Today, I played a little game with Veronika involving the classic rhyme Pat-a-Cake, but in subtly new ways.

First, I sat her on my lap. Instead of clapping my hands, this time I clapped hers along  to the first verse. As a reminder, say:

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker’s man

Bake me a cake as fast as you can

Roll ’em and roll ’em and mark ‘e with a B…

(Here, I rolled her arms, and then traced a little B in her palm. Alternatively, trace the first letter of your child’s name).

And toss ’em in the oven for baby and me.

Point to your child on the word ‘baby’, of course, and to yourself on ‘me’.

Then I lay her on her back and repeated these motions with her feet, clapping them together, cycling her legs, and tracing the B onto a little foot.

She loved it!

For a little extra baker’s fun, I gave her a toy bowl and rubber spatula to play with.

Mixing up a familiar nursery rhyme in subtle ways like this is great for baby’s brain. Or as an alternative, don’t forget to seek out new rhymes!

I’ve been saying and singing nursery rhymes to Veronika since the first week of her life, but if you’re at all like me, you’ve settled on your favorites and tend to say the same ones over and over.

So today, I deliberately mixed it up!

If you need inspiration, read through a book of nursery rhymes to find new faves. It turns out there were some I’d forgotten about, including Hey Diddle Diddle and Wee Willie Winkie. She loved the bright pictures in the book!

As I read her the rhymes, I pointed out each thing in the illustrations – the cat and his fiddle, the dish and spoon etc.

Another nice idea is to tap along the rhythm on your baby’s back or leg as you say the rhyme, and they’ll feel it in their whole body.

If you are unfamiliar the tune for any rhyme, check for a video of it online.

Although I normally don’t advocate screens at this age, sometimes it’s nice to sit with Veronika for a few animated songs (and if you save this in your quiver of tricks for when baby is especially fussy, and it will work like magic).

Finally, don’t limit yourself to English rhymes! We recently learned an indigenous Australian song, with a fun sneezing “choo!” sound and hand movement.

It makes Veronika giggle every tiem.

If you don’t want to learn a different rhyme, just add new verses to an old favorite. I highly recommend Little Baby Bum’s endless variations on Wheels on the Bus. You never knew there was so much more than wipers swishing and doors opening until you see what they’ve come up with.

What new rhymes have you added to your repertoire? Please share in the comments!