Clapping, counting and tapping: using fingerplays with young children

Last summer, I gave a workshop on fingerplays to a large group of early childhood educators. It was so fun! Whether you’re a teacher, parent, grandparent, storyteller or even a babysitter, you’ll find that young children enjoy these simple bits of silliness. Here’s one I learned from a group of kindergartners in Belgium (I posted this a while ago, but not with my own hands, with my hereditary crooked fingers):

First of all, what is a fingerplay? It’s a simple song or chant for children, using the fingers. Remember “Where Is Thumbkin”? That is a fingerplay. These are low-tech, simple and fun ways to connect with children.

Fingerplays and rhymes are great for engaging young minds. Here are some benefits:

• teaching simple math,

• enhancing small and large motor coordination,

• building listening skills and appropriate participation,

• offering valuable prereading skills such as rhythm, rhyme, sequencing and prediction.

Johnny Woops is one of the simplest fingerplays I know, and it works with tiny children up to about six-year-olds. You can use any names you want. Parents can do this fingerplay on their baby’s hands. One of the nice things about this one is that children cross the midline of the body. The two sides of the brain must work together that way, as we do when we read right to left. Brain exercise!

As I prepared for the workshop, I thought back to my own childhood. “Here are my lady’s knives and forks” was a fingerplay I remembered. “Two little blackbirds” was another (Google these if you don’t know them). My public library and my own personal library have books of fingerplays.

I also went on the hunt online, turning first to jbrary. The two librarian hosts have put together an amazing treasury of stories, songs and games. Here’s one I love, not exactly a fingerplay but close:

In my search, I found quite a few songs and fingerplays by Dany Rosevear that suit me well. I especially like the old-fashioned “Wind the Bobbin Up”, though I did have to explain to my storytime kids what a bobbin is. This one enhances large motor skills.

I hope some of these will suit you. If they don’t, look for some that do! I’d love to hear about your favorite fingerplays and action songs.

Hands on, hands in: using puppets with young children online workshops

I haven’t always loved puppets. In 1989, my new boss at the library asked me if I might want to try puppets. I was clear: “No. I don’t do puppets.”

She said, “Let me just give you the two-minute puppet lesson.”

What could I say? Judy was my new boss and I already had learned a ton from her in the few weeks since she began heading the department. She gave me the short puppet lesson and the rest, as they say, is history. I have been using puppets with young children ever since.

I’ve learned since then that not only do I love playing with puppets, I love teaching others how to use them. I still use Judy Stoughton’s two-minute lesson as my base (thanks, Judy!).

On September 2, I’m offering two Zoom workshops on using puppets, for teachers, librarians and storytellers. It’s for adults—my teaching style with kids is slightly different. The content will be the same for both workshops.

Here’s the scoop:

Hands on, hands in: using puppets with young children

In this participatory Zoom workshop, I’ll gently guide participants in basic puppet technique, character development, creating voices, puppet schtick and more. This workshop is especially aimed at teachers, librarians and storytellers who work with young children. The focus is on using puppets without a stage. BYOP!

Wednesday September 2, 2020

9:00-10:00 a.m. CDT

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/117556439475

or

6:30-7:30 p.m. CDT

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/117562423373

$22.50 per workshop

Content will be the same for both workshops.

Questions? Sling me an email

Telling stories to tinies

Telling “Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle” for preschoolers a few years ago in Chile.

I love working with small children. I started out as a children’s librarian, with preschool storytime. I mixed books with storytelling with puppets with fingerplays with stretches with songs, served with dollops of laughter and silliness. That’s still what I do with tinies, more than thirty years on, though I rarely read books to kids.

If telling stories to very young audiences strikes terror into your heart, here are some ideas, in no particular order.

Above all, I hope you actually like young children. Liking them also means respecting them, not using a fakey-fakey sweet voice. They can spot insincerity a mile away. Kindness is key.

Meet them where they are. If I have a small group of young children, I get close, sitting rather than standing (I now take a chair, rather than sit on the floor).

If possible, perform in a space conducive to storytelling: quiet, without distractions. Last month in China I was in the middle of a performance for four-year-olds (in English) and realized my audience could see the children on the playground just outside our room. Too distracting! We closed the blinds.

Remember that people of all ages listen and learn in different ways: visually, aurally, kinesthetically. I build movement into my stories for the visual and kinesthetic learners, as well as songs and chants for the aural learners. Note about songs: pitch your voice high, as children’s vocal chords aren’t able to manage lower pitches.

Young children are just learning to listen. They may have a lot to say. Sometimes they just need acknowledgment and will be quiet after you give them a brief amount of attention. Sometimes you might need to ask them to tell you their news after the stories. I do not do Q&A with children under age 8, as it only leads to the kids saying, “Umm…ummm….my grandmother has a cat!” and then everybody has to say what their grandmother does or doesn’t have.

What works for a seven-year-old might not work at all with a two-year-old and vice versa. Here are some useful child development guidelines:

Age 0-2: Children enjoy peekaboo, patty cake, nursery rhymes, fingerplays. Use lots of rhyme and rhythm. Fifteen or twenty minutes is usually enough.

Age 2-3: Children still enjoy fingerplays, rhyme and rhythm, and plenty of of repetition. Use simple, simple stories, 5 minutes or less. When they’re done listening, they’re done. Try twenty to thirty minutes, but be prepared to stop earlier if the children are finished.

Age 4-5: Kids are starting to differentiate from others, to understand that others have feelings. Continue with repetition, rhyme, rhythm. Go a little longer. Silliness works well with these children. They like stories about families.. Thirty to forty-five minutes works with these kids.

Age 6-7: Children are much more aware of others, of their own emotions and those of their friends,. They are getting an idea of morality. They are also better at predicting where the story will go. I have no attention span problems with 45 minutes.

In between stories, you may need to pull the audience back together. Here’s a stretch I do that works well.

Most of all, have fun! It’s contagious!

Storytelling keynote speeches

I couldn't help myself—I had to throw in this visual pun. And no, that's not really the key to the city of Varna, Bulgaria, just a corkscrew made to look like a key. 

From time to time, I'm invited to give keynote speeches. What is key in a keynote? Here are a few things off the top of my head: knowing what the organization stands for, what the organizers want, and how storytelling fits in, finding points of connection with the listeners, being relaxed so the audience can listen easily, remaining both friendly and professional, staying within the time frame, choosing appropriate stories, and serving the whole experience up with a generous dollop of good humor. Hmm, this list applies to performances in general.

In the past year, I've given three keynotes. Because I tailor each keynote to the group in front of me, these were three very different presentations:

A keynote for early childhood educators was a mixture of why and how to tell stories and use puppets with young children, along with story stretches thrown in for good measure. I had ninety minutes to bring the listeners into the world of story and puppets. This was a keynote/workshop, with lots of audience participation.

In a talk for the Kansas Museums Association I encouraged museum curators to connect with their visitors through stories. I told some of my polished performance pieces as well as short snippets about story-filled museum visits.

My keynote for The Whole Person, an organization that helps people with disabilities live independently and fully, was a thank-you for volunteers. My goal was to remind the audience that we connect through our stories. Between my own stories I coaxed the audience into telling stories to each other. After suggesting that they continue to tell their stories after the talk, I then finished with a funny story. 

Each of these keynotes had its own flavor, but the main dish was story.

Looking for an interesting, fun and engaging keynote? Shoot me an e-mail!