PARTY GAMES

You’re probably thinking, “Here she goes again with more holiday ideas.”  Well, these games can certainly be played at a holiday party you might be having, but they are just as much fun for a birthday party or any other celebration.  They are also easy to adapt.  For example, instead of playing pin the red nose on Rudolph you could play pin the carrot on Frosty's nose.  Rather than using sweet treats you could use pencils, stickers, or another prize.

Pass the Parcel

This is actually a game a student from England taught me.  Thus, “parcel” instead of “present.”  My students LOVED this!  Fill a box with sugarless bubblegum, pencils, small toys, or stickers.  There should be enough for everyone in the group.  Next, wrap the present over and over again with wrapping paper, tissue paper, or funny pages from the newspaper.   Children sit in a circle and begin passing the “parcel” around as music is played.  When the music stops that child gets to open one layer on the package.  (If the package lands on someone who has already had a turn they pass it on to the person sitting next to them.)  Continue the game until the gift is reached.  That child then passes out the goodies to the rest of the group.

Hide and Hunt

Children love to hunt for things, so if the weather is nice you can hide jingle bells, snowballs (cotton balls), chocolate gold coins, small toys, etc. on the playground for the children to find. 

*Divide the class in half.  Let one group hide the objects for the others to find and then reverse roles.  

Magic Number
Fill a clear jar or container with candy, cotton balls, or jingle bells.  The person who guesses the closest amount is the winner.  

Pin the Nose on Rudolph
Draw a reindeer on a poster or chalk board.  Cut out red circles and have each child write her name on a circle.  Put tape on the back of each circle.  One at a time, blindfold each child and spin them around gently three times.  Face them towards the reindeer and challenge them to put the nose on Rudolph.  Who can get the closest?

Puzzle Pairs

Take old greeting cards and cut them in half like a puzzle.  Give each child one half.  Have them close their eyes while the other half is hidden in the room.  Children tiptoe around the room until they find their matching puzzle piece and sit down.

Pantomime and Name That Tune

Children love to perform, so they always enjoy playing “Guess who I am?” with seasonal objects or toys.  They can also take turns humming seasonal songs for their friends to identify.

Word Games

Write a seasonal word on the board.  How many words can they create using the letters in the seasonal word?

Hint!  Pair children for this activity to enable all children to feel successful.

Holiday Four Corners

You will need four seasonal pictures to tape in each corner of the classroom.  For example, a snowman, bell, candy cane, and candle.  One child is “it.”  “It” hides her eyes and counts to ten as the rest of the class tiptoes to a corner.  “It” then calls out one of the objects.  The students in that corner are out and must sit in the “stew pot” (center of the room).  “It” counts to ten again as the students tiptoe to a new corner.  The game continues until one child is left.  That child becomes the new “it.”  

A E I HAVE A VOWEL SONG 4 U

I received an email last week asking for a vowel song.  Here are a few easy ones for you!

The Vowel Song

(Tune:  “Are You Sleeping?”)

A makes two sounds.  (Echo each line.)

/A/ and /a/.

/A/ for apron, /a/ for apple.

/A/ and /a/.

/E/ and /e/ - eagle and elephant…

/I/ and /i/ - ice cream and inchworm…

/O/ and /o/ - open and octopus…

/U/ and /u/ - ukulele and uncle…

Vowel Cheer

Give me a long A - /a/    (Open palm and make a straight movement in front of your body like a macron.)

Give me a short A -  /a/a/  (Make a curve down and up in front of your body like a breve.)

Give me a long E…I…O…U…

Now let’s do the vowel beat.  (Clap twice.)

Clap your hands and stomp your feet.   (Stomp twice.)

Long A - /a/  (Macron)

Short  A - /a/ (Breve)

Raise your arms high and swing them down low.  (Hands up high and down.)

The E vowel sound is the way to go.

Long E - /e/  (Macron)

Short E - /e/  (Breve)

Hop 2 steps up and 2 steps back.  (Hop forwards and then backwards.)

With the I vowel, you’re right on track.

Long I - /i/  (Macron)

Short I - /i/  (Breve)

Step to the left, step to the right.  (Step to the left and then right.)

The O vowel sound is out of sight.

Long O - /o/  (Macron)

Short O - /o/  (Breve)

Shout it out loud and whisper it low.  (Shout and then whisper.)

Just the U vowel sound to go.

Long U - /u/  (Macron)

Short U - /u/  (Breve)

Now give high five to a nearby friend.  (Dance around and give high fives to friends.)

The vowel beat has come to an end.

Yeah!  Vowels!

*You could easily add other sounds the vowels make.  For example, “ a-r /ar/,

a – w /aw/”

Five Little Vowels

Five little vowels swinging from a tree  (Hold up 5 fingers.)

Teasing Mr. Alligator, “Can’t catch me!  (Point finger.)

You can’t catch me!”

Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be  (Open and close arms.)

And snatched that A right out of the tree.

/a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/  (Make sign language A with hand.)

E…I…O…U
*Draw a tree on a magnetic board and remove magnetic letters as you say the chant.

KANSAS CITY HERE I COME!

Going to Kansas City, Kansas City, here I come! 

Actually, I just got home from KC where I picked up these ideas!

Hot Number!  (Nola Faulkner)

The teacher picks a random number between 1-10.  That’s the number that is the HOT NUMBER.  Students stand in a circle and one by one count by ones from 1 – 10.  The student who says the hot number can jump or cheer and then must sit down.  Keep counting from 1-10 until one child is left.

Polite Partner Share (Meghan Burkholder)

Before reading a story, do questioning and partner talk.  The kids turn to a partner and say:

Eyes to eyes.

Knees to knee.

It’s nice that you

Are partners with me.

After sharing their thoughts they thank each other.  It’s also a great way to practice taking turns when talking.

McDonald’s Cheer (Michelle Sanders)

Ba, da, ba, ba, ba.

I’m loving it!  (Arms overhead like the golden arches.)

Fun Rules  (Jackie Fursman)

*Handwriting or work – “I accept no slop.”

*Hoods cannot be worn unless it rains or snows inside the school.

*You can only run in the school if there’s an elephant or tiger chasing you.

*You can only lay down if “I” do.

*Ask three before me when I’m at the reading table.

1, 2, 3, Show Me!  (Joy, Olathe, KS)

Using individual white boards the teacher asks a question and the children write a response.  The teacher says, “1, 2, 3, show me!”  Children quickly hold up their slate and show the teacher.

Sample questions:  Write the number 15.  Write the letter Mm.  Write 5 tally marks.  Write the number that comes between 2 and 4.

Three Star Sentences  (Joy, Olathe, KS)

To help kids learn the mechanics of sentence writing they can earn 3 stars.  They get a green for using a capital at the beginning; a yellow for spacing between words; a red star for punctuation.

Nuts and Bolts (Jennifer Pyle)

Get nuts and bolts from the hardware store.  Write the letters of the alphabet on the nuts.  The children have to screw the letters on the bolts to spell high frequency words.

Doubles Don’t Give Me Trouble (Sarah Jackson)

(Tune:  “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”)

1 + 1= 2, 2 + 2 = 4, 3 + 3 = 6, 4 + 4 = 8, 5 + 5 = 10, 6 + 6 = 12

Now I know my doubles,

They don’t give me any trouble!

7 + 7 =14, 8 + 8 = 16, 9 + 9 = 18, 10 + 10 = 20, 11 + 11 = 22, 12 + 12 = 24

Mnemonic Device for Spelling BECAUSE (Rachel Micheel)

Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants

Make an Appointment  (De’Angela Briggs)

To make an appointment card place 4 pictures on a 6” square of paper.   (You could use sports teams, fast food icons, seasonal objects, etc.)  Students trade papers and write their name on a line.  As you work through the day, tell the students to find their (name a picture on their appointment card) partner.  They’ll have four different partners to work with during the day.

Puppet Password

Have a class puppet that gives a password every day.  For attendance, the children say the password instead of “here.”  Select a password that is the subject for the day, such as “Pilgrims,” “winter,” etc.  Use this chant to introduce the password:

Mr. Mouse, Mr. Mouse (or whatever your puppet is),

Oh, what do you say?

What is the password for today?

Pretend to let the puppet whisper the password in your ear.  You can also let the puppet go home with a student each weekend and come back Monday with a story and pictures.  Keep the stories in a class book.

Tissue Boxes  (Natalie Bush)

Save cube tissue boxes to make games.  For example, write CVC words on index cards and place them in the tissue box.  Glue library pockets on the outside of the tissue boxes.  Children sort the words by middle vowel sounds.

Check In (Janelle Crouse)

Place a small table outside your classroom door with a shape with each child’s name.  (For example, a stocking for Christmas)  As children arrive they find their name and hang it up. 

*Use for name recognition, phone number, address, birthday, etc.

“Have a super sparkly day!”

Centers (Maggie Mosher)

Have a grid at each center with all the students’ names.  As children finish the center they can color in the box with their name and move on at their own pace.  They can’t go back to a center until all the names are colored in.

Pretty Nails

I have such poor, pitiful nails that I am always impressed with pretty nails.  Isn't this Santa nail too cute?  

I TRY HARDER!

Sometimes when you give me ideas I mess them up.  I’m sorry!  It’s not always easy to take the notes you give me and translate them.  The good news is that most teachers can take an idea and harvest (aka adapt or steal) it to work for them.  Here are a few more “seeds” you can plant in your classroom this coming year.

ABC Tune  (Bill Bird)

Did you know you could sing the ABC’s to the tune of “The House of the Rising Sun”?  (You young teachers will need to get your parents to hum this one for you!)

Alphabet Clap (Julie Critten)

(Begin a beat by slapping thighs and clapping hands twice.)

The alphabet, the alphabet,

Let’s clap the letters so we don’t forget!

A  (slap, clap, clap)

B  (slap, clap, clap)

C…D…E…F…G…H…I…J…K…

L  (slap, clap)

M (slap, clap)

N  (slap, clap)

O  (slap, clap)

P  (slap, clap, clap)

Q...R…S…T…U…V…W…X…Y…Z

The alphabet, the alphabet,

Now we know the letters of the alphabet!

Cup Math  (Melissa Miller)

Write numerals on cups as shown.  Children put the cups together and identify the number.

Seasonal Lima Bean Math  (Ruth Schmidt)

Spray paint dry lima beans and use them for making sets, patterns, addition and subtraction, etc.

White and orange – ghosts and pumpkins

Green and red – trees and candy canes

White and red – snowflakes and valentines (or cold noses)

Yellow, pink, purple, blue – colored eggs

*Store in yogurt lids or margarine tubs.  Change the label to reflect the new game.

Bottle Lids  (Becky Bengard)

Put garage sale stickers on the top and bottom of plastic bottle lids to make games.  They can be used for upper and lowercase letters, color words, math facts, etc.

*Ask parents to save bottle lids for you.  You can use the plastic ones or metal ones for these games.

ABC Kickboxing  (Julie Critten)

The first time you kick box the alphabet make the sounds.

The second time when you do it backwards use words that start with the letter.

Planet Song  (Angela Kickbush)

M – Mercury  (Chant these)

V - Venus

E - Earth

M - Mars

J - Jupiter

S - Saturn

U - Uranus

N - Neptune

P – Pluto

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars,  (Sing to the tune of “London Bridge.”)

Jupiter, Jupiter (Say twice because it’s the biggest.)

Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

And no more Pluto!

Paint Chip Math  (Ashley Lenze)

Get paint chip strips from a hardware store.  Write the sign for greater than, less than, and equal on the paint strips.  Take popsicle sticks and write numbers on each side.  Children put the correct symbol between the numerals. 

Note!  I didn’t have any paint chips, but you get the idea!

*Write numbers on the leftover strips and use to sort odd and even.

IOWA SWAP SHOP

As we were sharing ideas last week in Des Moines a teacher remarked that it was just like a giant swap shop!  That it was!  Help yourself to some of these great ideas!

Partner Spelling 

Children can use this technique to practice spelling words with a partner.  One child sits and hides her eyes while the other student stands behind.  The standing partner writes/draws on the sitting partner’s back as the teacher points to spelling words.  The sitting child raises her hand when she thinks she knows the word.  When all partners have responded they raise their heads and spell the word together.

*This technique could be adapted to shapes, letters, numerals, etc.

Numeral Puzzles  (Samantha Duncan)

Cut out large numerals.  Write addition and subtraction facts on the numerals and then cut them apart as shown.  As children match up the answers they will complete the puzzle.

Brochure Assessment

This would be a perfect ongoing assessment.  Each month have children make a brochure by folding a sheet of paper into thirds.  Have them draw the following in the six sections.  Be sure and date these and save until your end of year conference.

1.  Draw all the shapes you can.

2.  Draw your best tree.

3.  Draw a person (or yourself).

4.  Write all the letters you can.

5.  Write all the numbers you can.

6.  Write your name or all the words you can.

*You could call this your 2013 assessment and start in January.  You could also adapt the tasks for different grade levels.

Secret Agents  (Melissa Miller)

Invite 3 or 4 children to be agent experts and wear a letter.  Explain that their mission is to be sure every friend in the room knows all about their letter.  The rest of the class raises their hands and the “agents” must get to each one and ask them a fact about their letter within a set time.  (For example, name of the letter, sound, lines required to make it, something that starts with their letter, etc.)  When they have had a visit from an “expert” the rest of the class can put their hand down.  At the end you can tell them they have accomplished their mission!

Nightly Five  (Angie Bonthius – ilovekindergarten.com)

Angie explained that they do the “Daily Five” during the day and the “Nightly Five” for homework during the week.  The children hang this on the refrigerator and they can do tic tac toe or the whole sheet by Friday.

You can change the activities by asking children to identify the title, the front of the book, the author’s purpose, the characters, etc.

Angie also sent this link of a video her daughter made up with cheerleading friends to teach the vowels.  It’s awesome!

http://ilovekindergarten.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/cheering-vowels1.mov

Hang Your Bottoms Down  (Melissa Miller)

A  B  C  D  E  F  G - G?

Hang your bottoms down, down.

Hang your bottoms down.

Some letters stand tall.

Some sit on the ground.

But hang those bottoms down, down!

Bean Bag Listen and Toss  (Lori)

Have children get a partner and give each group a beanbag (or wadded up sheet of paper).  Children listen for a letter at the beginning or end of a word.  If they hear the sound they toss the beanbag to their partner.

Play Dough Letters (Kristi Bilbrey)

Pat play dough flat on a flat surface.  Trace a letter, number, shape, etc. in the play dough with a play knife.  Cut drinking straws into fourths.  Children place the straws into the shape that is traced.  Encourage them to say the letter name, sound, etc. as they put the straws in the play dough.

SANTA HUNT

Your kids are going to love this “Santa Hunt” that Sara Lensing adapted from “The Cool Bear Hunt.”  She shared this idea with me last week in Des Moines and she pinky promised to send it to me and she did.  What is a pinky promise?  You link pinky fingers with a friend and then seal it by kissing your fist!

Santa Hunt  

Get out your backpacks.

Open ‘em up.

Let’s put in some cookies for Santa and his reindeer.

And, let’s put in a thermos of milk in case he gets thirsty.

Oh. and don’t forget your Christmas lights in case it gets dark.

Zip ‘em up and repeat after me.

(Children repeat each line.)

We’re gonna find Santa  (March and slap thighs.)

Before Christmas day.  

He has a big, round belly  (Extend arms.)

And a long, white beard.   (Pull down from chin.)

Look over there!  (Point.)

It’s a Candy Cane Forest!

Can’t go over it.  (Arms over head.)

Can’t go under.    (Arms down low.)

Can’t go around it.  (Circle arms.)

I guess we’ll go through it.  (Open palms and shrug shoulders.)

Slurp, slurp, slurp!  (Pretend to suck on candy cane.)

We’re gonna find Santa

Before Christmas day.

He has a big, round belly

And a long, white beard.

Look over there!

It’s an egg nog river.

Can’t go over it.

Can’t go under.

Can’t go around it.

I guess we’ll swim across it.  (Stroke arms as if swimming.)

We’re gonna find Santa

Before Christmas day.

He has a big, round belly

And a long, white beard.

Look over there!

It’s a gingerbread house!

Can’t go over it.

Can’t go under.

Can’t go around it.

I guess we’ll go through it.

Yum, yum, yum!  (Pretend to eat gingerbread.)

We’re gonna find Santa

Before Christmas day.

He has a big, round belly

And a long, white beard.

Look over there!

It’s Santa’s workshop.

Can’t go over it.

Can’t go under.

Can’t go around it.

I guess we’ll go through it.

Shhh!  (Finger over lips.)

Get out your Christmas lights.  (Pretend to get out lights.)

Turn them on – click.

Let’s set out the cookies and milk.

I see a big, round belly.

And a long, white beard!

It’s Santa!

He-he-he! We can’t let him see us!

Tip toe!  (Tiptoe.)

Quick!  Go through the gingerbread house! Yum, yum, yum,!

Swim across the egg nog river!

Go through the Candy Cane Forest! Slurp, slurp, slurp!

Go home.

Open the door.

Shut the door.

Phew!

We found Santa.

Merry Christmas to all!

*Children could do a time line or a story map of the hunt for Santa as a follow up activity.

RECALL ROUNDUP!

Having children recall information during the day and at the end of the day is a powerful learning strategy that is easy to implement.  Here are a few suggestions you can use after reading a story, teaching a lesson, or to end your day in a positive way.

What Did You Learn?

First, ask children to think of something new they learned in school that day.  Then slap thighs and snap fingers as you go around the classroom and say:

Hey, hey, what do you say?

What did you learn in school today?

(Child responds what he or she learned.)

Continue saying the chant to the next child.

Catch and Tell 

You can also throw a ball (or bean bag) around the room.  As children catch the ball they say something they learned and then throw the ball to another friend.

Partner Teach

Have children get a partner and review what they learned or let have them discuss parts of a story.

Brain Tickets

Get a roll of tickets used for carnivals.  At the end of the day pass out tickets to children who can tell you something they learned that day.

*You could also use the tickets to reward children who answer questions correctly.

Kiss Your Brain!

Draw a pair of giant lips for your classroom door.  Before children go home ask them to tell you one new thing they learned.  Then tell them to “kiss their brains!” 

*One teacher said she kept a container of Hershey’s kisses for special occasions.

Catch a Star

Ask children to think of something new they learned or something they did that made them feel proud.  Tell them to reach up and grab a star and then put it in their hearts.

Close Your Eyes and Smile

Have children close their eyes.  If they can see something new they learned they can open their eyes and smile at you.

Pat Yourself on the Back

Children can also pat themselves on the back to reinforce learning.  Make sure they extend their arm across their body and pat the back of the opposite shoulder as they say, “Good job!”