Finger gymnastics in the preparatory group of kindergarten

Finger gymnastics class in the preparatory group of a preschool educational institution

Children 6–7 years old have fairly well developed fine motor skills and coordination of movements. They are more often involved in dynamic exercises, with an increase in the tempo of execution. Warm-up for hands (exercises imitating the movements of animals and plants) is carried out before drawing or writing. Children are attentive and active, able to learn a new game in a group lesson. The children should sit relative to the teacher so that everyone can see the movements shown:

The teacher and children sit at a large table (the desks can be moved);
the guys sit on chairs in a row, the teacher sits opposite (on a chair or on the floor);
The children and the teacher sit in a circle on the carpet.

Video: finger game on the theme “Dishes” in the preparatory group

The video shows how to perform finger gymnastics in a music room. The children are seated on chairs, and the teacher sits on his knees in front of them. Children can clearly see the teacher’s movements, and the position he adopts is favorable to them; they feel the game situation, and not the seriousness of the learning process.

When learning a new exercise, the teacher demonstrates the movements by example.

If the children have difficulties during a familiar game, the teacher prompts not by direct demonstration, but by verbal instructions: “Quickly move our fingers,” “Now you need to knock on your knees with your fists,” etc.

By the last year of kindergarten, children know a lot of static finger exercises. In the preparatory group, games are combined into a complex: the teacher names the figures at a given pace, the children fold their fingers on command:

“Ring”: fold the index finger and thumb into a ring.
“Second ring”: fold the ring with the second hand.
“Chain”: connect two “rings”, interlock links from fingers.
“Chair”: the fist of the second hand is adjacent to the vertically placed palm of one hand, etc.

Children 6–7 years old are attentive and dexterous, quickly learning a new game

The teacher should not get carried away with learning a large number of games with children. The main way for preschoolers to learn information is repetition. Pupils repeat games learned in the middle and high groups. Once mastered, the game should transition into an active gaming experience. To ensure that familiar finger gymnastics exercises do not lose their attractiveness for children, the training must be “enriched”:

invite children from the younger group or parents to a lesson and arrange a master class on finger games (children love not only to learn new things, but also to share knowledge);
conduct an unusual activity: a trip to a fairy tale or a quest, during which the children will remember finger games;
Together with the students, prepare attributes for games: masks, hats, decorations.

Handmade attributes encourage preschoolers to play

Table: card index of finger exercises

Theme of finger gymnastics	Examples of games and exercises
"Family"	“Granny’s jelly”: perform imitative movements with the hands (cook jelly, flap the wings); “How we helped mom”: bend and straighten fingers and fists; “Mom”: close and open your little fingers, imitate a kiss with your thumbs; “Let’s go visit”: touch each finger with your thumb in turn - the guests greet the owner of the house.
"Friendship"	“Girls and boys are friends in our group”: rhythmic finger movements to the beat of the poem of the same name; “We had fun at the Christmas tree”: perform dance movements with your fingers to the music.
"Motherland"	“Defender of the Fatherland Day”/“Soldiers”: fingers represent soldiers; “Cosmonauts”: finger movements, static exercise “Binoculars”; “Our Country”: take turns connecting the same fingers of both hands, static exercise “Lock” (the more complicated version of the game contains a set of finger exercises).
"Products"	“There are a lot of vegetables in our garden”: bend your fingers when listing vegetables; “Orange”: imitation of peeling an orange, bending your fingers in accordance with the text of the poem “We shared an orange”; “Porridge”: rotational and rhythmic movements of the fingers; “One day a housewife came from the market”: folding the palms into various shapes, bending the fingers for the names of products.
"Home"/"Kindergarten"	“Clothing”: rhythmic finger movements, imitation of washing; “Wardrobe”: clench and unclench your fingers, move your hands; “Our apartment”: alternate bending of fingers; “Dishes”: sliding movements with palms, fist strikes, clapping of hands; “Household Appliances”: imitate the movements that we make when ironing, printing, etc.; “Furniture in our group”: use your fingers to depict pieces of furniture in a group (table, chair, cabinet doors).
"Animals, birds, insects"	“Giraffes and Elephants”: perform movements at an accelerating pace according to the song “The giraffe has spots, spots everywhere”; “Beehive”: in addition to performing movements in the game, it is important to use facial expressions correctly (surprise, fear); “Five little fish”: imitate movements (fish swim, sleep, tremble); “Ten kittens”: fold and finger; “Peggy had a cat”: in the exercise, the poetic text is repeated with the mention of various animals (cat, dog, goose, goat), children depict them with their fingers, then dance.
"Nature, seasons"	“Autumn”: bend and straighten your fingers at different tempos to the beat of the poem “One, two, three, four, five, We will collect leaves”; “Autumn, autumn, come!”: a set of movements with the hands; “Mushrooms”: walk with your fingers, bend and unbend to the beat of the poem “Top-top, five steps, there are five mushrooms in the box”; “Let’s go for the berries”: the fingers “greet” each other by touching and “go” into the forest to pick berries; “The first snow outside the window”: exercises for smooth movements of the hands; “In the damp forest”: dynamic exercise for fingers.
"Fairy tales"	“Visiting a fairy tale”: clapping hands, bending and straightening fingers (listing favorite fairy tales); “Turnip”: pull out a finger for each character; “Teremok”: a set of exercises for fingers and hands.
"Fun Games"	“Cheerful old lady”: a leader is selected who will make moves for each of the old lady’s sons; “Gnome”: imitate the movements of a cheerful gnome (“Once upon a time there was a cheerful gnome”); “Fidget squirrels”: show fingers according to the number of squirrels in the poem, hide one “squirrel” behind the back; “Toys”: a massage game with su-jok balls based on the poem “On a large sofa in a row”; “Cuckoo”: walk along the table with your fingers, connect them with a basket, hit your palms in time with the nursery rhyme “A cuckoo walked past the market.”

Gallery: examples of cards with finger games

The game “Rain” can be played at the beginning of gymnastics

The game "Friendship" can be used as a means of reconciling quarreling children

The game “Favorite Tales” can be played during a speech development class or thematic leisure time

It is recommended to learn the folklore game “In the damp forest” with song accompaniment

The game “Autumn” is learned at the beginning of the school year

Traditionally, the game “Mushrooms” is learned in September and included in the Autumn Festival program

In December, the game “Winter” is learned, preferably with musical accompaniment

The game "Clothes" is suitable for repetition with acceleration

Games about furniture are held in classes on speech development (respectively, on the topic “Furniture”)

The game "Furniture" is a complex of finger movements

A game based on the poem “One day a housewife came from the market” is studied while learning the lexical topic “Vegetables”

In this unconventional game, movements are performed using a su-jok ball.

Games about household appliances are unexpected and arouse increased interest among children

During the dynamic game “Porridge Machine” the fingers are actively working

The game "Dishes" is a great way to warm up your hands.

A continuation of this game could be a thematic performance in a finger theater

Patriotic themed games are held at matinees on February 23 and May 9

Finger games-songs

A teacher who uses ICT (information and computer technologies) in classes should prepare a folder with video materials on finger games. A large number of song games are freely available on pedagogical portals and Internet channels. They are cartoons of the content of songs, audio recordings and schematic instructions for performing movements with the hands. There are song games with only musical accompaniment; they are recommended for preschoolers to play when they have learned the lyrics and are ready to sing on their own. There are also educational videos with finger games based on English songs for children.

Video: finger song game “Chickens”

Video: finger game-song “Autumn Leaves” (backing track)

Video: finger game-song “Little Katya” (“Helpers”)

Temporary lesson plan for finger gymnastics

In the preparatory group, the duration of a finger games lesson can be up to 10 minutes. It is expected that during this time period the children will learn a new game, remember a familiar one, and play shadow or finger theater on their own for a few minutes.

If the lesson does not include time for free activity, its optimal duration is 5 minutes. These 5–10 minutes are “pure” finger play time. The integrated lesson lasts in accordance with the standards for children 6–7 years old. For example, a music lesson in a preparatory group lasts 30 minutes, of which 5 can be allocated to finger games and songs.

Gymnastics for fingers evokes positive emotions and allows children to take a break from intense intellectual activity.

Table: approximate time plan for finger gymnastics “Pets”

Lesson stage	Contents, duration
Greeting, organizational moment	1 minute
First task	A chain of static exercises (“Goat”, “Cat”, “Rooster”, etc.) - 1 minute
Second task	Finger game “The cat bites hard” (2–3 repetitions) – 1–1.5 minutes
Third task	Massage of fingers and palms - 1.5–2 minutes
Total duration	4.5–5.5 minutes

Table: approximate time plan for the lesson “Journey to the land of finger games”

Lesson stage	Contents, duration
Organizing time	1 minute
First task	Finger-speech game “Boat” - 1 minute
Second task	Game “Let’s rustle with pencils” – 1 minute
Third task	Search for objects in the touch pool - 1-2 minutes
Fourth task	Improvisation in finger theater - 3–5 minutes
Total duration	7–10 minutes

Free time to play in the finger theater is an opportunity for preschoolers to relax, socialize and have fun

Regular finger exercises (games and self-massage) instill in children the useful habit of relaxing, training fine motor skills and remembering poems and songs. Finger games promote the development of attention and memory, speech and imagination - cognitive abilities necessary for a first-grader.

Finger games - benefits for children

Performing exercises and rhythmic movements with the fingers leads to excitation in the speech centers of the brain and a sharp increase in the coordinated activity of speech zones, which ultimately stimulates the development of speech.
Finger games create a favorable emotional background, develop the ability to imitate an adult, teach them to listen attentively and understand the meaning of speech, and increase the child’s speech activity.
The baby learns to concentrate his attention and distribute it correctly.
If a child performs exercises, accompanying them with short poetic lines, then his speech will become clearer, rhythmic, bright, and control over the movements performed will increase.
The child’s memory develops as he learns to remember certain hand positions and sequences of movements. The baby develops imagination and fantasy. Having mastered all the exercises, he will be able to “tell” entire stories with his hands.
As a result of mastering the exercises, the hands and fingers will gain strength, good mobility and flexibility, and this will make it easier to master the skill of writing in the future.

Do you use finger games for children? At what age are they interested?