Let's Hand it to Hands: Part 2

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Hey guys, in this post I'll be talking about prosthetic hands and finger puppets I have made. First, a joke. What is a hands favorite place to go in the world? Hawaii! That's because hands like to sit under PALM TREES!!!! (RIM SHOT!)

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I'll first be talking about prosthetic arms and hands. The first prosthetic arm wasn't really prosthetic, that's because people in old times didn't have the parts to make it move. The first arm was made for a Roman general named Marcus Sergius, who used the iron arm around 200-100 BCE. Around 1564, a French military doctor named Ambroise Pare created a useable prosthetic arm with catches and springs acting like joints. He gave one to a soldier to grip the reigns of his horse. It was so successful that he continued making arms for many people with missing limbs.



Picture of Ambroise
Pare's hand.

Around 1904, a prosthetic arm was made for a pianist who lost her arm. (Her name is unknown.)It was made with a wide finger spread so the person wearing it can span an octave on a piano. The hand also had pads on the tips of the fingers to make the sound it made on the keys quieter. The woman got to play a piano concert in London at the Royal Albert Hall in 1906 with that arm! Awesome, huh? Right now, the United States Food and Drug Administration have a program for making innovative medical devices.
 Guess what it is, is it...

A. A hand that can pick up a anvil
B. A arm for climbing really high
C. A leg for super speed
D. A brain-controlled hand

Leave your answer in the comments, I'll be checking them.




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After the handy history, I went to one of my projects. My first project was called "Straw Puppets."

The first thing I did was make the puppet joints. I took some scissors and cut a diamond shape in the straw, I had to do this about 5 times for the snail, 1 time for the squid arms, and 2 times for the bee. I then cut a piece of string, threaded it through the straw to the other end, and taped it. To make sure it worked, I had to pull the string to see if it bent. I had to do the same thing to the other yellow straw to make the eye stalks.

To make the snail, I had to attach tape the snail shell to the body and the eyes to the eye stalks. I taped the stalks to the body, and let the string through the bottom of the body. If you pull the string, it'll make the eyes move! Cool huh? I had to make the sea monster and the bee too. The puppets were fun! ^_^

If you pull the strings, it makes
the monster attack the ship.

If you pull the string, it makes
the bee land on the flower.



The snail is one of my favorite
puppets.
 

Interestingly, the word "puppet" comes from a Greek word for "string" or "tendon." The puppet joints resemble finger joints. The string acts like a tendon to make the puppet joints move, kind of like the biomechanical hand.

 





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 Now let's talk more about prosthetic hands. Once in a while they can get pretty expensive. Sometimes people need prosthetics, but they can't afford to get one. How can you make sure that kids have prosthetic hands they can afford? Luckily, there's a volunteer organization online called e-NABLE that can help. How it all started was with a video made by Ivan Owen. He had made a mechanical puppet hand and made a video with it. It was a big hit on youtube.

Ivan Owen's puppet hand.

A South African carpenter named Richard Van As saw the video and asked Ivan for help because he lost some of his fingers in an accident. The two worked together to make some fingers. The fingers that they made worked! Richard could hold his tools again! A mother of a 5-year-old named Liam saw the fingers they have made and asked if they could make some fingers for her son, they said yes! After they made some fingers, Liam could pick up a ball with his right hand for the first time! There is one problem. What will happen when Liam grows bigger? In the next post we can talk more about e-NABLE.

 

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 I hope you enjoyed this post, if you did please like and comment. In the next post I'll talk more about prosthetic hands. Bye guys! <3

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