This topic is extremely well suited to children in Year R as part of the Foundation stage curriculum. Not only does it help children to grasp the difference between past and present, it also opens up vital areas of vocabulary which children will need to know whenever they want to describe anything that happened in the past. Use of phrases such as ‘long ago’ may seem vague and meaningless, but with frequent repetition in a context of stories and rhymes, it does help consolidate children’s very rudimentary understanding of the very difficult concept of time and builds simple foundations for later work.
Rather than try to cover too many rhymes, the site focuses initially on three: Wee Willie Winkie; Jack and Jill and Polly put the kettle on. All have been taught very successfully to Reception classes.
Comparing different nursery rhymes: Wee Willie Winkie - This fun lesson uses images and very simple text as well as artefacts. It provides an essential grounding in an understanding of the concepts of 'then and now', and a 'long time ago. The use of simple artefacts makes the lesson come alive for pupils across the ability range. There is scope for adding more 
