8 Games Kids Can Play With Their Hands

Kids can have all the toys they want and still require entertaining sometimes, leaving parents wondering what they can do to entertain their kids. At times like these, it is a good idea to fall back on the good old tradition of hand games that delighted us in our childhood.

Video: 4 Fun Games Kids Can Play With Their Hands

8 Fun and Easy Hand Games for Kids

Here are some fun and easy hand games that you can teach your kids:

1. Shadow Puppets

Best played in a dark room or a room that has a blank wall, this game simply requires you to have a flashlight or lamp and your creativity.

How To Play:

• Sit before a blank wall with your kids and keep a bright flashlight or a lamp behind you so that you are sitting between the lamp and wall.
• Using your hands, show your child how to make different animals and things with their hands.
• Once you have mastered forming some sort animals with your hands, you can even come up with a fun story and enact it with your shadow hand puppets.

2. Finger Spelling Game

This is one of the most simple, yet entertaining handheld games for kids.

How To Play:

• This game can be played with just two people.
• The two players hold hands, while one of them closes their eyes.
• The second player will trace an alphabet, number, or for bigger kids, small words, onto the hand of the player whose eyes are closed.
• This player will need to guess what is being traced onto his or her hand using only their sense of touch.
• If successful, he or she wins, otherwise, the person who finger-traced is the winner.

3. Pat-a-Cake

This is one of the best hand clapping games for kids.

How To Play:

• You will need to sing the rhyme “Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,
  Bake me a cake, as fast as you can,
  Pat it and prick it and mark it with a B,
  And put it in the oven for baby and me!”
• At the same time, you will need to follow a basic clapping pattern where you alternate between clapping one hand with your child and then by clapping both your hands together.
• If you want to spice the game up, you can create your own sequences.

4. Thumb Wrestling

This is a classic game you must have played during your childhood.

How To Play: 

• The two opponents will need to curl their fingers and lock hands together, ensuring there is moving space only for the thumbs.
• Count to five to prepare and then declare a thumb war.
• The two players will need to wrestle with only their thumbs. The winner is whoever manages to pin down their opponent’s thumb for three seconds.

5. Palm Slaps

 A game meant to be played with two people, this is a childhood hand game that requires quick reflexes.

How To Play:

• Two players stand opposite each other.
• One player will keep her palms facing upward and hands held in front of them.
• The second player will need to hold her hands above the first.
• Player one will need to quickly try slapping the back of player two’s hands
• Player two will need to move his hands away quickly to avoid the slap.
• If player one lands a slap on the back of player two’s hands, she is the winner.

6. Stone-Paper-Scissors

There are few people who do not know about this game. It is sometimes used to solve disputes, both between kids and adults.

How To Play:

• The game consists of three hand symbols, ‘stone’ is a closed fist, ‘paper’ is an open hand; and ‘scissors’ where the index and middle finger are outstretched and the others fingers touch each other.
• All players will need to stand facing each other and will need to count to three or say “Stone, paper, scissors” and at the same time make one of the shapes with their hands.
• The rules are that stone breaks scissors, scissors cuts paper and paper wraps rock, so if one player makes a rock sign and the other player a paper sign, the player who made paper wins that round. It is often played in groups of three.

7. Hand Stacking Game

This game doesn’t require a specific amount of players.

How To Play:

• Take turns to stack your hands one on top of the others, with the child whose hand is at the bottom, moving it to the top.
• You can continue this game on to stack hands as high as the kids can reach.
• You can also go low and stack hands downwards.

8. Addition Game

This is a fun way of practising maths and also staying entertained.

How To Play:

• This game can be played like as ‘Stone-Paper-Scissors’ but instead of using specific hand symbols, you will need to use your fingers to show a certain amount.
• If, after the starting count, player one holds out three fingers and player two holds out four, the aim is to quickly add the two numbers together for the answer.
• You can move on to another round once the right answer is reached.

The games mentioned above are not only great for those times when toys aren’t enough, but they can be played in cars, while waiting in lines, or any other time you need to entertain your child with nothing at hand- except for your hands.

Also Read:

Best Board Games for Children
Exciting Indoor Games for Children
Writing Activities and Games for Kids