Jingle Bell Pong

This Christmas game was a hit!  It is perfect to sing a bunch of songs or review a song the primary is singing for Christmas Sunday.  I got this idea from the blog Playground Parkbench.  I turned the game into a primary singing time game.

Supplies:

*Small red Solo cups 

*Glue Dots

I got these glue dots to stick the cups to the board.  They worked very well.

*20-30mm jingle bells (I got the jingle bells at Michaels also.  There might be some at The Dollar Store.)

*Some type of board or cardboard to glue cups on  (I got four painter canvases from Michael's to make two boards.) 

Instructions:

THE BOARDS:  I first took the four canvases and glued two of them together.  Then I glued the other two canvases together.  I took two of the small cups and glued them to the bottom to make the board angled.  Then I placed the cups in a bowling formation.  I got the glue dots and put two on the bottoms of each cup and then stuck the cups to the board.

PRINTING:  I printed out the Christmas songs we would be singing in primary and some song actions.  I used font 11 so that when I cut them out that the papers would be thin.  I then folded the strips of paper and stuck one in each of the cups.

Game Rules:

You can either use a folding table if you have one at home or use two primary tables and place them together.

Put a board on both ends of the table.

I printed off team names and taped the team names on each side of the table.  The left side was called REBELS WITHOUT A CLAUS and the right side of the room was called THE SNOW IT ALLS.  The kids loved that they had team names.

Ask a child from the left side of the room to come up and stand on one side of the table and then ask a child from the right side of the room to come up and stand on the other side of the table.  Each team member will be handed two jingle bells.  The first team will try to throw a jingle bell into a cup on the other side of the table.  If the first team does not make it into a cup then the second team has two tries to make it into a cup on the other side of the table.  If the second team does not make it into a cup then it is the first teams turn again to try and make it into a cup and so forth until someone makes it into a cup.

Once a team makes it into a cup then you will see which cup the jingle bell landed.  Pick the song out of the cup and sing the song.  I also had actions in about half the cups.  We learned a simple song out of the Children's Songbook called "Stars Were Gleaming".  When an action was picked from a cup then we sang "Stars Were Gleaming" with the action.  

If the first team makes a jingle bell into a cup before the second team has a turn then start with the second team after singing the song.

The team that has the least amount of papers (songs) left in the cups at the end of primary wins.  I know that it is discouraged to have competitive games in primary, but this one was fun and the kids had so much fun!  The junior primary didn't even ask who won so I didn't tell them.  They had so much fun that they didn't care who won! 

Actions:

I made the actions into silly signs.  The kids love the silly signs.  If you do not know how to make the silly signs then look at the silly sign making blog post.  The PDF files for the new silly signs (action visuals) are here.

Hunch like a Hunchback/Antlers like a Reindeer

Sip hot cocoa/Make a snow angel (if anyone doesn't feel comfortable getting on the floor then make snow angels while standing up) 

Heehaw like Mary’s donkey/Baa like the shepherds sheep

Melt like a snowman/stand like a Christmas tree

Waddle like a penguin/Sing with Tusks like a Walrus (we sang with buck teeth)

Shine like the Christmas star/Comfort baby Jesus (rock baby in arms)

Nutcracker Ballet (twirl around on tiptoes)/Sing Ho-Ho-Ho

We did other actions also.  I tried to make everything about winter or Christmas. 

Binder of Visuals & Words:  (You do not need to have a binder full of songs, but I am sharing what I did.)

I put the visuals to the Christmas songs and winter songs in page protectors and a 3-ring binder.  

I usually put my visuals on poster boards that I switch out when practicing program songs, but there were too many Christmas songs to put on poster boards.  The binder made it so much simpler to do this activity.  I have visuals to most of the primary Christmas songs, but I do not have visuals for the Christmas hymns.  

I printed out the words to Christmas hymns on paper and stuck them in the binder.  I only sang one verse of Christmas hymnal songs.  I typed the entire verse out on one sheet of paper.  The children could see the words great.  Everyone was singing.  

(Yes, I need to vacuum my carpet!)

I am sure most of you have seen a chorister place a binder over the music stand and flip pages.  That is what I did for this activity.   The songs I chose are songs that most of the children are familiar with hearing.  The songs I chose are:

Oh What do you Do in the Wintertime (summertime) p. 245

Snowflakes Falling on the Evergreen Trees (Popcorn Popping) p. 242 

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Away in a Manger p. 42

Christmas Bells p. 54

Picture a Christmas p. 50

The Shepherd’s Carol p. 40b

Joy to the World Hymn 201

Angels We Have Heard on High Hymn 203 

(Sing the “Ah’s” with “Ho-Ho-Ho’s”)

Silent Night Hymn 204

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Hymn 209

Read the Playground Parkbench blog post on Jingle Bell Pong to get more ideas and other ways to play Jingle Bell Pong.