The Finger Family song, or nursery rhyme, was originally found on YouTube as an upload from screen name Leehosook. In 2007 this rhyme made its debut and has accumulated quite a following. There are so many versions of this nursery rhyme, many of them are crowded into one YouTube video and can play for hours.
Breaking Down the Rhyme
This nursery rhyme is pretty simple. It starts with the thumb and each person in the family is given a different finger. Over time, there have been finger puppets designed to help children learn the song. Starting with the thumb, who is occupied by Daddy, the rhyme asks daddy finger where he is, and he responds accordingly. After his response, he asks how the person questioning where he’s at how they are doing. It continues the same question and answer pattern with the other fingers with Mommy finger being the pointer, brother the middle, sister the ring, and baby as the pinky finger.
Educational Aspects
Although this might seem like a very repetitive song, it is widely beneficial for children as it teaches them different necessary skills. Because a child can follow along with this rhyme, they are exercising their listening skills and learning how to follow directions. It can also help boost a child’s memory by recognizing the rhyme and keeping up with which finger corresponds with the lyric of the rhyme.
Notable Variations
As previously mentioned, there are an unknown amount of variations of this song. Many are piled onto a continuous video or playlist and shown via YouTube. One of the most notable versions or variations of this rhyme is the Mickey Mouse version where Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, and Goofy occupy the fingers. Another notable version is themed with the Disney movie Frozen, with Anna and Elsa as two finger puppet characters. Other versions have included Elmo, Trains, Giraffes, Minions, Winnie the Pooh characters, and of course cute, baby chicks.
Additional Interaction
If you’ve played the rhyme, and followed along, then you know when the first one goes off, chances are it will be replayed. There are other additional activities and interactions that children can have aside from watching the family finger YouTube video. There are coloring pages that can be found on different versions of the rhyme, or the original with the dad, mom, brother, sister, and baby. There are also activities scattered across the internet where children can create their own finger puppets and version of the rhyme.
The Statistics and Truth
Over the past decade the Finger Family rhyme has been viewed, or played, hundreds of thousands of times by both adults and children. It has proven that it can be a great learning experience for small children, from toddlers to preschoolers and even into kindergarten. They will enjoy hours of fun watching and singing along with their hands, increasing their hand-eye coordination as well as creating a moment of freedom for their parents.