Mousie, Mousie
Mousie, mousie,
How quiet can you be?
When I clap my hands,
One, two, three… (Clap three times.)
We shall see!
This is a wonderful game to play while waiting in the hall or to quiet children. One child is chosen to be “it” and stand at the front of the class. “It” repeats the chant above while the other classmates try to be as still and quiet as they can. When “it” is satisfied, she calls out a quiet friend and exchanges places with that person.
Hint! We had a rule that boys picked girls and girls picked boys.
Play “Where’s Mousie?” Cut houses out of different colors of construction paper using the pattern on the Downloads page. Cut one mouse out of gray paper. Place the houses on the floor or in a pocket chart. Children close their eyes while the teacher hides the mouse behind one house. Children open their eyes and chant: “Mouse, mouse, where’s your house?” Children take turns looking under the houses until they find the mouse. The first child to find the mouse then gets to hide it and the game continues.
MUSICAL CHAIRS
You remember the old game where you placed chairs in a circle and walked around until the music stopped? If you didn’t find a chair you were OUT! This is a similar game that can be used to reinforce letters, words, math facts. etc. Write letters, words, math facts, etc. on paper plates. Scatter them on the floor. Play some catchy music for the children to dance to. When the music stops each child finds a paper plate and picks it up. The teacher randomly points to various children to identify the information on their plates. If the child is unsure about what is on her plate invite her to “ask the audience.”
HEADS UP - SEVEN UP
Seven children come to the front of the room and are given a flash card with a word, math fact, etc. on it. The rest of the class places their heads down. The seven tiptoe around and place a plate by a friend before returning to the front of the room. The seven join in and say, “Heads up! Seven up!” Children who received a plate stand up and read their word. They then guess who gave them the plate and switch places.
RED ROVER, RED ROVER
Divide the class into two teams and have them stand on opposite sides of the room facing each other. Give each player a flash card to hold in front of them. The teacher goes to one team and asks, “Who do you want to call over?” The children select someone from the opposite side and say, “Red rover, red rover, send word right over.” The child holding that word walks, hops, tiptoes or jumps to the opposite side. The game continues as sides take turns calling words to come over.
HOPSCOTCH
Draw a hopscotch frame on a paved surface. Write letters, words, numerals, or anything you want to reinforce in the sections. Children take turns hopping as they identify the information in the squares. Hint! You can make an indoor hopscotch on a shower curtain liner. Use an erasable marker so you can change the information in the squares throughout the school year.
CATCH AND TELL
You will need a bean bag or small sponge ball to play this game. The teacher says a letter and then tosses the ball to a child. That child must name something that begins with that sound before tossing the ball back to the teacher. *This game can be adapted for rhyming words, colors, math, social studies, and other skills.
HOT POTATO
Children stand in a circle. Players pass a ball from one to another as quickly as possible because they don’t want to hold the “hot potato.” Whoever is holding the ball when the teacher blows the whistle is out of the game. If a child drops the ball, then they are also out of the game. The last one standing is the winner. An indoor version of this game can be played with a beanbag as the children sit on the floor.
ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO
Children stand in a circle and put their two fists in the middle. “It” stands in the middle and goes around the circle touching fists as everyone chants: One potato, two potato, three potato, four. Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more. (Whichever fist “it” lands on when the word “more” comes up must place that fist behind their body.) The game continues until there is just one fist left. That child becomes the new “it.” Variation: Eenie, meenie, minnie, moe, (Children hold up fists. The child whose Catch a tiger by the toe. fist comes up at the end of “You are it” If he hollers let him go. becomes the next “it.” Eenie, meenie, minnie moe. My mother told me To pick the very best one And you are it!
TIC TAC TOE
THIS IS WHAT I KNOW
Make a tic-tac-toe frame. Write a letter in the middle. Challenge children to think of an object or word that starts with that sound and fill in the 8 sections. You could adapt this for math facts, word families, science concepts, synonyms, etc.
THE MORE WE GET TOGETHER
The More We Get Together (Sing in sign language.)
The more we get together, together, together. (Hands in fists. Touch thumbs
and circle around in front of you.)
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be. (Hands on chest and make circles
up and out.)
For your friends are my friends, (Point to a friend and clasp index
fingers.)
Are my friends are your friends. (Point to self and clasp index fingers
fingers.)
The more we get together, the happier we’ll be. (Hands in fists. Touch thumbs and
circle in front of you. Make circles
up and out from chest.)
The more we play together… (For “play” extend pinky and thumb and wiggle.)
The more we learn together… (For “learn” extend one palm like a book and then pretend to pull information from it and put it in your head.)
The more we sing together… (Bend one arm and “strum” with other hand like an instrument.)
Activities: Invite the children to create other verses for the song. For example, “The more we read together..” or “the more we clean up together…”
End the day with a hand hug. Children stand in a circle holding hands. The teacher starts the hand hug by looking at the child on her right and squeezing their hand. That child then looks at the friend on her right and squeezes their hand. The “hand hug” is passed around the circle until it ends up back at the teacher.
Let the boys and girls give each other a donkey cheer to end the day.
First, the girls stand on one leg and pretend to bray like a donkey as they say, “Hee haw! Hee haw! HE always does a good job.”
The boys then stand on one leg and say, “She haw! She haw! SHE always does a good job.”
Tell children to close their eyes and think about the school day. They can smile and open their eyes when they think of something new they learned. Let them share their favorite thing with a partner.