Mushi-ken (虫拳), Japanese rock-paper-scissors variant, from the Kensarae sumai zue (1809)

Hand games are

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

s played using only the

hands A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...

of the players. Hand games exist in a variety of cultures internationally, and are of interest to academic studies in

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

and

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

. Hand games are used to teach music literacy skills and socio-emotional learning in elementary music classrooms internationally.

Examples of hand games

Chopsticks Chopsticks ( or ; Pinyin: ''kuaizi'' or ''zhu'') are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks of China, Chinese origin that have been used as Kitchen utensil, kitchen and List of eating utensils, eating utensils in most of East Asia, East and Southe ...

(sticks) *

Clapping game A clapping game (or hand game) is a type of usually cooperative (i.e., non-competitive) game which is generally played by two players and involves clapping as a rhythmic accompaniment to a singing game or reciting of a rhyme, often nursery rh ...

s *

Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...

* Morra (finger counting) * Odds and evens *

Pat-a-cake "Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker’s Man", "Pat-a-Cake", "Patty-cake" or "Pattycake" is an English nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 6486. Verse :Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man. :Bake me a cake as fast as you can :R ...

and variations: **

Mary Mack "Mary Mack" ("Miss Mary Mack") is a clapping game of unknown origin. It is first attested in the book The ''Counting Out Rhymes of Children'' by Henry Carrington Bolton (1888), whose version was collected in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It is wel ...

Red hands Red hands, also known as hot hands,Jim Elliott, Lois Jean Brady, America X. Gonzalez (2011). ''Speech in Action: Interactive Activities Combining Speech Language Pathology and Adaptive Physical Education'', p.65. Jessica Kingsley. . slapsies, ...

(or hand-slap game) *

Rock paper scissors Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...

Thumb war A thumb war (also called thumb wrestling, pea-knuckle or pea-knuckle war in New Zealand) is a game played by two players in which the thumbs are used to simulate fighting. The objective of the game is to pin the opponent's thumb, often to a count ...

(or thumb wrestling) * " Where are your keys?" (language acquisition game) Less strictly, the following may be considered hand games: *

Bloody knuckles Bloody knuckles is a game in which each player makes a fist with the thumb wrapped around the other fingers. Then each fist punches the other's fist. Players who flinch are out of the game. Whoever lasts the longest before quitting wins the ga ...

Fingers A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers (Pentadactyly). Chambers 1 ...

(drinking game) * Jacks *

Knife game The knife game, pinfinger, nerve, bishop, knife fingies, five finger fillet (FFF), Chicken or the stab between the fingers game , is a game wherein, placing the palm of one's hand down on a table with fingers apart, using a knife (such as a pock ...

* Spellbinder *

Stick gambling Stick gambling is a traditional hand game played by many indigenous people, with the rules varying among each group. It would typically be played when diverse groups met on the trail. Games could last for several days during which prized matches ...

String game A string figure is a design formed by manipulating string on, around, and using one's fingers or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may also involve the use of the mouth, wrist, and feet. They may consist of sing ...

s, such as

cat's cradle Cat's cradle is a game involving the creation of various string figures between the fingers, either individually or by passing a loop of string back and forth between two or more players. The true origin of the name is debated, though the fi ...

Reference

* {{Game-stub