Open, Shut Them (weensie alert)

Children learn and practice many important language skills as they chant fingerplays and rhymes. Repetitive chanting over time helps them to build vocabulary, rhyming, rhythm and memory- all essential skills for future learning. The good news is they also LOVE them!

My little bean especially enjoys Open, Shut Them, and I have to say this one was my fave too! I really do have memories of my mom and I chanting it together and even have a cassette recording of one of my nursery school teachers chanting it (in addition to being a fingerplay fan, my mother is also a pathological saver of EVERYTHING). So without further ado...

Open, Shut Them

Open, shut them. (open and close hands in front of you)
Open, shut them.
Give a little clap, clap, clap. (clap 3 times as you say “clap”)

Open, shut them
Open, shut them.
Put them in your lap, lap, lap. (fold hands in lap)

Creep them, crawl them. (fingers crawl up chest to chin)
Creep them, crawl them.
Right up to your chin, chin, chin.

Open wide your little mouth, (open mouth)
But do not let them in! (quickly put hands behind back)

Not only are fingerplays like this one fun and skill building, they also often incorporate the teaching of concepts such as counting, colors, spatial positioning (up, down, behind, etc.). For more great fingerplays and rhymes click here.