Paper Cup Pattern (paper cup pop)

Beforehand preparation:

Obtain enough cups for each child in your Primary.  Figure out a pattern that matches the beat of the song you will be teaching.  Remember that younger children need to do the same movement in the same place for about 4 to 8 beats before switching.  In contrast, older children need a more complicated movement.

Some movements you might want to consider are tapping the top of the cup upside down on your lap perhaps only once or twice, in one place then another, then tapping the bottom of the cup with the palm of your hand once or twice. You can also turn the cup over.

Activity:

Ask the children “Can your hands follow my hands pretending to hold a cup?” Do the pattern and sing the song. (You are modeling what you want the children to do first.) Now pass out the cups to the children and sing the song again, doing the pattern.

Extender:

For younger children, ask them to do the pattern as you sing the song again, but this time facing the back or the side.

For older children, have them partner up and do the pattern facing each other.  You can also consider having them exchange cups as part of the pattern.

Benefit:

The different sounds of the top of the cup and the bottom of the cup are intriguing and fun to work with as the children do the pattern.  Movement to a steady beat and the challenge of doing the pattern engage the children in the learning process, gives them experience with the beat (that the words ride on), and allows them to hear the song over and over again while concentrating on something else.