“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
-Dale Carnegie
Learning the names of your kids right away is a must! It instantly connects you with them and they move from being anonymous to, “oh man, she knows my name!”.
My mom was a substitute teacher for years. She had a few tricks to help her survive the day. The first one was to always start by telling the class a joke. She mainly taught high school so that opened up the door for lots of silly and probably off color ones too.
Her second trick was to learn the students’ names right away. That way they went from being “hey you” to “Tommy, turn around!” and that got their attention REALLY fast.
I took that trick to heart and always made sure to learn every child’s name as quickly as possible.
That meant I had to find a lot of name games to keep it fun for kids while I was busy committing the names to memory. As a music teacher I see on average around 300 kids a week so if you are a classroom teacher with 20 kids, I’m little jealous.
I did find that having a list in front of me or on the wall with the names helped me to lock in the name even better. When we use multiple senses to retain information, it helps us to retrieve the information more easily because it’s kept in more than one spot in our brain.
Below are 4 name games that kids love and I hope you will too.
#1 Higgelty, Piggelty, BumbleBee
This catchy rhyme can be sung or chanted with the same great results. There are so many variations to this activity, that you really could do it every day for weeks! Begin by going around the circle and having children say their name at the end of the rhyme. If children are not comfortable enough with the group to say it, they may need some help. Just be sure to not force them to say their name. It will come with time.
#2 Willoughby, Wallaby Wee
If you don’t know this funny rhyming song yet, it’s time to learn it! Even babies will enjoy it especially if you bring along an elephant finger puppet or hand puppet to join in the fun.
Rhyming is a major component to learning to read. The sooner children are able to manipulate language the way we do in this song, the sooner they will learn to read. Click here to read more about why rhyming is such a key player in reading.
#3 Who is Here Today?
Taking the time to show each child that they are a valuable member of the learning community, builds self-confidence and a sense of belonging. When these skills are fostered at an early age in children, it helps cement the idea that they are important and special.
Make sure to look each child in the eye when their name is called. This lets them know you are focusing on only them. Emergent literacy is also developed in this activity when a picture of each child along with their name is used. By providing this visual clue, a child can correctly identify their written name in print as well as their classmates’ names – double win!
#4 Johnny Whoops
While it might seem boring and basic to you as an adult, kids love the simplest things like hearing their name played with in funny ways.
“Johnny Whoops” is the perfect song for this.
You can either go around the circle and do one child’s name at a time, or use a name jar especially if you have a big class.
To use this method, simply place a popsicle stick with each child’s name written on it in a jar. Then select a few children’s names to do at each circle time.
Start on your pinky finger and say “Johnny” as you point to the tip of each finger. After the pointer finger, slide your finger over to the thumb while saying “whoops”. Then work your way back to the pinky saying “Johnny” on each finger.
Halloween is just around the corner and I bet your little ones will go batty over this festive song! “Old McDonald Had a Haunted House” takes that popular farm song (you know the one?!?) and creates a perfect rendition for this time of year.
Old MacDonald had a haunted house,
E – I – E – I – Boo!
And in that house there was a bat,
E – I – E – I – Boo!
To add an additional layer of fun, engagement and a literacy connection, add a visual for everything in his house!
Don’t have time to source all the pictures? No worries, just click here or fill out the form at the bottom of the email. You’ll be able to download the activity pack for FREE! It includes the song sheet, activity guide and printables with character names (just like the one below) so you can start singing the song right away!
>>>>>Download the activity by entering your information below<<<<<
When September roles around, it is pretty common for the “All About Me” theme to fill many preschool teachers’ lesson planning books.
This song, “My Great Big World,” is a perfect addition to your “All About Me” circle times. It’s sure to keep kids engaged as they will learn the sign language for several of the words in the song!
Teachers will love “My Great Big World” because the adaptions are endless! You could literally use this song all year long when introducing a new theme or topic to your class.
Some of the skills fostered in “My Great Big World” are:
Singing with others
Sign language
Developing an awareness of self
Check out the video below so you can see the song in action! Then be sure to click on the link to download the activity guide, audio recording and chords to play the song on ukulele or guitar.
Download My Great Big World!
Simply enter your name and email in the fields below. Once you’ve done that, check your email for this free resource. I hope you find it to be a fun song to add to your “All About Me” theme!
Do you know what the biggest struggle is when it comes to circle time? Keeping kids engaged!
Here’s how it goes….you plan this amazing list of activities to do at circle time, but you can’t even get a word in edgewise! With kids complaining about not having enough space, someone’s in their seat or they have to go to the bathroom, it is no wonder many teachers say circle time is their least favorite part of the day.
What if I could give you 7 tried and true secrets that will begin to turn your circle times around? These secrets have come from me falling flat on my face repeatedly until I found what works. This means, I’ve failed so you don’t have to!
If you are ready to make a change at circle time, check out the “7 Secrets for Circle Time Success” and get ready to rock your circle times tomorrow!
Songs for Circle Time
A really awesome way to keep kids engaged is to have lots and lots of activities to share. My two favorite kinds of activities are music and movement ones of course.
Welcome to December! This month in our music classes, it is all about the Nutcracker. Every year we choose this theme because it is a classic tale with AMAZING music! Plus kids LOVE it.
I can’t wait to share one of my favorite activities from our month of the Nutcracker below. If you end up teaching it, let me know how it goes!
March of the Toy Soldiers Movement Activity
The first movement song we always teach when sharing the Nutcracker is “March of the Toy Soldiers”. Its repetitive form makes it easy to create a purposeful movement experience and often times there are children who immediately recognize the tune!
If you don’t plan to read the Nutcracker story to your class, The March of the Toy Soldiers Movement Activity is still a festive one to add to the list.
Prep: Follow the directions on page 4 of the listening map
How to teach:
1. Have children gather on the carpet. Show the listening map and explain that there are several characters in the song they will hear below. Turn on the music and have them listen to each character’s special sound.
The Nutcracker who “marches”
The Mouse King who “tiptoes”
The Man with the eyepatch who makes everyone “freeze” when his music is played
The Sugarplum Fairy who has everyone “twirl” when her music is played.
2. Next have children stand up. Turn on the music and hold up the card with the character whose music is playing. You can have children choose to be one of the four characters, but I’ve found my kids want to play all the parts!
Have fun with that and enjoy each and every magical moment in this season of hope, faith and love!
