LHTH’s Fingerplay Box of Plans
This “Inside the Guide” series provides a quick snapshot of Little Hands to Heaven (LHTH)! It’s a handy “how-to” reference, just one box of plans at a time. Have you ordered Little Hands to Heaven from Heart of Dakota? Thank you – so fun! Are you getting excited to start? Totally understandable! Well, here’s your quick-start “Inside the Guide” for…LHTH’s Fingerplay box of plans!
Quick Start Info
Time It Takes: 5 minutes
Days It’s On: Days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Description: Fingerplays teach letter sounds, encourage left-right brain integration, and practice motor skills in a fun and imaginative way. As students learn a new fingerplay each week, they perform accompanying hand motions keyed to letters and their sounds at the same time. Fingerplays coordinate with the Bible stories and match the weekly history theme. As children perform the fingerplays, they learn important skills. They retell Bible stories, count and keep track of numbers, learn letter sounds with matching motions, develop rhyme and rhythm, practice listening skills and memorization, learn how to sing to a tune, become familiar with the days of the week, and more!
A Handy How-ToÂ
Each Fingerplay is right after each week’s “Day 1” plans in the LHTH guide. You keep the same Fingerplay for a week. As you say the left side of the Fingerplay, you act out the right side – line by line. Your children will follow your lead, as they cannot read yet! So, have some fun with it! Every five weeks, there is a Fingerplay review called “What Do You Know?”. It includes one main line from each previous Fingerplay as a review. At the end of LHTH, the last Fingerplay goes through the entire alphabet with sounds and motions. Since the Fingerplays also match the chronological history, they also act as a mini-timeline review of what they learned in history. Children take such joy in being able to do this!
Box Specific Notes
I like to put a sticky note/flag in my guide to bookmark the Fingerplay for the week. We like to do our Fingerplays in our living room – more space and a comfy rug to stand and move upon! I prop my guide open on the couch, so I can see it easily. I usually do a trial run or two on my own on Day 1, just to get my actions matching my words down a bit!
Since the Fingerplay is based on the Bible Story, I always do the Bible Story box first. After reading the Bible Story cuddled up on the couch, we are ready to get up and move. Either the Bible Activity or the Fingerplay work well next, as they involve movement! Since the Letter Activity uses the main line, letter sound, and hand motion from the Fingerplay, it’s best paired with the Fingerplay. So, a winning order to do these boxes in might be Bible Story, Bible Activity, Fingerplay, Letter Activity!
The Fingerplay may seem so “fun” that it’s easy to miss how much it is teaching! My sons all had an easier start to phonics the next year thanks to LHTH’s Fingerplays… not to mention the left-right brain coordination, memorization, letters/sounds/motions, and Bible stories – so much there!
Finally, have FUN with the Fingerplays! If you do, your children will – attitudes are catchy!
