Nursery World - Learning & Development: Finger Rhymes

Picking up rhymes supported by physical actions seems to be innate in children. But how adults mediate is important for later literacy development, says Opal Dunn

Adults become conscious of children's verbal play from their first babbles, while pre-schoolers can be heard playfully listing rhyming words and non-words - sat cat fat tat rat mat wat yat.

This ability to pick up, play and have fun with language anywhere, any time, appears to be innate to most young children in many cultures. Innate too is spontaneous child-led play with language, individually, in pairs or small groups. It is through this natural repetition and reflective browsing that holistic learning is reinforced.

Finger rhymes are an ideal way to explore repetition - an important part of literacy and fundamental for later more formal aspects of literacy including reading, spelling and handwriting.

Innate also to most children appears to be the ability to pick up rhymes supported by physical activities, without any conscious effort, if mediated by caring adults.

It is easy for young children to get meaning from finger rhymes as each is a complete short 'story', with a beginning and end, accompanied by actions that reinforce meaning. From an early age, young children appear to get satisfaction and motivation from 'showing off' how they can recite an entire finger rhyme to interested adults and older children.

It is accepted that finger rhymes help to consolidate links between hands - fingers and thumbs - and the brain, contributing to increasing the network of brain neurons. They also help to increase eye-hand co-ordination and make finger-thumb movements stronger, through developing finer control of the tendons and muscles in the lower arm that link to the fingers and thumbs.

Finger rhymes are portable play activities. They can fill odd minutes, change an atmosphere and inject fun, including the type appreciated by boys, who often feel more restless than girls.

They also give children focused opportunities to explore their physicality and to find out how to match actions to words. Young children soon realise that their thumbs have greater mobility compared to their fingers, which are able to move easily as a block, but with more difficulty individually.

ADULT ROLE MODEL

How adults mediate and say the rhyme is important, as they are the role model for both action and linked language. It is through their voice that literacy is conveyed as their voice gives meaning to the printed text. Through the way that they use their voice and the language that they use to mediate, they can shepherd the child by adapting their language and voice to add more stress and playfulness to fit moods and needs.

Through the adult's mediating language and interpretation of the finger rhyme, the child co-ordinates input to imitate and get meaning:

By hearing (auditing) rhymes, a child is exposed to rhythm, stress, pitch - loud and soft (intonation patterns); types of voices representing characters, hesitations for suspense/fun (play); language sounds, rhyming words, words broken into syllables (so developing early phonological awareness); language genres (spoken, narrative, etc); new vocabulary, prefabricated phrases (blocks of language for recycling)

By observing (seeing, perceiving), a child learns to imitate (matching the role model's actions) and track visually, so helping a child learn to predict and sequence

In using their voice, a child can recite and repeat, so reinforcing and consolidating learning

By reflecting on rhymes, a child gains an understanding of symbolic representation and can personalise them.

STAGES

Suggested stages to help young children assimilate finger rhymes:

Stage 1

Aim To discover the physicality of both hands.

Step 1 Give simple commands accompanied by actions.

Step 2 Give the same commands without actions.

Step 3 Use the commands in a game.

Examples Ask the children: show me your fingers; show me your thumbs; wiggle your thumbs.

Or: put your hands in front of you/above your heads; put one hand on top of another.

For a simple game: squeeze your hand, then straighten your fingers and thumb one at a time, starting with your little finger and saying 'Bang' each time you straighten a finger.

Stage 2

Aim To fit finger/hand actions to the rhythm of simple finger rhymes.

Step 1 Using both hands together, sing/say:

Shut both, open both,

Make a little (big) clap

Shut both, open both,

Put them in your lap.

Squeeze both, open both,

Make a little hat (Make a triangle and hold it on the head)

Squeeze both, open both,

Lie them very flat.

Step 2 To use hands alternately:

Squeeze one, open one,

Make a little hat,

Squeeze one, open one,

Lie it very flat.

Fee, fie, foe, fun (Shake each finger in turn starting with little finger)

See my fingers (Hold up all the fingers straight)

See my thumb. (Wiggle thumb, turn in a circle)

Fingers gone (Fold fingers to make a fist)

So has thumb! (Pop thumb inside the fist to make it disappear. Action play with thumb in then out)

Stage 3

Aim To introduce symbols to represent something not present.

Symbol for numbers

One and one is two (Wiggle one little finger, then the other, then placing them side by side and holding them up straight)

Two and two is four (Wiggle little and ring finger together to represent two and hold them up straight)

Three and three is six (Wiggle little, ring and middle fingers to represent three)

Four and four is eight (Wiggle all fingers)

Five and five is ten (Wiggle all fingers and thumbs)

Now you/begin again/child's name (Add playfulness by choosing a child or children)

Symbol for things

Two little blackbirds, (Stretch out two index fingers on table edge and clench other fingers and thumbs)

Sitting on a wall, (Tap to the rhythm)

One called Peter, (Lift one index finger)

The other called Paul. (Lift the other finger)

Fly away Peter, (Hide your hand behind child's back)

Fly away Paul. (Hide your other hand)

Come back Peter, (Return one had to table)

Come back Paul. (Return to starting position with second hand on the table).

To add interest, mark eyes on fingers to represent blackbirds or make two rings out of black paper and stick the shape of a blackbird with eyes, a beak and open wings onto each ring.

MOTIVATION

Children's success and motivation depends to a great extent on adult engagement. Where the rhyme is recited with little interaction, acquisition is limited and children rarely stimulated. But listening to Youtube cannot replace the learning that takes place naturally through focused interaction with an adult either with individual children or a small group.

Through a focused, playful sharing experience, children's potential can be unlocked and their love of language enhanced. American educationalist Carol Dweck talks about developing a 'growth mindset' by building on children's innate playfulness with language, while focusing on the goals of learning rather on actual performance.

It is only through assessment that practitioners can find out how to help individual children achieve their potential. Practitioners should also take time to assess their own presentation. It is accepted that where the interaction between the teacher and child is warm and encouraging, learning is likely to be easier and more successful.

Young children mostly want to please adults and, if they are to progress, they need to feel that the practitioner observes, listens and appreciates what they are doing. The practitioner's show of interest in them is fundamental to their 'growth mindset', especially in the early years when children are still picking up new language through interaction with parents.

Presentations, however short or unplanned, need to be focused on:

Engaging children by use of voice

Interacting through eye contact and relevant mediation techniques

Observing precisely rather than just looking (viewing)

Listening and registering, rather than just hearing

Injecting playfulness to make fun.

CULTURES

Some other cultures are richer than English in finger rhymes. Asking non-native English speaker children or parents to show a finger rhyme can be a good opportunity for them and their families to bring something of their own language and culture into the nursery.

To be able to show and say a finger rhyme in their own language might be an important opportunity for them to feel that their cultural background is valued by other children and has a place within their child's setting.

Recent research results have also confirmed that family support through playful repetition at home of rhymes learned at school, reinforces as well as motivates. The satisfaction that comes from positive reactions from loved adults and older siblings can make a lasting contribution not only to bonding, but also to a child's self-esteem and confidence.

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