Little Miss Muffet: Using the Nursery Rhyme in Preschool Lesson Plans

Little Miss Muffett sat on her tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Using Little Miss Muffet in Preschool Lesson Plans: Vocabulary

The nursery rhyme, Little Miss Muffet, provides an opportunity to introduce your preschool students to some new and unusual vocabulary words.

Tuffet: Explain to your preschool students that the word tuffet was once a common word for a short stool, such as a footstool. Miss Muffet sat on a low seat, or a footstool. To better explain the term, bring in a footstool for the children to see or point one out in an illustrated nursery rhyme book. What was Miss Muffet's footstool called? A tuffet!

Curds and whey: Curds and whey are what we today call cottage cheese. Serve your students some curds and whey (cottage cheese) for snack time!

Using Little Miss Muffet in Preschool Lesson Plans: Spiders

You can use the nursery rhyme, Little Miss Muffet, when teaching your preschool students about spiders. Make a simple puppet of Miss Muffet and one of a spider. Now carry on a dialogue between Miss Muffet and the spider. For example:

Miss Muffet: Oh, my, you frightened me! How many legs do you have?
Spider: Why, Miss Muffet, thank you for asking. I have eight lovely legs!
Miss Muffet: How are you hanging there in the air?
Spider: Well, I'm hanging from my web. I work very hard every night to make a new web in order to catch my dinner.
Miss Muffet: Then why do you want my curds and whey?

Using Little Miss Muffet in Preschool Lesson Plans: Being Scared

The nursery rhyme, Little Miss Muffet, also provides an opportunity to teach children that it is okay and natural to be frightened sometimes. Little Miss Muffet is a great way to teach about stranger danger.

Using Little Miss Muffet in Preschool Lesson Plans: Beside (next to)

Use the nursery rhyme, Little Miss Muffet, to teach the concept of beside. Tell your preschool students that the word beside means next to. Thus, the spider sat down next to Miss Muffet.

Set out a doll as Miss Muffet and a small plastic spider. Hold the spider over Miss Muffet. Is it beside her? No. Hold it under Miss Muffet. Is the spider beside her? No. Hold the spider next to Miss Muffet. Is it beside her? Yes! Now let your preschool students demonstrate the word beside, using the doll and toy spider.