How do you read a rhyme aloud so a toddler will listen?
Go slower than feels natural, use your face and hands, and stop just before the last word of a line so your child can fill it in. You don’t need a good singing voice.
Your voice
Keep a steady beat and make the rhyming words a little louder. Change your voice with the story: small for the spider, big for the rain, warm for the sun. Your child would rather hear you off-key than a perfect recording, since you can look at them and wait for them.
When they wander off
Keep going. Many toddlers listen from across the room while doing something else, and you’ll hear the words come back later. A rhyme takes less than a minute, so saying one in passing counts as much as a sit-down session.