*High Five!* Today is National High Five Day and we're passing them out all day! The high five may only be 45 years old. There is speculation that its popularity began in the early 70’s as American baseball players used it to celebrate great plays. In the 40’s, however, the ‘low five’ was popular among African Americans. Called “giving skin” or “slapping skin,” the low five was possibly first documented in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer.
Today high fives brighten people’s days. With the simple act of lifting your open hand high and slapping another person’s open hand, you can bring a smile to their face. The high five and all its varieties have the power of changing a game (or day) from negative and full of arguments to highly positive and fun.
So challenge yourself to see how many high fives you can give/receive today (and every other day!) If not a high five, try a fistbump or an elbow bump or any other celebratory hand gesture. Whatever you choose, do it with a smile on your face and watch your positive attitude spread.
Other ways to celebrate National High Five Day:
- Play a game of High Five Tag. This game is very similar to Freeze Tag. Create and outside boundary. Pick two taggers (or an appropriate amount for the group size). If a player is tagged, they must freeze and put their hand up high. Any other player can then unfreeze that person by giving them a nice high five. Before beginning remind all players of the boundaries, safe tagging and safe high fives (no need to slap as hard as they can!)
- Post a picture or video of your high fives on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.
- Play a game of High Five Challenge. With a group of two or more, create outside boundaries with chalk, cones or already painted lines that are safe for running. A leader tell identifies a start and stop signal. On the start signal, every player is “it” and can “tag” other players. A tag is a high five–safe, not too hard. Everyone counts the number of high fives they receive until the stop signal.
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Send a virtual High Five! We will be sending them all day via Facebook and Twitter.
What’s your favorite high five/fistbump variety?
