Resources for Songs, Rhymes, and Finger Plays

Posted on February 7, 2022October 1, 2024 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Online Resources of Song, Rhyme, and Finger Play Collections

–Alina Celeste
Alina’s YouTube channel has an incredible assortment of songs and finger plays. Many of them are in Spanish as well! Her cute quirkiness and fun interactions make these entertaining for kids and adults.

–Jbrary
Dana and Lindsey are children’s librarians who have posted a very generous number of videos that might be found at a StoryTime circle. There are songs, rhymes, finger plays, and more all organized by theme. They are so darling to watch, and they remind me of some of the enthusiasm I used to have with children before becoming a mom. =D Check out their website too for wonderful book recommendations and felt board activities.

–Singing Games for Children
Dany Rosevear has an amazing collection of songs and resources on here, as well as links to her singing them on YouTube! So sweet and so organized. I want to sit and have tea with her on a weekly basis!

–Mamalisa
MamaLisa has a beautiful collection of children’s songs from around the world. Most of the songs have an audio of the song, lyrics in multiple languages, sheet music, and links to multiple YouTube videos of the song. The blog also has incredible links and information. If you’re looking a multi-cultural approach to your children’s song collection, you must visit this site.

–Molly Whuppie
Ack! Just found Molly, and I love her so much!

Children’s Songs and Musicians that Aren’t Annoying

In this post I talk about how often I walk into a kids’ shop and hear either completely sappy ‘kid’ tracks that seem to belittle our kids’ tastes or pumping club music that seems to rob our kids of childhood with every bass thump. Here’s the thing. There’s PLENTY of kid-geared music in between these two extremes. I’m just not sure why the shops I’ve visited can’t seem to find them.

So, here’s a(n ongoing) list of some of the songs and musicians who (I, personally, think) find the wonderful balance of gearing their music towards children, without trying to “sing down” to them and without trying to make their music into a dance club. Bonus is that it’s all music we adults can enjoy too.

–Emily Arrow
We found Emily on her YouTube channel where she sings songs based on children’s picture books. But she also teaches ukulele, writes books, and runs a podcast, among other things. She’s darling, and I adore her.

–Okee Dokee Brothers
I only recently found the Okee Dokee Brothers. Joe and Justin sing Nature-themed songs that are so much fun. Love these guys.

–Minnutes
I can’t find a lot of information on Minnutes, nor can I tell if they’re geared solely towards children’s music, but I’ve heard some of their songs on Spotify and they’re fun and happy.

–Elizabeth Mitchell
I “found” Elizabeth Mitchell when I was pregnant with my first. I immediately fell in love with her gentle and soulful interpretations of children’s folk songs.
You can also find some music videos on YouTube for some of her songs that always make me yearn to run through meadows and picnic under the stars.

YouTube kid songs:

–Lily on Adventure Sandwich has wonderful songs like: Just the Way You Are, New Friends Make You Feel Special, and Happy Father’s Day

Here’s a Cup of Tea – Finger Play

Posted on March 31, 2021April 3, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

This finger play is such a sweet one. Can be done with a parter, like this, or alone, like this.

Lyrics:
Here’s a cup,
And here’s a cup,
And here’s a pot of tea.
Pour a cup,
And pour a cup,
And have some tea with me.

Finger Plays

Posted on March 11, 2021October 1, 2024 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

I don’t know that I knew many of these growing up. I knew the classic, “Here is the Church and Here is the Steeple,” but that was about the extent of it. Since becoming a parent though, I realize how much I love these! Kids are drawn to the movement of the hands and fingers, and I love watching them try to puzzle out how to do these. There are so many finger plays out there. Here are some of my favorites:

Here’s a Cup of Tea

Two Little Friends

See also:
Songs
Rhymes

Two Little Friends

Posted on March 11, 2021May 2, 2023 by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

This is one of my favorite finger plays and one we turn to often. It’s a great one for learning opposites and reinforcing rhyming words. We often leave out the finger play part and just do just the lyrics of this one while on a car ride. We take turns coming up with rhymes. I had always heard it as “Two Little Birds,” but I like “Two Little Friends,” since it allows for various finger puppets or little painted faces on fingers.

Lyrics:
Two little friends, sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill.
Run away, Jack!
Run away, Jill!
Come back, Jack!
Come back, Jill!

After that, you can start having fun with the lyrics. If the friends are sitting on a cloud, one can be named “quiet” and one named “loud.”

Or they can be sitting on a pot, with one named “cold” and one named “hot.” Sometimes the places get rather silly as I search for rhyming words. When I do “young” and “old,” these poor friends always seem to end up sitting on some mold. But, I think the silliness adds to the fun. It’s a good brain exercise for me as I try to keep it going, and it usually holds the kids’ attention as they try to guess the rhyming opposite word.

Alina Celeste has a great example of just how fun this rhyming finger play can be!