Discuss some common signs which we make with our hands: warning signs, hello signs and so on. Have the children model them and take photographs of the signs that they make.

Discuss how difficult it would be to communicate a name through a sign. Show the children how to spell their own names by using the signing alphabet. Encourage the children to create signs for their names. They can think about flags, car marques, monograms and so on. If you have been able to invite in a signing specialist then they may be able to discuss 'nicknames' used by deaf people for those in their community (which includes hearing people who work with them, such as signing specialists!).

Extend even further by investigating other forms of sign communication: semaphore, codes, road signs and so on. Close by sharing coded messages.

Older children could extend this by distinguishing between alphanumeric communication where the elements combine and symbolic communication where each element can stand alone. Where do these distinctions blur?

Screen or curtain.
Writing materials.
Camera.
Art materials.
Coloured inks

Discuss our hands as symbols of ourselves. Think about such things as size of hands, thickness of fingers, colour of skin and so on. You can play a game by having three children sitting behind a screen through which they can push their hands. Everyone else has to guess which hands belong to whom.

Point out the uniqueness of hands, especially fingerprints. Take this further by discussing other distinctive features about ourselves. Take care to point out that these things are part of our 'specialness' and are thus a very important part of our community, a community of special people.

Some of these features - such as eye colour or hair colour - could be made into a table. Measurements of height will only tabulate if children can understand ranges and distribution to some extent. Other features cannot be tabulated or graphed, such as fingerprints (though even then there are general patterns such as 'whorl'...).

Create a 'rogues gallery' book with photographs of the children, fingerprints and distinguishing marks and so on, as discussed and tabulated above. Make this a celebratory book, not a pseudo-police document! Use coloured inks for finger and thumbprints, colour photos, portraits and so on. Don't forget to include the teacher.

Camera - ordinary, digital or video.
Media for making - construction kits, plasticine, clay and so on.
Paper hand shapes.
Writing materials.
Display table.

Talk about our hands making things, and the things that we like to make. Can the children guess what their friends might choose to make because they know them well?

Make things with hands and make a photo record of the things as they are being made. In particular, take close-up photographs of the hands at work. Provide as many media as you can from construction kits through pipe cleaners to plasticine and clay for the children to choose from. The greater the variety of materials used, the richer will be the final descriptions.

Older children could make video snippets of different children's hands. Alternatively, if you have a digital camera there is even scope for older children to modify the photos using picture editing software to produce a very 'arty' display.

Look through the photographs and talk about what the hands are doing - pinching, pushing, stretching, pulling, turning, twisting and so on. Encourage the children to write about the work of the hands as fully as possible, using as many descriptive terms as they can.

Gather up the objects that have been made and place paper hand shapes and the photographs around them. Add the descriptions of the hands at work. This will form a striking display.

Invite a visitor in to show the children sign language. This is better than a teacher doing it, as it makes a link between the school and the world outside. The local authority or possibly the diocese should be able to help.

There are great possibilities for literacy links in this section. The sign language activity is great for alphabetic work and codes are great to help spelling.