Creating Circle Time Made Easy

Where to start when you're planning a movement circle? Most people are overwhelmed by all the possibilities. First, remember that you only need to plan this one circle--and it's just tiny. Here's my advice for keeping it simple and fun for mixed ages--and yourself:

~ Start with the same opener every day--a gathering song or something that everyone loves: we would use "Ring Around the Rosy" and a good morning greeting song with hand gestures.

~ What will be your theme? Is there a holiday, or the season to tap into? Right now it's summer, so we'll take advantage of that.

~ What do you already know relating to your theme? I already know a couple of songs with hand gestures about ducks and fish, and I bet you do, too. If you're short on resources, look up something old or new on the internet.

~ Think up a few lines of story to tie them together: Jenna and Liam went with their mommy to the lake. There they saw ducks swimming on the water (Sing "Three Little Ducks went out one day...." followed by "Five Little Ducks that I once knew..."). They gave the ducks some bread, when suddenly they saw something flashing in the water: It was a fish jumping out of the lake. Then you can do the Wilma Ellersiek hand gesture game, or the song "1,2,3,4,5, Once I caught a fish alive..." And that's enough.

~ End with the same song or game each time: we do a raisin guessing game that I learned from Faith. Each child is called over to guess which hand the raisin is in and then goes on to the next activity ("TickaTacka, NickaNackaNu, Dear Little Raisin where are you?")
Maybe later in the fall you'll want to do one connected with pumpkins, but you're short on songs or fingerplays....just use the internet, where you can find old favorites or something new.