Hand Pictures
Mix tempera paint to consistency of cream and spread it on a sheet of plastic. Let the children place their hands in the paint and then decorate pieces of construction paper with handprints.
Variation: An upside-down handprint makes a nice "Christmas Tree", and two overlapped handprints make a pretty "heart".
Musical Fingers
Select a variety of music to play. Give the children large pieces of paper with spoonsful of fingerpaint placed in the centers. Play the music and let the children fingerpaint to it. Encourage them to move their fingers and hands to the rhythms and tempos of the different kinds of music.
Hand Coupons
Have the children each make handprints on four or five sheets of paper. Staple the papers together and let the children give them to family members or friends as gift coupon books. Recipients can tear out the pages and present them to the children when they need helping hands.
Big Hands, Little Hands
Cut a big hand shape and a little hand shape out of each of the following colors of construction paper: red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple. Put the shapes in a pile. Let the children take turns matching the hands by color or sorting them by size.
See What We Can Do
Read the following poem to the children. Have them listen carefully and move their hands as described in the poem.
Hands, hands, hands, hands,
See what we can do.
Hands, hands, hands, hands,
See what we can do.
Shake, shake, shake, shake,
That's what we can do.
Shake, shake, shake, shake,
That's what we can do.
Clap, clap, clap, clap,
That's what we can do.
Clap, clap, clap, clap,
That's what we can do.
Snap, snap, snap, snap,
That's what we can do.
Snap, snap, snap, snap,
That's what we can do.
This Old Hand
Sung to : "This Old Man"
This old hand, finger one,
It's the same as my thumb.
With a nick-nack paddy-wack,
Give a dog a bone.
This old hand is going home.
This old hand, finger two,
I can place it on my shoe.
With a nick-nack paddy-wack,
Give a dog a bone.
This old hand is going home.
This old hand, finger three,
I can place it on my knee.
With a nick-nack paddy-wack,
Give a dog a bone.
This old hand is going home.
This old hand, finger four,
I can tap it on the floor.
With a nick-nack paddy-wack,
Give a dog a bone.
This old hand is going home.
This old hand, finger five,
It's a baby by its size.
With a nick-nack paddy-wack,
Give a dog a bone.
This old hand is going home.
Roll, Roll, Roll Your Hands
Sung to : "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"
Roll, roll, roll your hands,
Slowly as can be.
Roll them slow as you go,
Roll them one, two, three.
Roll, roll, roll your hands,
Fast as fast can be.
Roll them fast, don't be last,
Roll them one, two, three.
Additional verses: "Clap, clap, clap your hands. Wave, wave, wave your hands. Tap, tap, tap your hands."
Exploring Hands
Have the children examine their hands. Then let them experiment with different ways of moving their hands, fingers, and wrists. Have them stand still and see how far out and how far up and down they can stretch their hands. How would they use their hands to pick up something heavy? Could they lift it high over their heads? How would they pick up something slimy, something sticky or something round? Can they make their hands look like gentle hands, mean hands, strong hands, weak hands, working hands, or playful hands?
Finger Foods
Provide carrot sticks, apple slices, and cheese sticks for the children to eat with their fingers at snacktime.
Hand Cookies
Use a favorite recipe to make cookies and let the children help roll out the cookie dough. Place the children's hands on the dough and trace around them. Then cut out the shapes and use a toothpick to write the children's names on their hand cookies. Bake according to your recipe directions.