Hide-n-Seek Snowman

We did another snow theme today. We are finishing up the final verse on the song "As A Child of God" and needed a game that would allow us to repeat the song over and over again (anything to drill it in, right?).

I created a snowman out of white poster board (3 circles, increasing in size).  I then created 6 snowman items for the kids to hide (one at a time).  The items I made were a hat, eyes, nose, scarf, buttons and mouth.

This game is similar to "Hot and Cold" where children say hot/hotter/cold/colder depending on how close the seeker is to the hidden "treasure". However, with singing time, we have the kids sing quiet when the seeker is far away and gradually get louder as the seeker gets closer.  This is a great game to sing a song in a repetitive nature while keeping the kids interested. I select one kid to be the hider and another to be the seeker. The seeker steps out in to the hall (with a leader) and waits for us to hide the treasure.  Once they come back in the room, we begin singing.

Remember to make sure the kids are still singing! I had to stop a few times and make the kids re-focus on the song and words when they were just mumbling or messing up the words.

Other options for this game are:

• On each item to be hidden, have a song choice on the back (to mix up the monotony)
• Have one object to hide and have the child that is hiding the object pick their favorite song
• Hide letters to build a word (rather than snowman pieces)

This is also an easy game to pass on to a substitute. I would suggest the sub lets the children pick the song, or provide a list of well-known songs for them to use.

Silly Singing Cards

Sometimes the kids can get bored or distracted when reviewing songs that they know quite well.  I found another blog resource that provided adorable silly singing cards.  I used this my first time substituting as a chorister and the kids STILL talk about it.

Click HERE to read/print the Silly Singing Cards
 (courtesy of afprimarysingingtime.blogspot.com)

These cards are great for a substitute. Send these alongside a list of songs the kids already know and the job is done. I do recommend sorting through the cards and using ones that you (and/or your presidency) is comfortable with. I removed a few that I knew would get our kids too wound up. Pick the best ones that work for you -- but they ALL are fun. Enjoy!!

Note that there are a lot of other resources around the internet for these...or feel free to make your own.  Here's one more that I found -- CLICK HERE.

Substitute Ideas:Tic Tac Toe

Here is a great resource for those times when a substitute is needed.  I would print this out, laminate, and keep in your stash ASAP.  It is easy and the kids love it.  During my first few weeks, when I was figuring it all out, this was a life saver.

Click HERE to read/print TIC TAC TOE game.

Courtesy of http://afprimarysingingtime.blogspot.com