Spirit Sticks - High 5's

The other day my amazing teammate shared her idea of having the kids give high 5's in the classroom. I was first taken back... kids touching each other?  Major no-no right now.  

Then she explained about getting wooden dowels - 3 feet in length, and adding paper hands to the ends, and how the kids can high 5 each other... from 6ish feet away.  

My second thought was that they would become swords, or lightsabers.

But the more I thought about it, the more I really liked the idea.  It's not like the kids will be unsupervised, and I want to give them High 5's too. Something different. Something fun.  Something that would turn our classroom back into a magical place. 

So I ordered the bulk pack of dowels on Amazon, and pulled out the neon paper for the kids to trace their hands. 

I did it the first day of each group. I had the papers on the front table and they could choose their neon color from the options that were out. They decorated one side with things that they love, and their name went on the other side.  I laminated the papers and passed them back to them their second day in the classroom - well I stuck them on the table for them with a pair of scissors for them to cut out. I was prepared to do a hot glue and staple to attach, but plain Scotch tape seems to work well.

Back in the classroom, the hands will be placed on the extra desks around the classroom when not in use. In the morning when they come in, they get organized and will also pick up their hand from the desk. We will teach the kids to hold them from the end, so their "hand" stays clean. Since the kids have an extra desk next to them throughout the day, there is room to keep them nearby for the random celebration. 

Hope you had a great day!