Concern for the development of the child leads every parent to finger games. And if in infancy not every child gets acquainted with the first nursery rhymes, then for children 3-4 years old, as a rule, motor skills classes become the norm.

Such fun comes down to training hand motor skills, organized in a game format. These are funny poems, songs or stories illustrated with finger shapes. Depending on the age of the participants, the game consists of elements of massage or tasks for specific movements of the fingers and hand.

Self-invented finger illustrations are also acceptable in assignments. In classes of this kind, additional devices are also used, including massage balls, special dolls or other improvised materials.

By copying the movements of an adult, the baby learns to perform all kinds of actions with his fingers, clench his fists, clap his hands, rub his hands. The action shown to the child during the game is repeated with pleasure and remembered.

Why do you need finger gymnastics?

Although for every second adult finger games look like just entertainment, of little significance in the process of a child’s physiological development, simple games like “Magpies - White-sided” exercise the muscles of the hands, helping movements gain clarity, ease, and coordination.

At an early age, playing with fingers helps relieve tone, the presence of which prevents the child from unclenching his fist.

In a playful way, it is easy to establish a trusting relationship between a child and an adult, remove discomfort, and relieve unnecessary tension. Finger plays help entertain a child in atypical situations. In addition, this type of entertainment becomes a faithful assistant in introducing the baby to the outside world.

The benefits of finger games for children

Games for the development of motor skills play an important role in personality development, solving a number of problems:

Finger games for children 3-4 years old, as well as older children, can be useful in other aspects. Efficiency largely depends on the desire and creative approach on the part of the adult in organizing games of this kind.

Age limits

Motor skills classes for children of different ages have their own characteristics. In any case, the earlier finger games are introduced, the more effective the child’s development. Activities that influence the development of hand motor skills are recommended to begin in the first year of life.

1 year

First of all, of course, it will be a massage. Light stroking and kneading of the muscles of the palm and fingers is recommended at the initial stage for a minute, gradually increasing the duration to 3-4 minutes. The baby's games with objects of different textures have a positive effect.

In the second half of the year, adults can diversify their activities with simple games that massage the palm and fingers.

2nd year

In the second year of a child’s life, it is recommended to diversify the motor skills training of the child’s hands with movements aimed at developing basic self-service skills: holding a spoon, mug and other objects in the hand, turning pages in a book, using two hands to play, the ability to catch objects in motion, and much more. .

To train the motor skills of a two-year-old child, you can offer more complex self-care tasks, such as tying shoelaces or buttoning buttons. Games played with children of this age group should be focused primarily on practicing flexion and extension of fingers, clenching of fists, and rotation of hands.

3rd and 4th year

For children of the fourth year of life, you can diversify training by offering classes with objects of various shapes and textures, games with sand, cereals, clay, and plasticine. Finger games with musical accompaniment are guaranteed to please the baby, adding to the treasury of mastered skills a developed sense of rhythm, an ear for music, and the development of creative potential.

Finger exercises in the fourth year of life are recommended for about 5 minutes a day. Games - counting rhymes, which can be taught to children at this age, will have a beneficial effect on the formation of mathematical skills.

Over 5 years old

Children over 5 years old usually enjoy attention games. It is recommended to focus the exercises on developing coordination, dexterity, and precision of movements. Children must also navigate in understanding the intensity of performing actions. It is important to increase the duration of exercise at this age to 10 minutes.

Children should have mastered many concepts by the time they enter school. It is easier to cope with this difficult task by organizing thematic lessons on motor skills. This could be fun about the seasons, days of the week, everyday household chores and other little things.

You can also develop finger motor skills in children 6-7 years old by organizing entire performances with special finger puppets. Playing with shadows is also an easy to organize, but no less favorite activity for children.

Finger training can be original and useful if you introduce your child to sign language. An additional effect of such an activity is the expansion of the child’s ideas about the world around him and the development of norms of communication with people with different abilities.

How to play finger games with your child correctly

The main organizational recommendation for organizing the game is the absence of negative emotions. This applies to every participant. If an adult, when starting a lesson, thinks about something else, the baby will feel it. The effect of the game will decrease significantly.

At times when the child is tired, upset, hungry or sick, learning new information is strongly discouraged. Otherwise, a prerequisite arises for consolidating a negative association with the activity, and when the adult again invites the child to play the game, it will not cause delight.

At the stage of familiarization with games of this type, it is important to psychologically prepare the child for the upcoming exercises. To do this, it is recommended to describe in detail and clearly demonstrate each element of the lesson. If desired, the child can try out the game’s movements on his own.

Finger games for children 3-4 years old and preschoolers of other ages must be regular.

Daily exercises of 5-10 minutes allow skills to be consolidated faster and more firmly. It takes time to learn one game. Therefore, it is better to repeat the same plot for 5-10 days, and then, if desired, offer the child a new exercise.

The organization of classes should be structured in such a way as to motivate the child to independently return to exercises in the future, learn to organize and conduct similar games with adults or with other children.

If a child shows initiative in the game, coming up with his own movements for words, he cannot be stopped. Blaming for ineptitude is also a prohibited technique. Negative assessments will only push your child away from classes.

When the baby has difficulty coping with some movement, you simply need to repeat the demonstration, encouraging and encouraging him to try again.

If for some reason you have lost interest in the game, then it is better to postpone the exercises to a more appropriate moment.

Finger show will turn into an exciting game if you also use auxiliary attributes. To do this, you can prepare special finger puppets or simply draw funny faces on your fingertips. This game keeps children interested for a long time. Having become interested, the kid, on his own initiative, proposes to organize a finger theater again.

Finger gymnastics for children 1-2 years old

At this age stage, acquaintance with finger games most often occurs. Children do not yet know how to independently perform the necessary movements, so adults must perform the actions with the child’s hands and fingers independently to successfully master the skills. Children take an observant position in this process.

Game "Fingers"

The leader’s words are accompanied by successive actions:

The game is repeated for both hands.

Game “Where is the palm”

During the game, the following actions are performed sequentially:

• the hand with the palm straightened extends forward;
• the palm is massaged in a circle with the fingertips of the second hand;
• the thumb is massaged and pressed against the palm;
• massage and pressing of the remaining fingers onto the palm are performed sequentially, starting with the index finger.

Game "Finger, where have you been"

The fingers are clenched into a fist, the thumb is straightened. The thumb on the hand is massaged to the beat of the first lines.
Next, in accordance with the spoken words, each finger is extended and massaged one by one, starting with the index finger.

Finger games for children 2-3 years old

Classes for children aged 2-3 years should be structured in such a way that children can perform the given movements themselves in parallel with an adult.

Finger game "Orchestra"

• The presenter pronounces the words of the game. At this time, participants first need to pretend to play the balalaika: one hand holds the neck, the other fingers finger the strings.
• The next action requires players to pretend to play the pipe, blowing air with their lips and moving their fingers in the air in front of their faces.
• Subsequent words should be accompanied by palm strikes on the closed fist of the second hand.
• Next, the playing of the violin is depicted: the fingers of one hand are closed tightly, as if holding a violin, while the second hand pretends to be holding a bow and playing.
• The next musical instrument is the button accordion. Both hands are brought together in front of the chest and spread apart, as if playing the button accordion.
• To represent drumming, players are required to pat the surface with their open palms.

• The last words of the game must be accompanied by fingering the surface as if on the keys of a piano.

Game "House"

Players, following the words of the leader, sequentially perform the following actions:

• one hand is positioned vertically and rests the elbow on the hand of the other hand, located at chest level in a horizontal position (pipe);
• the hands of the straightened arms are closed above the head and show the roof of the house;
• the middle and index fingers of both hands step across the table (the person walks);
• hands with straightened fingers are located in front of the chest, with the edges of the palms resting on the surface. Next, you need to open your fingers, spreading your straight palms to the sides and placing them parallel to each other (the gate opens);
• an inviting gesture is performed with one hand.

Finger game "House":

Game "House for Bunnies"

The leader’s words are accompanied by the following movements of the players:

• hands clenched into fists need to lightly hit each other;
• depict bunny ears: the thumb, ring and little fingers are gathered together, and the index and middle fingers are bent and unbent;
• closing the straightened hands above the head, depict the roof of the house;
• straightened hands close their fingers and rest their edges on the surface of the table;
• both hands are straightened, one is located under the chin, and the second is above the player’s forehead;
• the bases of the hands are closed, and the straightened fingers close and open.

Finger gymnastics for children 3-4 years old

Finger games for children 3-4 years old can be organized using special demonstration cards, which indicate movements proposed for independent play by children.

Exercise “Big Laundry”

The leader’s words must be accompanied by the following movements:

• energetic rubbing of fists together;
• rubbing a fist on the palm;
• again rubbing two fists together;
• swing straightened hands to the right and left;
• raising straight arms up with hands down.

Finger game "Flowers"

Players are tasked with demonstrating the process of a flower blooming. First, closed palms represent a closed bud. Then, as the performance progresses, the petals of the flower begin to open: you need, leaving your wrists closed, to move one finger of each hand to the side, starting with the thumb.

To illustrate how the wind blows on a flower, players should blow lightly towards their folded hands and move their fingers slightly. The subsequent closing of the fingers to the original position depicts how the bud closes again. Flowers fall asleep - players put their palms together and press their hands to their ears.

Game "Friendship"

The players illustrate the leader’s words with the following actions:

• rhythmic interlacing of fingers in a lock with alternating positions of the right and left hands;
• alternately closing and tapping identical fingers against each other from the little finger to the thumb;
• shaking the hands at the end of the exercise.

Finger games for children 4-7 years old

The collection of finger games for older preschoolers should be extensive. For convenience, you can create a card index by topic. It is recommended to include various types of games in one lesson: for training finger movements, for attentiveness, for unleashing creative potential.

"Orange". One hand is clenched into a fist, the other clasps it. Then, one by one, the fingers of the hand clenched into a fist are moved to the side, starting with the little finger. At the end of the scene you need to shake both hands.

Sighting game “10 cockroaches”. When pronouncing words about the number of cockroaches, children need to put their hands forward, showing with protruding fingers the same number of cockroaches as the number of cockroaches specified by the rules of the game.

To illustrate how cockroaches scatter and hide, you need to quickly run your fingers (run them) over the backs, shoulders and arms of other players. As the game progresses, the number of cockroaches gradually decreases.

Game "Dishes". During the performance, you will need to consistently perform the following movements:

To complicate the task, you can give children the opportunity to come up with suitable movements themselves.

Games for developing gross motor skills (gesture games)

Finger games for children aged 3-4 years mainly train hand and finger movement skills. But you can offer your child other options for activities to develop coordination. Gesture games are useful for a child because they exercise gross motor skills of the whole body in a playful way.

Game "Morning Begins". The players are given the task of dramatizing the words of the presenter. To depict the arrival of morning, you need to draw a smooth semicircle with your hands in the air. Then stretching and rubbing the eyes with your hands are performed. The next action - closing and opening the eyes with the palms of the hands - demonstrates how windows open.

Next you need to clap your hands and jump in place. After this, the movements are repeated, illustrating the onset of morning, after which the players must rise on their toes, perform squats and bow.

Game "Matryoshka". During the game, players sequentially perform the following actions:

• both arms are raised up, turns are performed with the hands;
• the legs are alternately placed forward, while you need to step on your toes, then on your heel;
• you need to run around the room a little;
• then you need to slowly and smoothly walk around the room;
• the next action is illustrated by squatting, while you need to clasp your knees with your hands;
• the following words are accompanied by stamping of feet in place;
• The final movement of the game is a bow.

"The bear sleeps in his den." As the performance progresses, the palms pressed together are placed against the ear, then the face is covered on both sides with the hands. At the same time, head shakes are performed. Next, you need to tap the surface of the table or floor in front of you with your fingertips. At the end of the game, the palms folded together are again pressed to the ear.

Finger games for kids to develop fine motor skills

• Overspilling and transfusion. Perfectly stimulates the development of coordination and motor skills when working with bulk materials and liquids. You can invite the child to pour cereals from one container to another using a spoon, or complicate the task by asking the child to sort the small objects poured together. The main condition for the safety of such activities is the mandatory presence of an adult.

Thus, activities with children to improve motor skills are not limited to traditional finger games.

Any original solution that can diversify a child’s leisure time in the first, second, third, fourth and subsequent years of life can be aimed at improving motor activity. And organizing such activities in a playful way will only enhance the resulting effect.

Article format: Svetlana Ovsyanikova

Video on the topic: finger games for children 3-4 years old

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