Collection Information: The Itsy Bitsy Spider was collected on April 26th, 2014 in Crown Point, Indiana. It belongs to a sub-genre of nursery rhymes called fingerplay.
Informant: The informant was Katie Sewell, an 19 year old female born and raised in Crown Point, Indiana. She has one older sister and her parents are separated. She started going to boarding school in middle school, and now goes to college in Indiana.
Text:
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout (join thumb from first hand with pointer finger from second hand and join thumb from second hand with pointer finger from first hand. Rotate hands around upper connection, rejoining the separated fingers higher than before. Do this on beat with the singing)
Down came the rain and washed the spider out (Hold hands high with palms facing downward, wiggle fingers to simulate rain as hands are lowered down)
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain (Extend fingers, face palms away, and hold hands near each other while slowly raising them to simulate the sun coming out.)
And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again. (Repeat the motions from the first line.)
Context: This fingerplay nursery rhyme can be performed for an individual child or for a group of children at any time of the day. Generally, because of its mnemonic structure and simple melody, children are encouraged to participate in singing and performing it once they have heard it a couple of times. The informant said that she would sing it with her dad before she went to bed and right when she woke up.
Meaning and Interpretation: For the informant, this fingerplay was important because it reminds her of her dad, who she has a very close relationship with. Because they sang it together so much when she was little, it continued to remind her of her dad when she went away to boarding school. As such, it served as a medium for child-parent bonding. Perhaps it is also meant to inspire children to persevere, reminding them that even when bad things happen or they don’t get their way, things will get better and they should keep trying to achieve their goals
Collector’s Information: Chris Faulkner, Dartmouth ’14, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
