Explore the Main Characters in Nursery Rhymes

When exploring stories with our littlest learners, one of the first narrative elements we teach is characters! Some characters are more important to the story than others; some drop in and out of the story, whereas others seem to be the center of everyone’s attention (including that of the reader!) These are what we like to call the “main characters.”

This digital activity has been designed to help your students identify the main character in a variety of well-known nursery rhymes. It contains 13 activity slides, as well as two brain break slides to make sure your little learners stay engaged and on-task right to the end!

Each slide contains a short nursery rhyme. Some of the rhymes included in the resource include Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little Bo Peep and Humpty Dumpty. Once the students have read the rhyme, they must identify the main character from the two options provided. If they make the correct choice, they are directed to a “You got it right!” slide. If they make a mistake, they are directed to an “Oops! Try again” slide and have an opportunity to repeat the question.

Extending This Story Characters Activity

This resource provides a great introduction to main characters, but it can also be used as a springboard for further investigation of story characters.

For example, why not use this resource as a segway into a discussion about character traits? As you read each rhyme, engage in a discussion about the main character (once it has been identified). Have the students name some of the character’s internal (inside) and external (outside) traits. For example:

• Mary is the main character of Mary Had a Little Lamb.
• Mary is a little girl.
• Mary is sad because she has lost her sheep.

Download Now for a Paperless Digital Lesson!

Use the Download button to access the Google Slides version of this resource.

Be sure to use this presentation in Slideshow mode in order to enable the interactive features.

This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a teacher in Florida and a Teach Starter collaborator.

Click below for more time-saving resources for teaching story elements!

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