Recommended Age: 2 and ½ to 5 years
When doing this exercise with a younger child you may write the names of the fingers and hands on the child’s paper, an older child can write their own labels
Level of Parent Involvement: Medium for a younger child as they require you to trace around their hands, an older child competing this exercise may be able to compete most of this exercise indecently with instructions
Prerequisites
- For a younger child, none
- For an older child writing their own labels they must have a degree of pencil control and the ability to copy words or write independently
Materials
- A4 paper
- Writing pencil
- Materials to decorate the hand tracings for example, water colour paints, textas, crayons etc, washable paints (paint pots, paint brushes)
Preparation
- Place the materials on a tray or in a basket
- If providing the child with paints, place the paints into paint pots with the paintbrushes
Steps
- Invite the child to the activity, letting them know they are going to make art using their hands
- Show the child the materials, the child may bring the materials to the table
- Invite the child to put on a smoke if they will be using paints
- Spend some time with the child talking about the parts of their hands, naming their fingers (index finger, thumb, small finger, ring finger, tall finger)
- Ask the child if they know which is their left hand and which is their right hand
- Show the child how to make an uppercase ‘L’ with their left hand to show them which hand is their left
- You may like to sing “where is thumpkin?” (see example of song, substitute ‘baby’ for small man)
- Take a piece of A4 paper and place in front of the child
- For a younger child, invite them to place both hands onto the paper, fingers outstretched and trace around both hands with a pencil
- For an older child invite them to trace around their hand (if the child is right handed they may trace around their left hand, you can trace around their right hand)
- Once the child’s hands have been traced onto the paper, leave the child to work independently to decorate their hands
- Come back when the child has finished decorating
- If the child has used paints to paint their hands show the child where they can put their work to dry and transition the child to another activity
- When the child’s hands are dry or if the child did not use paints to decorate their hands you may begin writing the labels on the hands with the child
- For an older child you may model the words on paper for the child to write, beginning with left and right labels
- The child may copy these onto their corresponding hands
- Then for the fingers and thumb, model writing, index, ring, tall and small for the child to copy onto their respective fingers
- For a younger child you may write the labels and the child may paste them onto the fingers of their hands
- Help the child pack up the materials
- Let the child know they may complete the activity again on another day
Variations
- The same exercise using the child’s feet