Hidey Rhymes
The hidey rhyme … a simple guessing game based off the concept of Doggy, Doggy Where’s Your Bone. Ridiculously easy, but kids (and even some adults!) can’t get enough of it. The target age for this activity is three and older. If done with kids younger than that, it will mostly be the adults who do the guessing.
Warning: If you work with the same groups of children for multiple sessions, once this bit of silliness is started, you will be cajoled into doing it each and every time. But that’s a good thing. This activity builds attention spans, forces thoughts to be articulated, and develops memory and listening skills. It also builds group social skills and even the shyest children eventually participate.
Other helpful tips: Portable flannel boards than can easily be moved around work well for this activity. A truly lightweight portable board can easily be placed on a easel, propped on a chair, and you can walk walk around and encourage your shyer children to participate. They are also nice because if you have a “grabby” kid, you can quickly move it out of their reach — using your best Mary Poppins demeanor, of course!
To make a portable board, simply cover a ½ sheet of foam board from the local craft store covered in flannel. Here are a few examples:
Simple portable flannel with a night time scene
Simple portable flannel with a winter scene
General Execution of the Rhymes: Hide the object children are trying to find behind various flannel objects. Making a thematic scene based on your topic always works well. When doing doggy, doggy be sure to add a cat or dog. It’s always fun to see kids engage their moral compass … would the cat REALLY have taken doggie’s bone? If the audience guess is wrong, repeat the rhyme and guess again.
Add an element of fun: use a puppet to help recite the rhyme
Even more fun: have the helping puppet emerge from some sort of fantastic box
Make it sprinkles-on-top fun: recite the the following magic rhyme when you take the puppet out:
Abra cadabra
Abra kazoom
Let story time magic enter the room!
Say the magic rhyme and Monka joins in the fun!
(The box that you see in the picture is from some Jose Cuervo Reserva from 2012)
Here are some rhymes to get you started:
Where’s your bone?
Doggie Doggie
Doggie Doggie where’s your bone?
Somebody took it from your home.
Is it here, or is it there?
It could be anywhere!
Mousie Mousie
Mousie Mousie come out to play,
What color house are you in today?
Little Cat
Little cat, little cat
Are you in the _____ hat?
Banana Banana
Monkeys love you,
kids do, too
Banana Banana
where are you?
Behind one egg is a hidden critter. The egg is constructed of two pieces of felt.
Tip, Tip, Tap
Tip, tip, tap
Make the egg go crack
Lift the top and take a peek,
Find the critter that you seek!
Recent Comments