Fingerplays For Young Children

1. Choosing Fingerplays
2. Fingerplay Activities
3. What Fingerplays Teach

Choosing & Using Fingerplays

• Choose rhymes which promote fair gender roles and go beyond stereotypes. Fingerplays can teach that we play with people who are different from us, and that girls and boys do not have to fit the passive/active roles portrayed in traditional rhymes. Similarly, look for rhymes that reflect current technology and society.
• If you find a fingerplay which is outdated, change the language (and make a new rhyme).
• Keep the fingerplays brief. A short verse will keep children's attention and be easier to master.
• When teaching a new fingerplay, mirror the action you want the children to perform. Say the lines slowly and repeat the same line a few times before going to the next. When introducing unfamiliar words or concepts, stop and talk about what the word means, and show a picture of it if possible.
• Never tell a child his hand movement is wrong. Ask him if he "can do 'this' and then let him do it the way he wants.

• Encourage children to make up their own hand movements if they'd like to. You can show them one way and then say, "How would you make a butterfly?"
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  WHAT FINGERPLAYS TEACH

  Fingerplays help children to develop their cognitive, small motor, memory, and language skills.

  Fingerplays also offer a way to learn about poetry, which is an extremely valuable and delightful experience for children. The beauty of fingerplays is that they can either soothe and calm children, or stimulate their intellect and imagination.

  
  ACTIVITIES & FINGERPLAYS

  From the book, Father Gander Nursery Rhymes by Doug Larche"Jack and Jill Finish the Job "Jack & Jill went back up the hill to fetch the pail again. They climbed with care, got safely there, and finished the job they began.

  *Have the children sit in a circle. Fingers of both hands creep up into the air and then the two hands meet momentarily in a clasp. Then children take the hands of the children on each side of them to show Jack and Jill climbing with care together.

  From :"Rhymes for Learning Times" by Louise Binder Scott

  I am a robot, big and tall.
  Stand me up against the wall.
  Wind me, wind me with a key.
  Now I'm ready, don't you see?
  Walk, walk, stiff and slow.
  That is how the robots go.
  Walk, walk, in the town.
  Oh, I hope I won't run down.
  Slow, slow, I'll have to stop.
  I've run down and so, ker--plop!

  *For this fingerplay, children make stiff arm and hand movements up and down from their elbows, and turn their heads from side to side. At the end of the rhyme, arms, hands, and necks go slack.

  
  

  from "Finger Frolics" I am special.
  I am special.
  If you look, you will see.
  Someone very special, someone very special.
  Yes, it's ME! Yes, it's me.

  *Children point to themselves and then to their eyes. They hug themselves and then point to themselves and then point to themselves again.

  Try substituting all of the "you's" for "me's" and vice-versa.

  Other fingerplay books:

  • Move Over Mother Goose! by Ruth I Dowell

  • Let Your Fingers Do the Talking by Kathy Overholser

  Bugs Theme........BUG FINGERPLAYS

  AT EARLY MORN

  At early morn the spiders spin,
  And by and by the flies drop in;
  And when they call, the spiders say,
  Why don't you stay all day!

  Mother Goose

   

  FIDDLE-DE-DEE

  Fiddle-de-dee, fiddle-de-dee,
  The fly shall marry the bumblebee.
  They went to church, and married was she;
  The fly has married the bumble bee.

  Mother Goose

  LITTLE MISS MUFFET

  Little Miss Muffet,Sat on a tuffet,
  Eating of curds and whey;
  There came a great spider That sat down beside her,
  And frightened Miss Muffet away.

  Mother Goose

  MY FRIENDLY CATERPILLAR

  My friendly caterpillar(Fingers crawl up arm.)
  Made its cocoon one day.(close hands together)
  It turned into a butterfly(Open hands with thumbs hooked together)
  And quickly flew away.(flap hands)

  EENCY WEENCY SPIDER

  An eency weency spider;(move opposite thumbs and index fingers together.)
  Climbed up the water spout.(climb fingers up)
  Down came the rain and washed that spider out.(hands sweep downward)
  Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.(arms form a circle for the sun)
  And the eency weency spider climbed up the spout again.(repeat climbing action)

  Mother Goose

  Chilly Snowman
  From: Connie Riffle at Teddybear Daycare in Ohio

  Have the children pretend to be snowmen and act out the following story of a snowman enjoying the weather, until the sun comes out.

  I'm a chilly snowman. I'm so happy today because it's cold and snowy.
  I'm going to play all day. I like to skip and run and roll around.
  (Have children play as described in the story)
  Oh,dear! It looks like the sun is going to shine today and it'll be warm.
  Oh, no! I'm beginning to feel warm!(the children wipe their brows.)
  Oh,dear! I'm getting smaller. I'm shrinking smaller and smaller.
  (children begin to stoop and squat)
  Oh, no! there goes my bottom snowball.(Children sit on the floor)
  It's getting hotter and hotter. I'm getting smaller!
  (Children begin to lower their bodies to the floor)
  Now I'm just a ball of snow.(Children curl up on the floor)
  Now I've melted completely and only a puddle of water is left!
  (children stretch out on the floor)