Slapping and clapping hand games are a teaching tool

Hand games. Photo by Robin L. Jessie-Green

Do you remember "Miss Mary Mack", "numbers" and other hand clapping games? Kids are still playing them while sitting on the cement steps in front of Philadelphia row homes everyday. While standing on the sidewalk blocking passersby, frantically clapping and slapping hands together in rhythmic patterns, our kids are learning.

According to Dr. Anita Sethi, Ph. D., a New York University child-development researcher, hand clapping games as early as the “patty-cake” game, teaches “pre-math concepts” and “pattern finding”, as well as predictions for what’s to come (Babytalk, May 2009).

The “numbers” game especially helps with counting and memory because the amount of claps increases as the game progresses. If your little one hasn’t experienced a clapping game yet, start clapping so he or she can partake in educational, hand-slapping fun.

Here’s one to get you started:

“Coca cola went to town
Diet Pepsi shot him down
Dr. Pepper fixed him up
Now we’re drinking 7-Up

7-Up caught the flu
Now we’re drinking Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew fell off the mountain
Now we’re drinking from a fountain

Fountain broke
Now we’re back to plain ol’ Coke

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.”

(Taught to me by D. Neal age 14.)

For more hand clapping game ideas, visit any local Philadelphia playground or cruise around town with open ears. You’re bound to hear kids learning through clapping in this city. Or better yet, make one up.

Source:
Sethi, A. (2009, May). Raise a Math Whiz: Simple baby games that can add up to school smarts down the road. Babytalk. pp. 32-34