Finger gymnastics as a means of developing speech and fine motor skills
Chapter 1. Theoretical foundations of the use of finger gymnastics as a means of developing speech and fine motor skills of the hands of a child of primary preschool age
1. 1 From the history of the emergence of educational technology of finger games
The priority for recognizing finger games as official pedagogy belongs to German specialists. Back in 1873, the outstanding German teacher Friedrich Froebel highlighted the educational significance of finger games and included them in the curriculum of the kindergartens he created. Froebel suggested that it was the association of the sound and meaning of words with the child's own body that best suited the learning style of young children. At that time, there could be no theoretical justification for this method; Froebel made conclusions based on his own observations and intuition.
Previously, there were many folk finger games, nursery rhymes that accompanied the childhood of our great-grandmothers and grandmothers, games that are now forgotten or half-forgotten. Over the last decade, experts have been searching for and reviving such games, turning to ethnographers, folklorists, philologists for help, using specialized literature, and conducting surveys in various regions of Russia. Many of the newfound games are not outdated and are naturally perceived by children. The child encountered folk finger games already in the cradle, or rather, on the lap of his mother, grandmother, or nanny. These were not games yet, but nursery rhymes and nursery rhymes - fun between an adult and a child. Few people know that everyone’s favorite “Magpie-Crow”
doesn't end with the wiggling of the slacker little finger:
«You didn’t carry wood, you didn’t carry water.”
The game had a continuation.
The adult says: “Know in advance: The water here is cold”
(and stroked the child’s wrist).
“ It’s warm here”
(stroked it at the elbow);
“It’s hot in here”
(stroking it near the shoulder);
“And here it’s boiling water, boiling water!”
(tickled under the arm).
This fun game allows the child to feel the joy of physical contact, to feel his fingers, palm, elbow, shoulder; to realize oneself in the system of bodily coordinates, and ultimately to formulate a body diagram. This prevents the occurrence of many neuroses in the future and gives a person a sense of self-control. Similar games are found among many nations.
1.2The influence of finger games on a child’s development
Finger games develop a child's brain, stimulate speech development, creativity, and imagination. Simple movements help to remove tension not only from the hands themselves, but also to relax the muscles of the whole body. They can improve the pronunciation of many sounds. In general, the better the fingers and the entire hand work, the better the child speaks. Why is this so? Let's figure it out. The fact is that the hand has the largest “representation” in the cerebral cortex, therefore the development of the hand plays an important role in the formation of the brain and the formation of speech. And that is why the child’s verbal speech begins when the movements of his fingers achieve sufficient accuracy. The child’s hands, as it were, prepare the ground for the subsequent development of speech. In addition, the goal of classes to develop dexterity and accuracy of the fingers is to develop the relationship between the hemispheres of the brain and the synchronization of their work. In the right hemisphere of the brain we have various images of objects and phenomena, and in the left they are verbalized, that is, they find verbal expression, and this process occurs thanks to the “bridge” between the right and left hemispheres. The stronger this bridge, the faster and more often nerve impulses travel along it, the more active the thought processes, more precisely the attention, the higher the abilities. If you want your child to speak well, learn quickly and easily, and deftly perform even the most delicate work, start developing his hands: fingers and hands from an early age. Finger games have been common among a variety of peoples for a long time. In China, exercises with stone and metal balls are common. Regular exercises with them improve memory, activity of the cardiovascular and digestive systems, eliminate emotional stress, develop coordination of movements, strength and dexterity of the hands, and maintain vitality. And in Japan, exercises for palms and fingers with walnuts are widely used. Rolling a hexagonal pencil between your palms has an excellent effect. And from an early age we were taught to play “Ladushki”, “White-sided Magpie”, “Horned Goat”. Today, experts are reviving old games and inventing new ones. Finger games can be said to be an excellent universal, didactic and developmental material. The methodology and meaning of these games is that the nerve endings of the hands affect the child’s brain and brain activity is activated. For school learning, it is very important that the child has well-developed fine motor skills. Finger games are good helpers for preparing a child’s hand for writing and developing coordination. And in order for speech to develop at the same time, you can use small rhymes, counting rhymes, and songs for such games. In principle, teachers and parents themselves can “translate any poetic works of this kind onto their fingers,” i.e. come up with movements for the fingers that accompany speech - at first simple, uncomplicated, and then complicate these movements. Thanks to finger games, the child receives a variety of sensory impressions, he develops attentiveness and the ability to concentrate. Such games form good relationships between adults and children.
Article:
Working with young children, it was noted that in recent years the level of speech development of children entering kindergarten has noticeably decreased.
Many children, when they come to kindergarten, do not yet know how to talk. Parents talk less to their children because many of them are busy at work. Children themselves speak less because they watch and listen more (TV-audio-video). They rarely do anything with their own hands, because modern toys and things are designed as conveniently as possible, but are not effective for the development of motor skills (clothes and shoes with Velcro instead of laces and buttons, books and manuals with stickers). Children like to change dolls' clothes or simply take off their clothes, but they have difficulty buttoning and unbuttoning buttons and zippers on clothes. Some children find it difficult to hold a spoon correctly. This suggests that children have poorly developed small arm muscles and poor coordination of movements.
Therefore, I consider the need to work with children to develop fine motor skills to be an important factor.
To do this, I try to create all the necessary conditions in the group to obtain positive results.
A book corner has been decorated - the center of your favorite fairy tales. The available materials are arranged in such a way that children freely choose toys and books.
In the play area, children enthusiastically play with mosaics, pyramids, and tableware, while communicating with each other, trying to help them arrange objects correctly and name them.
For the development and correction of visual-spatial orientation, there are small toys; buttons, beads, geometric shapes. A sufficient number of educational games, various types of lacing, inserts.
To optimize my activities, I compiled a card index of games to develop fine motor skills and finger coordination.
Children are given the opportunity to play games with clothespins and small toys.
In free independent activity, the child develops himself and freely chooses activities that suit his abilities and interests. Here I act as a partner.
In my work I use different forms and methods of organizing children's activities. Each of them takes its place in the pedagogical process.
Together with the children, we learn to draw birds and animals with our fingers, learn quatrains about them, for example, in the game “Hen and Chicks.” When performing exercises, together with the children I try to use the fingers of both hands. Efficiency and interest in a particular activity increased if finger gymnastics exercises were accompanied by poems or nursery rhymes, for example, “The White-sided Magpie,” “Cabbage.” While listening, children at the same time try to “stage” the content of the material they are listening to using finger movements and images of the character, their actions. As plot material I use the works of S. Mikhalkov, S. Marshak, K. Chukovsky and others.
Construction (LEGO constructor) is of great interest. While working with the details of the construction set, children communicate with each other; in addition, the fine muscles of the fingers, imagination, and creative activity develop. Children learned to establish contacts in everyday life and through independent games.
To activate children's vocabulary, I give preference to folklore and Russian folk tales. Fairy tales are more accessible to preschool children; children respond emotionally to them.
Of no small importance in the development of fine motor skills and speech of a child are exercises to develop a generalized motor image of an object, which I carry out in individual work with children. For example, lacing, tying and untying bows, fastening and unbuttoning buttons.
I gradually include the child in the dressing process. They button and unfasten their own buttons and zippers. This not only develops hand movements, but also teaches the child to be independent.
In addition, I suggest that the children, fingering the knots of string or beads with their fingers, name in order the objects, pictures or names of the children in the group that are on the table.
In contacts with parents I use visual and textual means “Playing with fingers”, “Playing at home”. I conduct consultations, parent meetings, give recommendations and advice.
Working on the development of speech in children of primary preschool age through the development of fine motor skills and coordination of finger movements, I achieved certain results. According to my observations, the coordination of the articulatory apparatus has improved in children, their vocabulary has expanded, and children love to play finger games.
How to do finger gymnastics?
Babies can perform finger exercises directly after about a year. From this time you can start classes. To make them interesting, usually each game is accompanied by a certain rhythmic text - poems, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, which are “dramatized” with the help of fingers and palms. An adult must pronounce the words of the game rhythmically and expressively. This helps the child learn to formulate his speech correctly and beautifully. Children's imagination is actively involved in the game, and they do the exercises with pleasure.
The basic rules for such activities are as follows.
- An adult’s hands should not be cold (after all, games involve both demonstration of movements, as well as their correction and mutual participation).
- Before starting gymnastics, you need to do a general warm-up for your hands and fingers so that they warm up and become more pliable (just as it is important for an athlete to stretch the necessary muscles before a performance or match).
- During games, it is important to ensure that the child uses all fingers in the exercises.
- When carrying out such gymnastics, parents should not only monitor how the child performs the exercises, but also exert a tactile influence on the baby’s hands (stroking, tickling).
- Games should not be held in a forced manner, otherwise they will do more harm than good.
- The key to success is systematic training.
Advice
For children who can already make choices and have preferences, you can create a card index of games. Teach your child to look at the pictures on the cards so he can choose which exercises he wants to do that day. Follow his choice for several days. Try to somehow change those exercises that he systematically rejects: choose a more lively text, add emotions, change the picture on the card, dilute the game, for example, with rhythmic musical accompaniment.
If a child under 3 years of age has lost interest in finger gymnastics in an “ideal” form, you can switch him to another type of exercise - playing with objects:
- rolling round objects (plastic balls, balls, small fruits) across the table or floor;
- sorting cereals or small construction parts;
- pyramid assembly;
- building a tower from cubes;
- putting together a mosaic;
- painting with fingers (on flour, sand, cereals, scattered in a thin layer);
- examination by touch of materials with different textures (silk, fur, polyethylene, wood, metal, feathers, plastic, terry or woolen items, etc.).
From about 2 years old, you can transfer finger games with children to paper. You can roll it into balls or roll it into thin paper strips. Fingers work great if you ask the child to tear small pieces from a whole sheet. Let the child put the resulting scraps into a small glass.
