BOOKLETS filled with old fashioned nursery rhymes paired up with funny new variants have been given to parents as part of a scheme to encourage families to read together.

The free poetry booklets, which feature old classics alongside the newer additions, were handed out to families enjoying Halloween activities in Underhill Circus this week.

Each rhyme in the Songs We Sing Together booklet is used by the Cherry Tree Nursery, in Gladstone Road, in Headington, as part of a Government initiative called Every Child a Talker (Ecat).

The initiative aims to develop children’s speaking and listening skills.

The rhymes can also help identify certain speech and listening problems at an early age Tanya Field, chairman of the nursery, decided to print out the booklet, which includes favourites such as Baa Baa Black Sheep, and Humpty Dumpty, to take the literacy message out to the wider community.

She said: “We just thought it would be a nice idea to try and encourage people to read more and create better language skills in their children.

“The old fashioned nursery rhymes seem to have missed a generation, but they are ideal because they are accessible.

“We like to encourage the children to really get involved and act out the words they are saying.

“The children at the nursery have tried them and love them, so we thought we’d give other people a chance to enjoy them.”

The Ecat scheme is a £40m Government programme to provide training and support to those working with young children on early years language development.

Nurseries and pre-school groups who sign up to the scheme are given access to online resources, including online copies of the nursery rhyme booklet, and what conclusions parents and educators can reach from teaching them to children.

Ms Field was handing out the booklets at the special Halloween workshops where children and their parents have been making spooky masks and lanterns during half-term.

She added: “There are a lot of young families in the Barton area and they have all been really pleased by the idea.

“It has gone so well we are going to carry on handing out the booklets to parents who come to the nursery after half-term.”

To get a free book, or to find out more about the nursery, call 01865 769794.

  • OLD VERSION:
  • 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

  • NEW VERSION:

Twinkle Twinkle chocolate bar

Your Dad drives a rusty car

Turn the key and pull the choke

Off he goes in a cloud of smoke

Twinkle Twinkle chocolate bar

Your Dad drives a rusty car