The development of children's speech is a complex psychophysical process that develops on the basis of biological and psychological factors, but is also under the influence of the environment. Speech is a social phenomenon and its development is possible only in the conditions of the human environment. Interaction and communication with adults, with whom the child has established a socio-emotional relationship, plays an essential role in speech development. It is crucial to encourage and nurture speech in children because it takes into account the individuality of each child and, accordingly, creates a stimulating environment. It is important to draw attention to the scientific understanding of the relation between speech and movement, especially the relationship between hand and speech. The important fact is that speech is related to motor skills, especially the fine motor ones. When the development of fine motor skills lags, speech development lags too. Many studies have led to the conclusion that the formation of important speech zones is realized under the influence of the fingers' nerve impulses. The aim of this paper is to show the relationship between speech and movement, i.e. how speech develops parallel to the development of motor skills and to show the external influences that can affect speech development and fine motoring in early and pre-school children. Nursery rhymes and finger plays are one of the stimuli for speech and fine motor development and are used in the research process. In the remainder of the paper, the results and conclusions of the conducted research on the influence of nursery rhymes and finger plays on the development of speech and movement in children of early and pre-school age are presented.