We can SHAKE hands.

Activity: Shake hands with the person sitting next to you.

We can WAVE HELLO with our hands.

Activity: Wave hello to someone sitting across the room.

We can KNOCK with our hands.

Activity: Knock on the door, on your chairs, etc.

We can COVER OUR MOUTHS with our hands when

we cough or yawn.

Activity: Pretend to cough or yawn loudly and cover your mouth with your

hands.

We can POINT with our hands.

Activity: Call the name of different objects or pictures posted around the room and have children point to

them.

We can PICK THINGS UP with our fingers and thumbs.

Activity: Try to pick up a coin, a magnet, a paperclip, or some other small object WITHOUT using thumbs.

We can CLAP with our hands.

Activity: Sing Do as I’m Doing and have children clap high, low, fast, slow, softly, loudly, etc.

We can give HIGH FIVES with our hands.

Activity: Gimme 5 Game

1) Give me 5. (Child puts their palm to your palm.)

2) Up high. (Child raises their hand and you put your palm to theirs.)

3) Down low. (Child lowers their hand facing up and you put your palm to

theirs.)

4) Too slow! (Child puts their hand out and then quickly removes it before

you can put your palm to theirs.)

We can COUNT with our hands.

Activity: Count to 5 with the children.

We can FEEL THINGS with our hands.

Activity:

1) Give each child a square of bubble wrap.

2) Let children pop the bubbles.

3) Older children can count the bubbles as they pop them.

We can FEEL THINGS with our hands.

Activity: Let children feel the various textures (sandpaper, felt, stripes, reptile skin, fuzzy pompon).

(I bought the hand cutouts at Michael’s, and the colored hand cutouts (they come in all different colors) at a

local teacher supply store.

We can FEEL THINGS with our hands.

Activity: Let children make shapes with the pipe cleaners. (Be sure they don’t put them in their eyes, nose, etc.)

We can FEEL THINGS with our hands.

Activity: Have children reach in the bag, feel an object, guess the object, categorize the object by feel.

Soft

Smooth Hard

Rough

We can GET READY FOR CHURCH with our hands.

Activity: Pantomime each activity and have children mimic you.

We can use our hands in CHURCH.

Activity: Show pictures from the Primary manual of different things we do in church with our hands. Let

children take turns telling what is happening in each picture. (Praying, partaking of the sacrament (1-8),

sustaining people when they get callings, baptizing (1-11) and confirming people (1-12), blessing a baby (1-

39), blessing the sick (1-40), etc.)

We can use our hands to LEAD THE MUSIC.

Activity: Play Primary songs and let children use batons or sticks to lead the music. I bought mine for $1

each at Michael’s.

We can use our hands in CHURCH.

Activity: Print 2 copies of this EXCELLENT coloring page and have children play a matching game with it (or

color it).

Image source Eva F.: http://www.mormonshare.com/lds-clipart/i-am-thankful-for-my-hands-coloring-sheet

We can ROLL our hands.

Activity: Sing Roll Your Hands with the children to get them ready to listen reverently to your story about

Jesus blessing the little children.

Jesus used His hands to bless the little children.

Activity: Use the pictures listed above to tell children the story of Jesus blessing the little children from

Matthew 19:13-15 and/or 3 Nephi 17:21-25.

Photo: Montgomery, Cherice. (2012, June 13).

Use these images from the Gospel Art Picture Kit:

Gospel Art Picture Kit 216: Christ & the Children

Gospel Art Picture Kit 317: Jesus Healing the Nephites

Gospel Art Picture Kit 322: Jesus Blesses the Nephite Children

We can PLAY with our hands.

Activity: Let children bounce a ball, feed a doll, play with blocks, play a matching game, and/or beat a

drum made out of an oatmeal container.

We can CATCH with our hands.

Activity: Toss a soft object such as a bean bag or squishy ball to each child and let them catch it and then

toss it to another child.

We can THROW with our hands.

Activity: Let children take turns tossing a ball into a basket or a box.

We can PLAY GAMES with our hands.

Activity:

1) Demonstrate how to throw the ball up and grabbing jacks while it is in the air.

2) Give each child a ball and some plastic jacks. (I bought mine at the Dollar Tree.)

3) Let children practice playing jacks.

We can PLAY GAMES with our hands.

Activity: Explain to children that they cannot swat each other.

1) Seat children on the floor in pairs.

2) Put a set of pictures between each pair. (Use pictures from the “Get Ready for Church,” “Play,” and

“Work” pages of this document.)

3) Give each child a new flyswatter.

4) Say the name of one of the pictures.

5) Children race to be the first to swat the picture.

We can PLAY GAMES with our hands.

Activity: Let children play pick up sticks.

We can WORK with our hands.

Activity: Let children help pick up the toys, set the table with plastic dishes, etc.

We can WORK with our hands.

Activity: Let children take turns screwing a large screw into a small board.

We can WASH our hands.

Activity: Pantomime - Squirt the soap. Scrub your hands. Wash the back of your hands. Rinse your hands.

Dry your hands. (OR take children to the bathroom and let them actually wash their hands)

We can SHARE with our hands.

Activity: Let children practice giving things to one another (for example, breaking a doughnut, graham

cracker, piece of bread, or healthy snack in half and sharing it with a friend).

We can EAT with our hands.

Activity:

1) Demonstrate how to use chopsticks.

2) Give each child a small plate.

3) Put several large marshmallows on the plate.

4) Give each child a clean set of inexpensive chopsticks.

5) Let children try to use the chopsticks to put the marshmallows in their mouths.

We can TALK with our hands.

Activity: Teach children to sign I love you in ASL (or to sign a Primary song in ASL)

From http://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/34969/34969_000_020_01-

hands.pdf

We should NOT PUNCH with our hands.

Activity: Let children tell about a time when someone hit or punched them and how it made them feel.

We should NOT SCRATCH other people with our hands.

Baranski, Konrad. (2004, December 29). Hand emotion 6. Stock Xchng. Retrieved May 13, 2012, from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/233435 Photographer notified.

We should NOT PINCH other people with our hands.

Montgomery, Cherice. (2012, June 18). Pinch.

We can WRITE with our hands.

Activity: Allow children to practice writing their names in trays of sand or shaving cream.

We can MAKE THINGS with our hands.

Activity: Allow children to make butterflies or flowers from their handprints made with non-toxic finger paint

or pudding.

We can MAKE THINGS with our hands.

Activity: You can distribute this handout created with scrapbook paper and stickers at the end of the lesson.

Children can trace their hands on the back and you can help them put their fingerprint on each finger. (See

the next page.)

My FINGERPRINTS are unique and show that I am special.

Activity:

1) Give a crayon and paper to each child.

2) Help children trace their hands.

3) Help children write their name on the wrist of their hand.

4) Help children put their fingerprint on each finger.

5) Use baby wipes to clean the children’s hands.

I am thankful

for my

hands. They

remind me I

am special.