Short Poems as Rhymes and Riddles for Children

This is a selection of short rhymes and poems that have been handed down over many generations. Many variations exist and the wording may be different from country to country.

This little piggy poem

This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed at home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy cried,
We-wee-wee-wee-wee,
I can’t find my way home.

This first one is well known and from the sixteenth century and is recited by a parent to a young child as its baby toes are being tickled. This one as well as some of the others can be used by child minders as babysitting games.

Three funny short poems

Next is a selection of three unconnected short poem subjects but each featuring days of the week. ‘Birthdays’ is to allow a child associate with the day of the week they were born on and so encourage them to grasp the sequence of days of the week. ‘Solomon Grundy’ was first published in the seventeenth century seemingly as a learning aid for children, also probably to teach them the days of the week. It seems that ‘Finger Nails’ is the same in that it also celebrated the weekdays. The best way to learn is by repetition and these really good short poems are easy to remember and can be recalled and recited easily. It is a great talent to be able to write good short rhymes that stands the test of time as all of these poems are over 100 years old.

There Was a Little Girl Poem

The US poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, wrote this delightful poem in the nineteenth century.

There was a little girl,

Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good

She was very, very good,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was to become the most popular American poet of his era. He was born over 200 years ago.

Birthday poems and riddles for days of the week

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
And the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy

Finger Nails Riddle

Cut them on Monday, you cut them for health;
Cut them on Tuesday, you cut them for wealth;
Cut them on Wednesday, you cut them for news;
Cut them on Thursday, a new pair of shoes;
Cut them on Friday, you cut them for sorrow;
Cut them on Saturday, see your true-love tomorrow;
Cut them on Sunday, you cut them for evil,
For the next week you’ll be ruled by the devil.

7 Poetic Riddles

This final section has seven puzzles and concerns riddles in poetic form. Most of them are easy to work out but I failed to solve the last one and had to look it up online!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Black I am and much admired,
Men seek me until they're tired;
When they find me, they break my head,
And take from me my resting bed.

Thirty white horses
Upon a red hill,
Now they stamp,
Now they champ,
Now they stand still.

A house full, a hole full,

And you cannot gather a bowl full.

A shoemaker makes shoes without leather,
With all the four elements together,
Fire, Water, Earth, Air,
And every customer takes two pair.

Little Nancy Etticoat,
With a white petticoat,
And a red nose;
She has no feet or hands,
The longer she stands
The shorter she grows.

Twelve pears hanging high,
Twelve knights riding by;
Each knight took a pear,
And yet left eleven there.

The above samples have all survived the ravages of time and there are yet many more in archives around the world. All of these short poems, amusing rhymes and short playful riddles are very old and are good examples of how to write poetry.