We recently had our end of the year party with the kids. Here in Finland the kids are not stressed about rehearsals and long plays, they just sing a few songs and enjoy a picnic and games afterwards. I feel that that’s a much healthier option…everybody has fun and feels comfortable.
Our favorite song that we sang this year was “Yes, I Can” from Super Simple Learning. This is an amazing song for our EFL learners! It focuses on basic vocabulary (I can/can’t, animals, and verbs), it encourages creativity (because it’s easy to replace the animals and the verbs with other similar examples), it is easy to teach (because it has gestures), develops children’s gross motor skills and a healthy attitude towards physical activity.
It even teaches kids that not all of us have the same abilities, but each and every one of us is special in that sense. Maybe I cannot draw, but I can sing – everybody has got a talent!
To teach this song, we played some fun games. To prepare them, you just need a printer and some popsicle sticks. You can download the coloring pages (and other useful resources) for free from the Super Simple Learning website. Let the kids color them as they like, then cut them out. Laminate each animal (optional, but recommended for durability) and attach them to some popsicle sticks. Cut the words out too – in small rectangles.
1. “Who’s coming to visit?” – The teacher (or a child) hides behind a curtain (or the sofa) and says “Knock, Knock!”. The children ask “Who’s there?”, and the teacher answers “Guess who! I have …/ I am…” and gives clues for the other kids to guess the animal that will come out from behind the curtain.
2. “Guess Who You Are” – The children are seated in a circle. A child comes to the centre of the circle and shuts her eyes. The teacher (or another child) puts one of the stick puppets behind the child’s back. The kid will then try to guess what animal it is (we also used some hints – whether the animal is big or small).
3. Matching Game – This activity is for emergent readers: match the animal with its name.
4. “Which One Did I Hide?” – Place all stick puppets on the floor, so that all children can see. Name each animal, then tell the children to shut their eyes. Take one of them, then tell them to open their eyes. They have to try to guess which animal was taken away.
What other activity ideas do you have for this song?
(Download these cute images from the Super Simple Learning Resource Center)
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like:
How to Support Children’s Creativity
Music Makes the World Go Round
Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down – Song and Coloring Pages
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