Wind the bobbin - a simple rhyme to practise pointing

What you need 

• Space to sit comfortably, where you won’t mind singing! 

The steps 

• Sit facing your baby or next to them so they can see your hands and face as you sing.  
• Sing ‘Wind the bobbin up,’ and do the actions with your hands. Here are the words and actions: 

“Wind the bobbin up, wind the bobbin up.” (move your hands over each other in front of you)  

“Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap.” (bring your hands together, then pull them apart and then clap three times)   

“Wind it back again, wind it back again.” (move your hands over each other in front of you – in the opposite direction)  

“Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap.” (repeat the same actions as last time) 

“Point to the ceiling, point to the floor.  

Point to the window, point to the door.” (Point each item as you sing its name) 

“Clap your hands together one, two, three,” (clap three times) 

“Put your hands upon you knee.” (as the line says!) 

Benefits for your child 

• Watching, and eventually learning, action rhymes helps your baby to bring together motor movements, language awareness and cognitive skills. They are learning how to do the actions, but also how to recognise the words they represent and recalling when to do each one.  
• It is a great rhyme to repeat when your baby is learning to point, as not only does it give them a fun way to practise, it also helps them realise that pointing at an item will bring other people’s attention to it, when you all look in the direction pointed at. 

Building on 

• In the last verse you could change the words and point to different objects, look towards the objects as you point and your baby will see how pointing is used to direct attention.