Learn the 10 Commandments with Your Fingers

Help kids learn (and remember) the 10 Commandments using only their fingers! This quick and easy guide is included in the Love God, Love People lesson and is easy to teach. (Scroll down to the bottom for a full video tutorial!) Combine this tutorial with a fun game like 10 Commandments hopscotch, and you’re set!

1 – (hold up 1 index finger) Number 1 is You shall have only one God.

2 – (hold up your index and middle finger, putting one behind the other) Number 2 is you will not make or worship idols, or you shall have no other Gods before me. This means God should be the most important thing in your life!

3 – (hold up your index, middle, and ring fingers, pointing out how they make the letter “w”) The third commandment Is do not take the Lord’s name in vain, and the three can remind us to watch our words

4 – (hold up index, middle, ring, and pinkie finger, motioning as if the four fingers are a family going to church) Number 4 is keep the Sabbath holy, which means give one day a week to God, like when you come to church on Sunday with your family

5 – (hold up all 5 fingers, then salute) Number 5 is honor your father and mother, and the salute helps us remember to listen and obey our parents

6 – (hold up all 5 fingers on one hand, then your index finger on the other; the single index finger becomes a gun pointing at the other 5) Number 6 is do not murder.

7 – (hold up all 5 fingers on one hand, then your index and middle finger on another, showing how the two are separate from the other five) Number 7 is keep your marriage promises, which means that when two people are married, they stay with each other and don’t mix with other people

8 – (hold up 4 fingers on each hand, hiding your thumbs) Number 8 is do not steal, and we can remember it with our hands like this because in some cultures in history, if you stole something, they would cut off your thumbs.

9 – (hold up all 5 fingers on one hand, hold up 4 on the other, hiding your thumb in your palm) Number 9 is do not lie. When we lie, we leave something out or hide something, just like our thumb is hiding behind our hand.

10 – (hold up 10 fingers, then turn your palms up and wiggle all 10 fingers like you’re trying to grab something or saying “give me give me”) The 10^th commandment is do not covet, which is a fancy way of saying don’t be greedy or jealous of what others have.