Hand game

{{Short description|Game played using the hands}}

{{About|games played with the hands|the feature in card games|Hand game (cards)}}

File:Mushi-ken (虫拳), Japanese rock-paper-scissors variant, from the Kensarae sumai zue (1809).jpg, a Japanese hand game (1809)]]

Hand games are games played using only the hands of the players.{{cite book|title=Forms of play of native North Americans |editor=Edward Norbeck, Claire R. Farrer|work=Proceedings of the American Ethnological Society|year=1977|location=St. Paul, Minnesota|publisher=West}} Hand games exist in a variety of cultures internationally, and are of interest to academic studies in ethnomusicology and music education.{{cite journal|author=Catherine McLaughlin|year=2009|title=Cultural hand games inspire students|journal=Alberta Sweetgrass|issue=16|volume=4|page=8}} Hand games are used to teach music literacy skills and socio-emotional learning in elementary music classrooms internationally.{{cite journal|last1=Gluschankof |first1=Claudia |last2=Kenney |first2=Susan Hobson|title=Music Literacy in an Israeli Kindergarten|journal=General Music Today|year=2011 |volume=25|issue=1|pages=45–49|doi=10.1177/1048371311414880 |s2cid=144182018 }}{{cite book|author=Jacobi, Bonnie S|work=Music Educators Journal|title=Opportunities for Socioemotional Learning in Music Classrooms|date=December 1, 2012|volume=99|issue=2|pages=68–74}}{{cite book|title=Twentieth-century school music literature in China: a departure from tradition|author=Lau, Wai-Tong|work=Journal of Historical Research in Music Education|date=October 1, 2005|volume=17|issue=1|page=33}}