Pat-a-cake and other hand clapping games are a fun little activity for learning, play, early brain development, and kindergarten readiness. They can be simple for babies or complicated enough to challenge older kids, and even adults! Just looking at a few on youtube will astonish you. This was the simplest one I could find and the only person who makes a mistake is the dad.
The value of these games is the brain exercise. The brain itself has 2 halves, and so do our bodies. Think of a line that divides our entire self into a left-side and a right-side. This imaginary line is called the mid-line and as we cross the mid-line with a part of the body, the brain also starts to cross connect. The pathways that form help the 2 halves of the brain connect and work together. Babies and young toddlers will reach for an object on the right side with the right hand and for something on the left side with the left hand. As the brain wiring crosses, little ones develop actions that cross, such as rolling over and later crawling. Learning benefits of clapping games include concentration and focus, listening to and watching a partner for cues, using a pattern, stretching memory, following rhythm, coordinating actions and speaking, to name just a few.
Pat-a-cake is a very simple pattern. Parents and caregivers can show little ones to clap hands and then legs, for a harder pattern. This is the pattern used in the popular “Who Took The Cookie From The Cooke Jar.” This can be done by 4 and 5 year old children. Some will clap the pattern, some will say the words, some won’t do either and a few will be able to do both together.
Coordinating with a partner gets even trickier as hands first clap together and then they clap the partner’s hands, back together and then partner’s again. These are not just games for girls; many videos show boys as well. Teenagers even do them. While many of these are much too hard for preschool kids (and I’ll confess, I couldn’t do them) there are easier games. For a play-of-the-day can you show your child some hand-clapping games?