagines it with fun animations.

Five Green and Speckled Frogs 

No matter how many times my 4-year old has heard this song, she comes running to sing along whenever it comes on! The words and number of frogs left are included on the screen.

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly 

I love this “gentler” version of “I Know an Old Lady” that doesn’t include lyrics about the old lady dying.

Rhyming Songs from Jack Hartmann 

Jack Hartmann’s music is also a huge win! He’s so enthusiastic and genuine that he just draws everyone in. He has a BA in Child Psychology and a MA in Clinical Psychology. His wife is a former kindergarten teacher, and together they produce some super fun music for kids!

Jack’s music is research-based and extremely educational. He’s got songs on everything from counting to phonics to planets to colors to sight words, as well as tons of brain breaks and hybrid exercise/learning songs. His songs are one of the top ways to bring literacy into circle time.

His library of rhyming songs are super fun! They include nursery rhymes that are sung to updated tunes, and engaging songs where he shares words and your little learners have to decide if they rhyme or not.

Baa Baa Black Sheep 

Even older kids will love this “cool” version of the nursery rhyme!

Exercise, Rhyme and Freeze 

This is a great critical listening song. If the two words rhyme, you exercise. If they don’t, you freeze!

I Love to Rhyme

Jack says two words that rhyme, then you help him out by thinking of a third one that rhymes too!

Make a Rhyme, Make a Move

When the two words rhyme, you do a dance move. When they don’t, you do a different dance move.

Patty Shukla Rhyming Songs

Patty Shukla is a music educator from Florida who was playing in original bands when she was bitten by the children’s music bug! She keeps a busy schedule of live performances at elementary schools and libraries, and also records tons of original songs and videos for YouTube. Her live shows are known as “Musical PE for You and Me” for the creative ways she fuses music and movement. Movement is essential for brain function, especially in early childhood education!

Her songs are chock full of preschool curriculum – shapes, colors, textures, directions, verbs, counting, using your imagination, and much more!

Rhyming Time (Rhyme Song for Children)

“Rhyme, rhyme, rhyming time!” Join Patty and a bunch of friends as they see what words rhyme with the words Patty calls out.

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes 

Kids probably know the song, but can they find the rhyming words?

Raffi Rhyming Songs

This wonderful man was once called “the most popular children’s singer in the English-speaking world” (Washington Post) and “Canada’s all time children’s champion” (Toronto Star). I’ve been a big fan since childhood – I used to play his tapes ad nauseam on my walkman during family road trips!

Although not as visible today as he once was, Raffi still tours occasionally and is an active children’s advocate. He’s got a special emphasis on social media safety for young users and the need for screen limits for the very young.

We love Raffi! His songs are so great to use for circle time or just song time in general.

Baby Beluga 

Cool story about Raffi – he was once approached by a major Hollywood studio about doing a film based on this song. He declined, because the film’s marketing would have included direct advertising to children, which he is staunchly against! Go Raffi!

Down By the Bay 

When you think of rhyming songs, this is really the quintessential one. “Have you ever had a time when you couldn’t find a rhyme?” Genius.

Mr. Sun 

Simple and sweet! This rhyming song has been a staple in homes for decades.

Willoughby Wallaby Woo

A perfect hello song or name song to include in your morning circle time. “Woo” can rhyme with ANY preschooler’s name! Clever and silly.

Need more awesome songs for kids? Check out our library below!

Educational Songs

• Songs that Teach
• ABC and Alphabet Songs
• Days of the Week Songs
• The Ultimate Guide to Preschool Songs
• Rainbow Songs for Kids
• Clean Up Songs
• Color Songs

We also have Music and Action songs, Circle Time songs, seasonal songs, and so much more!