Hand Span Investigation

Your hands are built-in measuring tools! Today your little one becomes a body scientist. They find out how many "hand spans" long everyday things are, then compare their hand to yours.

What you need

• Paper and a crayon or marker

• A few things to measure: a book, a pillow, a chair seat, the kitchen table, a stuffed animal

• Optional: a sticker to mark each hand span

How to do it

1. Trace your hands. Trace your child's hand on paper, then trace yours right next to it. Ask, "Whose hand is bigger? How much bigger?"

2. Show a hand span. Spread your fingers wide and lay your hand flat. That's one hand span.

3. Measure something small. Start with a book. Walk your hand across it, thumb to pinky, counting each span out loud.

4. Measure something big. Try a pillow, then the table. Guess first: "Do you think the table is more or less than 3 hand spans?"

5. Compare. Measure the same thing with your hand. Why did you get a different number? (Your hand is bigger, so it takes fewer spans.)

Why we love it

This is a first step into measuring: comparing sizes, counting in order and learning that bigger units give smaller numbers. It also gets kids noticing their own bodies, like how many fingers they have and how far their hand can stretch.

Tips from our table

• Kids' hands wiggle. A sticker at the end of each span helps them keep their place.

• Keep the numbers small. Three or four spans is plenty for two-year-olds.

• Save the traced hands. You can trace them again in a few months to see how they've grown (a perfect tie-in to Friday's lesson).

Shop these items

Everything mentioned in this post, in one place. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

• Crayola washable markers

• Crayola jumbo crayons

• Kids stickers

• Shop everything for Week 3: My Body

• Starter supplies: the basics we use most weeks

• See every week in our Amazon storefront

More for this week: see all our My Body activities, Letter C activities and Number 3 activities.

Every child is different. Please use your own judgment about what's safe and right for your family. Always supervise children during activities and while eating, and adjust foods for allergies, dietary needs and your child's age and chewing ability. Sprocket & Sprout shares these ideas for fun and learning only. We are not responsible for any injury, allergic reaction, damage or mess that may result from trying them. This post may contain affiliate links; if you buy through them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.