Here Is the Church, Here Is the Steeple Lyrics
A four-line finger play in which the hands become a church, then a steeple, then the parson and all the people.
Here Is the Church, Here Is the Steeple
Here is the church,
Here is the steeple,
Here is the parson,
And all the people.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/here-is-the-church-here-is-the-steeple/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Spoken slowly with the hands
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Here is the church | Put your hands together with the fingers folded in to make the church. |
| Here is the steeple | Raise your two index fingers together to make the steeple. |
| Here is the parson | Show a thumb or one finger for the parson. |
| And all the people | Open the hands and wiggle all the fingers to show the people. |
What Does Here Is the Church, Here Is the Steeple Mean?
Each line is a different shape made with the hands. The first line makes the church, the second makes the steeple on its roof, the third shows the parson, who is the person who leads the service, and the last wiggles all the fingers for the people inside.
The pleasure of the game is the surprise of the last line, when the closed building opens and the people appear.
History and Origin
William Wells Newell prints the verse in Games and Songs of American Children. He says that little girls say it with appropriate motions of the closed fist, or of the inverted hand with raised fingers.
Learning Activities
- Open the church: let each child make the church with their hands, then turn it over to see the people.
- Hand shapes: invent shapes for a house, a barn or a boat, with their own four-line rhyme.
- Count the people: wiggle ten fingers and count them out loud.
- Draw a church: draw a church with a steeple, a door and a crowd of people.