We were brainstorming holiday games for the upcoming Christmas season, and we thought it would be fun to put a new twist on an old favorite and call it Santa Says! Grab a bunch of kids, assign a Santa, and get moving!
The classic childhood game of Simon Says is a perfect and fun way to work on motor planning, direction following, and all kinds of other developmental skills for kids. You can also adapt the game and change up the movement prompts to target specific skills, depending on the child or children you’re working with!
What You’ll Need:
All you’ll need for this activity is a group of kids and the movement prompts below
What to Do:
Assign one person to be “Santa” (or Simon). Santa will be the one to give instructions to the rest of the group to move in different ways.
Before giving each instruction, he or she will say “Santa says…” Players must only carry out the instruction if it begins with “Santa says”.
When Santa gives an instruction without beginning with “Santa says”, watch to see which kids in the group follow the instruction anyway. Those kids are “out” until the next round. Keep playing until only one child is left in the group – he or she is the winner and gets to be “Santa” next!
Suggested Movement Prompts:
Santa Says….
Star jump
Donkey kick
Twist jump
Gallop like Rudolph
Put on your Santa Boots
Snap your fingers
Reach high for the stars
Jump for joy
Jumping jack
Hop on one foot
Make your body a sled by holding a plank
Stand like a Christmas Tree (tree pose)
Make yourself a snowball (hug knees into chest and roll on back)
Touch your rosy red nose
March like a toy soldier
Do a snow angel on the floor
[…] Santa Says […]