"First you make your fingers click" is the first line of a very simple song which you can teach to children. Although it is quite short, there are a number of variations which you can try with the children. The song, words and score can be found below:

Song:

Click on the triangle to hear the tune...

During the tune, you should hear four "Ding" sounds.
These indicate the position of the Action words (in CAPITALS below) in the tune.

If you would like to download a copy of this song, so you can listen to in your classrooms, click here and (when prompted) save it.
Fredda Rosenbaum has also contributed a version of this song using Finale software. Click here to download it.

Words:

"First you make your fingers CLICK,

Then you STAMP your feet,

Both hands SLAP your knees,

And CLAP on the beat."

Score:

Activities related to the song:

1) Teach the song to the children and sing together a number of times until they are comfortable with it, and know it well.

2) Include ACTIONS - When the children sing an action word (CLICK, STAMP, SLAP and CLAP), they should carry out that particular action. Encourage them to make sure that they click/stamp/slap/clap at the same time as they sing the action word.

3) Include ACTIONS, and omit ACTION WORDS - Do the actions, but do not sing the action words. The sound of the action should therefore replace the actual action word.

4) Omit ACTIONS and ACTION WORDS - Leave a silent pause where the action words / actions should be.

5) Omit all words except ACTIONS and ACTION WORDS - Only sing the action words, and do the actions. This is quite difficult, and should be tried only when the children are very familiar with the tune. You might wish to make the task a little easier, but tapping the beat of the tune.

6) Sing the song in two-part and four-part rounds - Split the class into two. Group 1 sings the song, and when they start singing the second line, group 2 should start singing (from the beginning of the song). This can also be tried with four groups.

You could also try activities 2, 3, 4 and 5 when singing in two and four-part rounds.

---

Rate / Review this idea: