Counting, clapping, tapping: Fingerplays for young children
Fingerplays and rhymes are great for engaging young children. 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.
The fingerplays I teach may differ from how you know them, or you may change them as you try them with children. This is totally fine! I often adapt fingerplays and stories, using names of the children in front of me, or adding hand motions to give children a chance to cross the midline of the body (a great brain exercise, training the right and left sides to work together).
Child development refresher
Age 0-2: Children enjoy peekaboo, patty cake, nursery rhymes, fingerplays. Use lots of rhyme and rhythm.
Age 2-3: Still use fingerplays, rhyme and rhythm, lots of repetition. Simple, simple stories, 5 minutes or less. When they’re done listening, they’re done.
Age 4-5: 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 kids. Stories about families.
Age 6-7: More aware of others, of emotions, understand morality. Better at predicting where the story goes.
Fee, fi, fo, fum
Fee, fi, fo, fum,
Here are my fingers,
Here is my thumb.
Fee, fi, fo, fum,
Goodnight, fingers, (fold fingers into fist)
Goodnight, thumb. (tuck thumb in)
Five Bananas
Five bananas on a banana tree,
Three for you and two for me.
Come let us eat them down by the sea.
Five bananas on a banana tree.
Four bananas on a banana tree,
Two for you and two for me.
Come let us eat them, down by the sea.
Four bananas on a banana tree.
(And so on…)
Late Last Night
Five nights ago, when we were all in bed (head on hands as if asleep)
Old Mrs. Leary lit a lantern in the shed (snap fingers)
And when the cow kicked it over (kick)
She winked her eye and said (wink)
"It'll be a hot time in the old town tonight!"
Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
repeat with "four nights ago," etc. down to last verse:
"Late last night, when we were all in bed..." etc.
"Water!"
Little clapping mouse * means clap
Behind the tree * *
And under the house * *
There lived a teeny * *
Tiny mouse * *
She loved to sing * *
She loved to tap * *
But most of all * *
She loved to clap * *
She clapped all night * *
She clapped all day * *
She clapped to frighten * *
The cat away * * * * * * * * (lots of claps)
Ten Fat Sausages
Ten fat sausages, sizzling in a pan,
Ten fat sausages, sizzling in a pan.
One went POP!
And another went BAM!
So there were eight fat sausages, sizzling in a pan.
Eight fat sausages, sizzling in a pan…
Continue diminishing by 2, until you get to
No fat sausages, sizzling in a pan.
Wind the bobbin up
Wind the bobbin up, Wind the bobbin up,
Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap.
Wind it back again, Wind it back again,
Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap.
Point to the ceiling, Point to the floor,
Point to the window, Point to the door.
Clap your hands together, 1, 2, 3
Put your hands upon on your knees.
Bazooka Bubble Gum This one is good for teaching kids about money.
My mom gave me a penny, She said to buy a henny,
I did not buy a henny, Instead I bought some
(clap) bubble gum, Bazooka-zooka bubble gum, Bazooka-zooka bubble gum (hands together, “swimming” top to bottom)
My mom gave me a nickel, She said to buy a pickle, Etc.
My mom gave me a dime, She said to buy a lime, Etc.
My mom gave me a quarter, She said to pay the porter, Etc.
My mom gave me a dollar, She said to buy a collar, Etc.
My mom gave me a five, She said to stay alive, Etc.
(I do a little choking sound at the end—totally optional)
Five little men in a flying saucer
Five little men in a flying saucer
Flew down to earth one day.
They looked left and right
And they didn’t like the sight
So one man flew away.
Bubble, bubble pop
One little red fish,
Swimming in the water,
Swimming in the water,
Swimming in the water.
One little red fish
Swimming in the water,
Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble...POP!
Head and Shoulders
Head and shoulders, baby, one two three (sing twice, touching head and shoulders)
Knees and ankles, baby, one, two, three (go on from here with other body parts)
Throw the ball, baby, one, two three (mime throwing a ball), etc.
One, two, three, four, someone’s at the kitchen door
1, 2, 3, 4 _______'s at the kitchen door. (insert child's name) 5, 6, 7, 8 eating _________ off a plate. (insert child's favorite food and make eating noises).
Here is the beehive
Here is the beehive but where are the bees? Hidden away where nobody sees. Watch and you'll see them come out of the hive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... They're alive! Buzzzzzzz!
Five Little Ducks
Five little ducks went out to play.
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck called quack, quack, quack.
But only four little ducks came back
Four little ducks . . .
Three little ducks . . .
Two little ducks . . .
One little duck . . .
Sad mother duck went out one day. . .
And all of the 5 little ducks came back
There were five in the bed
There were five in the bed
And the little one said, "Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and one fell out Four...Three...Two...etc.
There was one in the bed
And the little one said, “At last!"
Sources for more
Think back to your own childhood—do you remember silly little songs and fingerplays from your early years or from camp? I recommend looking at old play-party game books in the library. Check out Dewey Decimal system numbers 372.13 and 793.35.
· Jbrary
· Crazy gibberish & other story hour stretches from a storyteller's bag of tricks by Naomi Baltuck. Linnet Books, 1993.
· Sally go round the sun by Edith Fowke. Doubleday, 1969. Also, Ring around the moon: 200 songs, tongue twisters, riddles and rhymes for children.
· Eye Winker, Tom Tinker, Chin Chopper: Fifty Musical Fingerplays by Tom Glazer. Doubleday, 1973.
· Tomfoolery: trickery and foolery with words by Alvin Schwartz. Lippincott, 1973.
· The grammar of fantasy: an introduction to the art of inventing stories by Gianni Rodari, translated by Jack Zipes. Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 1996.
You’ll find other useful videos on my own YouTube channel.
©Priscilla Howe 2024