[For Adults] Fun Hand-Clapping Games: A Curated Selection of Ideas Great for Brain Training Too!
Hand games you can play using only your hands, without any props.
In preschools and kindergartens, you often see children happily enjoying hand games while singing.
In this article, we’ve gathered ideas for hand games that even adults can get excited about.
We’ll introduce a wide range: from ones you can enjoy like party games at banquets or gatherings with friends, to activities that help with cognitive training for seniors.
Hand games may look simple, but they can be surprisingly tricky and not so straightforward! Let’s give them a try right away.
- [For Adults] Fun recreational games. Perfect for short breaks too!
- Fun Indoor Games for Elementary School Kids Without Any Equipment
- Recommended games for two people that you can enjoy without any equipment
- Challenge together! A roundup of word games for adults
- Brain-teasing game roundup
- [For Adults] A roundup of psychological tests everyone can enjoy together
- [For Adults] Exciting Bus Recreation
- Beanbag song: a playable children's folk song
- [For Adults] Fun Things to Do on a Rainy Day
- Party games collection that get everyone excited in a big group
- Fun for kids and adults alike! A collection of DIY beanbag (otedama) ideas
- [For Adults] Make the Most of Your Free Time! Ideas to Kill Time
- [For Kids] Fun Either Way: A Collection of Rock-Paper-Scissors Game Ideas
[For Adults] Fun Hand Games | Carefully Selected Brain-Training Ideas (21–30)
Hand play song ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’
Let me introduce a hand game, done to the children’s song “Moshimo Shika Meyo,” that is also effective for preventing cognitive decline in older adults.
With this one, you tightly clench both hands to the rhythm of the song, but you alternate putting your thumbs outside and then inside, which really makes your brain work.
You can also adjust the difficulty depending on how you play—for example, right hand inward while the left hand outward, or clenching with a time delay.
It will probably feel hard at first, so do it slowly while singing.
As you get used to it, gradually increase the speed.
The Falling-Falling Game
“The ‘Ochita Ochita’ game is a play activity where various things fall in time with a song, and you make gestures that match whatever is falling.
For example, if it’s an apple you pretend to catch it; if it’s lightning you hide your belly button; if it’s a fist you cover your head.
To make it suitable for adults, you could swap in slightly trickier words.
For instance, a chestnut is food so you might want to catch it, but because of the spines you should drop it—things like that.
Try creating adult-oriented prompts and correct gestures to play.”
Clap-Clap Game
Let’s try a clap-along game that also works as brain training, filling the room with the sound of rhythmic clapping.
The rules are very simple: when the facilitator’s hands come together, participants clap both hands once.
The facilitator can also add fake-out motions, pretending to clap without actually doing it, to make the game more exciting.
Once everyone gets used to it, increase the speed of the claps and keep a steady tempo—this will create a sense of unity among the participants.
Have fun and give it a try!
Zuizui Zukkorobashi
Haven’t you all played the children’s song game “Zui Zui Zukkorobashi” at least once? First, choose one person to be “it,” and the other participants make a tea jar shape with their hands and hold it out in front of them.
The person who’s “it” sings “Zui Zui Zukkorobashi,” tapping along to the rhythm and inserting their index finger in turn into each participant’s hands.
When the song reaches the final syllable “re,” the person whose tea jar contains the “it” person’s finger loses and becomes the next “it.” For adults, this is probably a nostalgic game—why not try playing it again for the first time in a while?
Hand-play song ‘Denderaryuba’
Let me introduce Den-Dera Ryūba, a traditional children’s song from Nagasaki of unknown authorship.
It’s a hand-play song, so you change your hand shapes in time with the music.
First, open your left hand, then use your right hand to make a fist, scissors, a shape with the thumb and pinky raised, and so on, switching shapes to the rhythm.
There’s a set order for the hand shapes, so be careful not to mix them up.
Once you memorize the sequence, anyone can join in—but it’s trickier than it looks! I encourage adults to give it a try, too!
Chopstick Game
In simple terms, the disposable chopsticks game is about tapping your opponent’s hand with your fingers and trying to make it reach the shape of 5 to knock it out.
First, decide who goes first and second, then both players hold out their hands in the shape of 1.
Starting with the first player, you tap the opponent’s hand to increase its count.
If a hand with 1 is tapped, the person changes that hand to 2.
If a hand with 2 is tapped by a hand with 1, change it to 3, and so on.
You battle by adding the finger counts like this.
The first player whose both hands reach 5 loses.
However, there’s an interesting rule: even if one hand is knocked out, as long as the other hand is still alive, you can split its number between both hands and keep playing.
For example, if the living hand is at 3, you can split it into 1 and 2 across both hands.
It turns into quite a battle of wits, so it’s a game I recommend for adults as well.
Catch
Do you know the group game “Catch”? It’s a game where quick reflexes are key.
First, everyone forms a circle, makes a ring with their left hand, and places their right index finger into the left-hand ring of the person next to them.
Once you’re set, when the leader calls “Catch,” quickly close your left hand, and pull your right index finger out so it doesn’t get caught.
If your index finger gets caught, you lose.
The leader can spice things up by saying other words that start with the “ki” sound to fake everyone out and make the game more exciting.