Fingerplay is a sub-genre of nursery rhymes. They vary in length and
function, but the unifying features of all fingerplays is the
combination of sung or spoken words with accompanying hand motions.
Because infants are able to understand gestures and movements before
they understand speech, fingerplay nursery rhymes are commonly used to
entertain young children. Like all forms of folklore, they are
traditionally not recorded in text but instead utilize rhymes,
repetition, rhythm, melody(in the case of sung pieces), alliteration,
and other various mnemonic devices to make memory and transmission
easier. The hand motions and gestures help the child follow the story.
Fingerplays are often performed in ritualistic environments such as
religious occasions or getting ready for bed, but they can also be used
as purely entertainment to keep children calm and occupied. Unlike
lullabies, they are not used to actively put a child to sleep, but
instead just serve as a general pre-bed ritual. This is because they
tend to be more engaging for young children and require more
attentiveness due to the hand motions and are thus not conducive to
sleep. Often, they contain a moral or deeper meaning, but many are also
meant to be interpreted literally with no underlying message. They are
almost exclusively performed by parents or caretakers for children, but
occasionally older children will perform them for younger children. As
children get older and more capable, they are often invited to
participate in performance with the adult performer.
Chris Faulkner, Dartmouth ’14, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
