How to Use These Free Rhyming Picture Cards

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Use these free rhyming picture cards with the Down By the Bay song. Kids love matching the rhymes on the cards and using them to extend the classic song.

Today I have some printable rhyming cards to share with you.  I made the cards as a supplemental rhyming activity to go with the rhyming song “Down by the Bay Where the Watermelon’s Grow”, but you can use them for rhyming games too.

Free printable rhyming picture cards.

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Before you begin with these fun cards, check out my article about how to teach rhyming words to kids.

Down By The Bay Song and Book

If you are not familiar with the song, here are a couple of versions.  The Raffi version is a classic.  It brings back great memories for me.  My kiddo and I used to listen to Raffi a lot when he was little.

There is a book version of it too.

Here is another version of the song by The Learning Station.

Adding More Rhymes to the Song

The song is filled with many silly rhymes like “Have you ever seen a whale with a polka dot tail….down by the bay.”  It’s fun to make up more verses to add to the song and these cards will help you do that.

Adding picture cards to your rhyming activity.

There are 12 cards….or 6 sets of rhyming words.  Here are the rhymes that you can make with them:

  • Did you ever see the moon using a spoon?
  • Did you ever see a flower taking a shower
  • Did you ever see a pig wearing a wig?
  • Did you ever see a peach rolling down the beach?
  • Did you ever see a shark playing at the park?
  • Did you ever see a ram eating grape jam?

I printed all of the rhymes on a card so that you have them for reference.

6 sets of rhyming cards for your rhyming card activity.

How to Use the Rhyming Picture Cards

Match the Cards – Kids can name the objects on each picture card and match the pairs that rhyme.  You don’t even need to use the song for this activity

Picture Prompts – Use the cards on a bulletin board or on a pocket chart as you sing.  Point to the cards to prompt the kids as they sing along.

Use picture prompts with your rhyming picture cards.

Complete the Rhyme:  Sing the first part of the rhyming verse.  Then, let kids select the matching rhyme from several choices.

Sing the rhymes for more rhyming card practice.

Make up More Rhymes:  When you use all of the rhymes in the song and on the cards, it’s fun to make up additional rhymes.  Here are some ideas:

  • Did you ever see a bear sitting in a chair?
  • Did you ever see a fox inside a box?
  • Did you ever see a cat wearing a hat?
  • Did you ever see a sheep driving a jeep?

Can you think of more rhyming verses to add to the song?  I would love to hear them.  Please share them in the comments below.

Get Your Printable Rhyming Cards

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down by the bay rhyming cards

I hope you and your kids have fun making rhymes.

Additional Rhyming Resources

Are you looking for additional rhyming resources for your kids?  Check out these favorites from the store.

Rhyming practice activities for kids
cvc rhyming clip card activity
rhyming name class book bundle
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