Azizi: As I remember it, the hand jive was a craze that, although widespread, only lasted a short time, sort of like the Macarena in more recent times.

And, as far as I know, "hand jive" was never a generic term for all sorts of hand movements, or games involving hand movements; it was a name for one particular sequence of hand movements.

Instead of dancing, people would stand or sit in one place and do a set of rhythmic hand movements to the music. Unlike dancing, it didn't involve any foot or leg movements, it didn't involve a partner, and it didn't involve any improvisation. You were supposed to memorize a certain sequence of movements and do them in unison with a group. I suppose it was challenging at first to learn the movements and stay in sync with the group, but it became boring after you'd mastered it. That's probably why the fad didn't last very long.

These were teenagers, not little kids (although it may have spread to little kids a bit later).

I suppose it appealed more to girls than boys. (I never really learned it myself, but I remember seeing others do it. And I remember one girl in particular trying to get me to do it.)

Another problem was that, like the Macarena, the movements were associated with one particular pop song. I suppose it was possible to do the hand jive to other songs (just as it is possible to do the Macarena dance to other songs), but I think people seldom did so. As the song disappeared from the pop charts, the movements disappeared, too.

Here's a video at YouTube of Johnny Otis performing WILLIE AND THE HAND JIVE. (Otis sings and plays piano; there are 3 women who do the hand jive along with him.)

Here is another video that looks like a scene from a movie. It involves professional dancers and complicated choreography and does NOT resemble what ordinary people did. But you can hear the words of the song more clearly, if that interests you.

There is a song in the film "Grease" called BORN TO HAND JIVE. That too is over-choreographed, but it does incorporate some of the hand-jive movements.

Here is a set of instructions at WikiHow.