Sing and Seek

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. ;)