Rhyme & History This special children's rhyme earns a place in our list of Nursery Rhymes as it is usually the very first modern Nursery rhyme repeated to a baby. The 'Round and round the garden' nursery rhyme is told when playing a 'finger game' with a baby. The game is to take a toddler's palm, and "walk" on it in circles with your index and middle finger. At "one step", you "jump" on the inside of the wrist, at "two steps" you "jump" on the inside of the elbow, and the next line is used to tickle the child under the armpit. It never fails, all babies love it! Nursery Rhyme Origins The origins of the Nursery Rhyme are quite recent. The 'Teddy Bear' is one of the most popular gifts to give to a newborn baby and this tradition started in the early 1900's when the first stuffed Teddy Bears were produced by the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co in America and by the the Steiff firm in Germany. The origin of the name Teddy Bear comes from former American President Theodore Roosevelt, whose nickname was "Teddy". In 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt had participated in a bear hunting trip to Mississippi. A young Black Bear was cornered by members of the party and Roosevelt came upon the wounded bear and ordered its mercy killing. The Washington Post ran a editorial cartoon created by the political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman that illustrated the event and had symbolic overtones. The following political cartoon inspired teddy bear toy manufacturers. |