This article is about the traditional poems or songs for children. For a Japanese galgame, see Nursery Rhyme (visual novel). Illustration of "Hey Diddle Diddle", a well-known nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interch