Are Jack and Jill over the hill?
Rhymes which have been passed down from parent to child for generations are being shunned for more fashionable modern alternatives, they said.
A survey by the charity Booktrust revealed they are seen as too old-fashioned by modern parents — meaning old favourites including Hey Diddle Diddle and Mary Mary Quite Contrary could be forgotten. Only 36% of the parents surveyed regularly read nursery rhymes with their children, while almost a quarter admitted to having never sung a nursery rhyme with their child.
And more than 20% of young parents claimed not to use them because they were not educational.
But experts said use of the rhymes could play a vital role in children’s language development, and help to form a loving bond between parent and child.
Britain’s top 10 favourite rhymes:
* 1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
* 2. Incey Wincey Spider.
* 3. Round And Round The Garden.
* 4. Baa Baa Black Sheep.
* 5. The Grand Old Duke Of York.
* 6. If You’re Happy And You Know It.
* 7. Humpty Dumpty.
* 8. This Little Piggy.
* 9. Ring a Ring o’ Roses.
* 10. I’m A Little Teapot.
