Skip to main content

Valentine's Day Game for preschoolers

(Although really, this game could be adapted to a variety of ages and definitely a variety of seasons.)

It's a twist off the old "Love Somebody" folk song.  Set up your group in a seated circle on your right, with room for the whole group to eventually move to your left.  Hand the children a small stuffed heart, or foam cut out.  Instruct them to pass the heart while you sing "Love Somebody." On the last line ("...and it may be you!"), whoever is holding the heart on the word "you" comes up and strums the guitar while the group passes the heart and you finger the chords and sing the song again.
After this round is finished, another child will get to come up and strum the guitar.  At this point, start a new circle on your left.  The first child gets to select a small percussion instrument or scarf, and sits down and plays their instrument or moves their scarf.  As each new round is played, the children will move from the passing circle, to the guitar, to the instrument or scarf circle.  Structured, and it keeps everyone busy with something fun!  Simply switch out the folk song and passing toy, and you could do this anytime of the year!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Effective Behavior Management

Building Rapport One Step at a Time Last month, I did a short presentation at my former graduate school for the student music therapy association there.  One of the programs I work in is a public school day treatment setting with adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders, and the organizer of the event felt that presenting on behavior management strategies would be most informative for the group.  I thought I would share parts of my presentation here, as a new series on the blog. If you're anything like me when I was going through my music therapy practica, this is the population that produces the most anxiety for you.  Hopefully these practical, concrete tips will ease some of that anxiety, because I feel this is a very fulfilling pouplation to work with, and I hope you get the opportunity to do so someday.  It's also possible that you are very comfortable with or excited about working with this population. If that is the case, I hope this series reaff...

PDF for Shake them 'Simmons Down

You can view the song from this blog post and find the file available for download here !  I've notated the song in the key of C--transpose to whatever key best fits your needs.  I also notated V chords as straight Vs, but you are of course free to spice them up as V7s, or get more inventive with the chord progression as a whole--whatever best fits your population!

Movement Ideas with Music, #1: The Parachute

I finally got a parachute!  It has taken me way too many years to acquire one!  In fact, it's been a windfall year for parachutes--a 12' parachute was donated to me and a 6' parachute was finally found at a super affordable price that fit my budget.  I'm really glad it worked out that way, as I need the smaller one for my tiny groups, but the big one is great for my big groups and my big kids! After check-in, I like to begin my groups with a fun movement activity.  This energizes the group, increasing their attention and motivation for the course of the session, and setting the stage for whatever work we will do later.  Sometimes it's just something fun, and other times it is directly related to other goals we will address later in the group. This is a simple activity that is paired with a relatively recent pop song, so I find it appropriate to use with all ages of children.  Grab your parachute and a copy of " Shake It Off " by Taylo...