Saadeh the Monkey – Nursery Rhymes 2

Saadeh the Monkey Parent and Teacher Guide

Silly Rhymes, are rhymes that help develop a child’s sense of humor. They give children a chance to have fun with words and sounds and the freedom to laugh at silly situations that don’t make much sense. The rhyme “Saadeh the Monkey” for example is about a monkey feeding a cat an aubergine.

The rhyme “Grandpa’s Bald Head” starts with the funny mental image of rain falling on Grandpa’s bald head then continues to talk about the Grandfather beating a wolf that came sneaking up on him and sending him whining away. This funny rhyme was probably used to deal with the fears of children in villages from wild animals like wolves. Some of the rhymes have made-up words that are fun to repeat like; “ree ree rita fala fala fita” and “tiki tiki sambo tori limbo”.

Children have great fun repeating these made-up words and pretending that they can speak exotic languages. Then there is the hard of hearing old man with a beard that comes down to his belt, in the rhyme “This Old Man”. His wife told him to go to the souk to get her a dress but he came back with cucumbers instead.

The rhyme “Abdul Samad” may have been used to release feelings of jealousy in children after the arrival of a new baby sibling. The newborn baby is put in out of context places which allows the child to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. In the rhyme “Bolbol Balabel” the traditional rhyme can be understood on two levels one of a bird jumping from tree to tree and bringing news and the other is an underlying traditional meaning which reflects the great yearning and waiting for a long absent relative.

Bolbol is a bird that has the freedom to fly afar and see the road ahead from the top of trees. He brings the good news that the absent ones are coming back and so the call is out to prepare for their arrival and to rejoice. Other rhymes such as “Walking Camel” used to be a group game which children used to play.

On each syllable in the rhyme the child makes a movement that’s related to the rhyme. Here’s an illustration of the movements made with the words of the rhyme: the rhyme starts with the words “Jamal Mashi” (meaning camel walking) – fingers make walking movement. ‘Al mamashi ( meaning legs) – hands are put on thighs. Ijeet ashiddoh (meaning I tried to pull it) hands on chest making pulling movement. Khataf shahi (meaning stole my head wear) hands on head.

There is a leader to this game and after a few practice turns the leader starts saying the words of the rhyme while making the wrong movement.

The kids who fall for this are out of the game and so on. The rhyme encourages concentration and makes children laugh.