24th January 2013
The nurseries and schools we work with are always looking for fun drama games to play with their children, so we thought we’d put together a few simple ideas for Chinese New Year which starts on February 10th (you can play at home too!).
Chinese New year is a time when everyone gets haircuts and new clothes, spring cleans the house, does the dragon dance and gives each other presents. Red is a particularly auspicious colour so people wear red clothes, wrap up presents in red paper and even paint their front doors red! Try this fun drama game for children; all you need is a large piece of material (red if possible!).
NEW YEAR GIFT – A DRAMA GAME
The group should agree on one present they’d like to give/receive – a story book or a train for example. One child pretends to be the present and sits under a large piece of cloth. The game begins when the other players begin to recite:
What is in this pretty box?
Whatever can it be?
A new year’s gift – what a treat (lift the cloth of the present’s head)
A (NAME OF PRESENT e.g...: story book/train) just for me!
Children should then take it in turns to be the present.
SNAKE IN THE HOUSE – A DRAMA GAME
2013 is the year of the snake; ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will have enough to eat for the year. All you need to play this simple drama game is a skipping rope!
Two players should hold either end of the rope (this is the snake) and begin to shake it gently so it slithers across the floor. A third player stands in front of the snake and everyone starts to sing (to the tune of ‘One finger one thumb keep moving’):
There’s a snake in the house be careful
A snake in the house be careful
A snake in the house be careful
It might just tickle your toes - jump!
At the end of the song, player number three should jump as high as the can, over the snake
Have fun and happy new year!