There are always those out there that like to remind children and even their parents of how “easy” their life is. Remind us of how hard it was decades and centuries ago when there wasn’t any internet or TV. When there wasn’t a full collection of colorful, interactive and shiny toys to play with. This can often make people think about what children did before there were tablets and other devices to provide hours of entertainment.

One of the earliest recorded forms of entertainment for children, and parents, were hand clapping games. You didn’t need any equipment for it other than your hands and a clever tune or two. These games because popular on the playgrounds, and while waiting in lines or at doctor’s offices.

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Hand clapping games are often thought of as novelty games that don’t really have much meaning or importance to them. However, there are a lot of skills that children can learn from hand clapping games.

The History Of Clapping Games

The background on hand clapping games is a bit cloudy, because historians can not pinpoint exactly when they started. According to the British Library, the most popular hand clapping game, “Paddy Cake” was one of the first documented and that was all the way back in 1698. It is important to note that at that time, this was a game played with one adult and one child. The first game of child-and-child hand clapping was not documented until the 1820’s.

Hand clapping games really became popular in the 1960’s and children have been reaping in the benefits from these games ever since.

Coordination & Rhythm

Hand clapping games are excellent for coordination, according to Empowered Parents. Being asked to connect hands constantly is a great way to work on their hand-eye coordination. Since they are doing this to a tune, or a rhyme, it is also great for teaching them rhythm and how to keep on beat. There are so many different variations of hand clapping games, that your child will be exposed to all types of rhythm.

Language

Since hand clapping games are all set to songs and tunes, it is a great way to teach children about language skills as well as listening. A lot of hand clapping songs will lead the players in certain moves and instructions, and your child will need to be listening in order to properly do the moves. Since the songs are all rhymes, it will be much simpler for children to pick up the song and start singing it themselves.

Brain Exercise

When we look at all the factors that go into playing a hand clapping game it is clear to see that the brain is getting quite the work out. When a child plays a clapping game, they are using the frontal lobe of their brain. This will strengthen their brain and help them in other aspects of their life. Since some hand clapping games go beyond just the hands, and forces them to use other parts of their body, they will also be developing both mentally and physically.

Sequence & Social

When we look at hand clapping games, we notice patterns emerging, and this means that when children play clapping games, they are learning about patterns and how to follow a sequence. When they play a clapping game with their peers, or a large group it is going to teach them some fundamental skills about teamwork and responding to another person. Hand clapping games rely on cooperation and if one person is not putting in the work, it is not going to work very well.

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Sources: British Library, Empowered Parents