Handy Hands - Activity Instructions

Tune In

Sing ‘Open, Shut them’ with the group.

Open shut them, open shut them, give a little clap.

Open shut them, open shut them, lay them in your lap.

Creep them, creep them, creep them, creep them, right up to your chin.

Open wide your little mouth, but do not let them in.

You may choose to show the children this video to help them learn the actions and words.

Open Shut Them 👐 Song for Toddlers and Babies 👶 Children's Nursery Rhyme 🎶 The Wiggles - (youtube.com/watch?v=sFEdsnPRN5Q)

Find Out

Now, think about the different ways we use our hands throughout our day. Prompt children by saying, “In that song we just used our hands in lots of different ways. We opened and closed our fists, we clapped our hands, we creeped our hands up to our chin and we put our hands in our laps. Our hands help us do lots of things throughout the day. Can you think of things you do with your hands every day?”

The answers you receive here will be wide and varied, highlighting the idea that we use our hands to assist us throughout the day.

Take Action

Remind the children of Sam in ‘What happened to your hand?’,

Who can remember Sam’s hand?
How did his hands look the same as yours and how did his hands look different to yours?
What things would Sam be able to do with his hands?
What things might Sam find more difficult to do with his hands?
What could Sam do with his hands that you can’t do with yours?

Ask the children, “I wonder what life would be like if our hands were different to the ones we have?”

Invite children to choose a different hand (boxing glove, grabbing claw, oven mitt, tongs, hand puppet, etc.) and explore the room/yard with their new hand. As children explore their familiar surroundings, encourage them to try different tasks, such as

taking shoes off and putting them on
drawing a picture
building a sand castle
picking up both small and large objects
drinking water.

As the children are exploring, engage with them using questions such as

What are you finding more difficult?
What can you do that you couldn’t do before?
What are you doing differently with your new hand?

At the end of the experience, ask children to reflect on their experience and the impact others had on their experience.

Was there anything you could do with your new hand that you couldn’t do before?
Was there anything you missed out on because your hand was different?
When things were a little more difficult, did you prefer to try a different way all by yourself, or did you prefer to have a little help from your friends?
How did your friends make you feel when something was a bit more difficult than normal?

Handy Hands

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Summary

Activity Type

Target Age

Activity Guides and Printables

Activity Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

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