Intro
You’ve seen it time and time again, a small pop up behind the couch a little scary video, even a simple game of peek-a-boo. Children always seem to be the funniest to give a little scare to in fact, some even enjoy it! One of the simplest forms that scare and excite young children is a classic nursery rhyme: Pop goes the weasel.
Body
Pop goes the weasel is a old nursery rhyme that was had its origins in an old British dance tune. The song, which is said to have its roots as a song to be presented to English nobility, has various similarities in structure and sound to the current rhyme while also featuring The titular “pop! goes the weasel” lyrics. It wasn’t welcome too much in England as many criticized the nonsensical lyrics and didn’t receive much appreciation until it crossed over to the United States. It actually came to the scene as “The latest English pop dance” and seemed to come as a phase akin to how dance fads enter the current mainstream media and culture. The English children’s game, involves kids forming several rings as they dance around. One more child than the number of rings in the game are chosen to be “weasels.” When the titular phrase, “Pop! goes the weasel” comes up in the song, all the children have to race to a different ring without being left out. The one that is left out of a circle loses and the number of circles goes down by one until the last weasel remains, similar to musical chairs. Needless to say, there is a plethora of learning opportunities available for a child to absorb while they play this game or sing this rhyme.
Firstly the sole challenge of remembering the lyrics to the song is a memory challenge for a little one to achieve. Not only that, but a young child must also begin to understand rhythm and timing in order to sing the song and play the game with the right timing to win. To properly pronounce and sing the lyrics in this song is an effort for the young one in term of phonetics and language skills. It isn’t until a child begins to play the game do they reap the true learning benefits of the rhyme. Now the child must begin to adjust their motor skills (assuming they can walk, run and jump already) to sync with the music of the game to acquire rhythm of movement. A bit of adaptation to the logic of the game is necessary to understand what counts as a loss or win in the game and what the child must do in order not to lose. Most important of all though, is the requirement of the child to communicate and interact with other children in order to introduce proper social behavior skills.
Closing
On the surface, this classical nursery rhyme appears as nothing more than a silly rhyme for a child to enjoy. However, under the childish verses lies strong tools for the early development of a young child.