Nursery rhymes

One of our family's favorite nursery rhymes comes from the book, Catch Me and Kiss Me and Say it Again by Clyde and Wendy Watson (though I'm not sure if it originated in that book, or if it's an older rhyme). My parents recited it to my brother and I when we were small, and recently when I did an extended baby-sitting stint for three very small children, we enjoyed pulling out this old rhyme again. It was a joy to see my mom with two small toddlers on her lap, and everyone giggling uncontrollably! :)

To recite the rhyme properly, you need at least one small child on your knees. To start out, bounce them on your knees sedately in time with the rhyme, as if they were riding a horse.

Clip, clop, clipitty-clop,
Ride a cock-horse to the fair!
All of the people along the way
Look up to see who's there.

Giddy-up, Dobbin, Giddy-up, hey!
Let's go a little bit faster.
Trit-trot, trit-trot,
The little horse minds his master.

At this point, let your "horse" go wild!

All of a sudden, a-gallop, a-gallop,
Something has made him take fright!
Up and down and all over the place,
Hold on with all your might!

And now the horse calms down again.

Whoa, there, whoa, Dobbin,
Here's the fair at last.
Corey shall have a cranberry tart,
And you shall have sweet green grass!

And there you have it -- guaranteed to elicit cries of "Do that again!" :)