Welcome Songs / Games : Peek-a-boo, Charlie Over the Water

I usually change the welcome song every four weeks or so. I call these welcome games, because the child being greeted gets to perform a fun activity.

"Peek-a-boo"  works great at the very beginning of the year. (By the end of the year they might feel too grown up for this game)

I brought a scarf & demonstrated for the kids by putting it over my head & singing:
The melody I use is in solfege \ down slash means go down the scale, / up slash = go up

Kathy is hiding, hiding, hiding.
 do do re mi do, re \ sol /mi do
Kathy is hiding. Where can she be?
do do re mi do, re \ sol / do

(I take the scarf off my head)

Peek - a - boo! I see you!
 / sol sol mi,      fa fa re
Peek - a - boo! I see you! 
 mi mi do,         re \ sol / do

Then I passed the scarf to a child, and they knew right away what to do. 

This week we learned "Charlie Over the Water"

As usual, I started with a traditional song and changed it to something I could use. It makes no sense whatsoever, but the kids don't seem to care.

To play this fun welcome game, I bring a little beanie toy that has no sharp projections. A simple bean bag would work also.

On "Charlie catch", I gently toss the toy underhand to the child. On "throw it back" they do their best to throw it back to me. They all get praised for their turns. It's too much to expect them to all be able to throw & catch perfectly, but they are learning to follow directions & take turns, so they deserve a "good job!" for this.

Of course, I use the name of the child being welcomed in place of "[Charlie]".

[Charlie] over the water,      [Charlie] over the sea
  do do     do do do do \ sol,   /  do do     do ti do  re

[Charlie] catch the beanbag -- and throw it back to me!
 /fa fa      \ re     re   ti  sol         sol    sol   sol  la    ti  do