Open Shut Them Lyrics
The oldest printing on this page, from 1916, starts the other way round from the version most families know: 'Shut them, open'. The hand play is the same, with a clap, a creep up to the chin and a twirl at the end.
Open Shut Them
Shut them, open; shut them, open;
Give a little clap;
Open, shut them; open, shut them;
Fold them in your lap;
Creep them, creep them, creep them, creep them.
To the little chin;
Open wide the little mouth,
And pop a finger in.
Shut them, open; shut them, open.
To the shoulders fly;
Open, shut them; open, shut them,
Up into the sky;
Falling, falling, falling, falling.
Almost to the ground;
Hold them up in front of you
And twirl them round and round
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/open-shut-them/
- Type
- Action Songs
- Tune
- Chanted or sung to a simple walking tune, slowly at first
- Best for ages
- 1 to 4 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Shut them, open; shut them, open | Close both hands into fists, then spread the fingers wide, twice. |
| Give a little clap | Clap the hands together once, softly. |
| Open, shut them; open, shut them | Open the hands wide, then close them, twice. |
| Fold them in your lap | Rest the hands in the lap with the fingers folded together. |
| Creep them, creep them, creep them, creep them | Walk the fingers of both hands up the tummy and chest, one small step per word. |
| To the little chin | Stop the creeping fingers under the chin. |
| Open wide the little mouth, and pop a finger in | Open the mouth wide, then touch one finger to the lips or pop it just inside. |
| To the shoulders fly | Lift both hands up to the shoulders, fingers fluttering. |
| Up into the sky | Stretch both arms up over the head. |
| Falling, falling, falling, falling | Wiggle the fingers all the way down in front of the body. |
| Hold them up in front of you and twirl them round and round | Hold both hands up and turn the wrists in circles. |
What Does Open Shut Them Mean?
The rhyme is a little set of hand exercises. Closing and opening the fists, a clap, a rest in the lap, a creep up the body, a flutter to the shoulders and a slow fall back down: every line gives the hands something different to do, and every motion is one a one-year-old can copy.
The order is the point of the old wording. This 1916 printing begins Shut them, open, so the hands start closed, the way a baby's often are, and then open. Most people today begin with open. Both orders work, and a parent can start whichever way the child's hands happen to be.
The creeping fingers climb to the chin, the mouth opens wide, and one finger pops in. The second verse repeats the open-and-shut pattern, sends the hands up to the shoulders and the sky, and lets them drift down before the final twirl. The words give no reason for any of it; the pleasure is in the rhythm and the surprise of the finger at the mouth.
History and Origin
This page follows the form printed in The Mothercraft Manual (Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1916) by Mary L. Read, the director of the School of Mothercraft in New York. Her book was written for mothers and nurses, and it has a whole section of Nursery Finger Plays.
The same book sorts games by age. For children from one to three years it names motor control, finger plays, hiding, observation, surprise, guessing and imitation as the kinds of play that suit that stage, and Shut them, open is on that list. Games of this kind give small hands practice and give the child something to copy.
Learning Activities
- Both ways round: say the rhyme once starting with shut and once with open, and let the child tell you which feels more natural.
- Chin creep: have the child be the creeper and walk the fingers up your arm to your chin while you say the word four times.
- Slow falling: try the falling verse very slowly, with the fingers moving down one line at a time, and see whether the child can stop at the point where the words say almost to the ground.
- Twirl at the end: turn the wrists in circles while sitting on a parent's lap, then change to big arm circles standing up.