Today,
I subbed in a kindergarten class. Gulp. Kindergarteners
are not my favourite group of little people. I tend to work more (and
better) with Grades 4 and up, and especially high school. I
like my students independent. Kindergarteners are not independent. They
are needy, sticky, snotty-nosed. They are whiny, clingy and
wired. BUT,
they are also ADORABLE! And they are always very eager to hug you
and hold your hand. I guess they’re not all bad. ;)
The
day went well, especially since there was a student-teacher and an educational
assistant in the class. ;) It was the end of the day and we had
already had afternoon snack and recess. We had what didn’t seem like a lot of
time for a story and discussion on Jesus at the Wedding in Cana. I
was wrong. We
had PLENTY of time. We breezed through the story, the questions
and short game. I had some dead time on my hands before the
kids had to get ready to go home. Dead time in Kindergarten
can be brutal! We
had less than 10 minutes. Not enough time to take out toys and games,
but too much time to just sit idle. Not enough time for
colouring, but too much time for another story (besides, they weren’t
interested in another story).
That’s
when it came to me! That old Sing and Seek game that a
colleague had shown me several years earlier! This game is PERFECT for this age
group! All
you need is an object to hide, and some singing voices. I
like to use a class mascot, a puppet, stuffed animal or any other prized object
in the class. Today,
we used the pointer.
I
picked a random student (ok, not so random, someone who had done an amazing job
at listening all afternoon) to stand in front of me, facing me, with her eyes
closed. The leader of the day went
and hid the pointer anywhere in the classroom while the rest of the class
watched, then he sat back down at his spot. The
class and I started singing (the ABCs for lack of a better alternative) while
our friend walked around the classroom, looking for the pointer. As she got closer to the
object, we sang louder. When
she moved away from it, we lowered our singing voices.
It
was beautiful to see all the smiles on the kids’ faces (and on the other two
adults in the room) as we played our game! They
probably could have gone on forever if I had allowed it, but the beauty of
games like this is that they can be played for as little or as much time as you
have. So simple, but so
effective!
The
kids made me promise that we would play this game again next time I’m in for
their teacher. I think I can handle that. Kindergarteners
are not as monstrous as I had remembered them to be. ;)

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