Hand game

This article is about games played with the hands. For the feature in card games, see Hand game (cards).

Mushi-ken, a Japanese hand game (1809)

Hand games are games played using only the hands of the players.^[1] Hand games exist in a variety of cultures internationally, and are of interest to academic studies in ethnomusicology and music education.^[1][2] Hand games are used to teach music literacy skills and socio-emotional learning in elementary music classrooms internationally.^[3][4][5]

Examples of hand games

• Chopsticks (sticks)
• Clapping games
• Mercy
• Morra (finger counting)
• Odds and evens
• Pat-a-cake and variations:
  • Mary Mack
• Red hands (or hand-slap game)
• Rock paper scissors
• Thumb war (or thumb wrestling)
• "Where are your keys?" (language acquisition game)

Less strictly, the following may be considered hand games:

• Bloody knuckles
• Fingers (drinking game)
• Jacks
• Knife game
• Spellbinder
• Stick gambling
• String games, such as cat's cradle

References

1. Edward Norbeck, Claire R. Farrer, ed. (1977). Forms of play of native North Americans. St. Paul, Minnesota: West. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
2. Catherine McLaughlin (2009). "Cultural hand games inspire students". Alberta Sweetgrass. 4 (16): 8.
3. Gluschankof, Claudia; Kenney, Susan Hobson (2011). "Music Literacy in an Israeli Kindergarten". General Music Today. 25 (1): 45–49. doi:10.1177/1048371311414880. S2CID 144182018.
4. Jacobi, Bonnie S (December 1, 2012). Opportunities for Socioemotional Learning in Music Classrooms. Vol. 99. pp. 68–74. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
5. Lau, Wai-Tong (October 1, 2005). Twentieth-century school music literature in China: a departure from tradition. Vol. 17. p. 33. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)