Naughty Kitty Cat

When approaching a first-grade lesson, I always want to hook them with a singing game. Any song that I choose from the literature should align with the musical concepts I am teaching them. Recently, I have been preparing first grade for Ta Rest. My favorite singing game for that concept is "Naughty Kitty Cat!"

In process of teaching the song, I have students keep the steady beat on their body with "naughty kitty cat claws" (curled fingertips). This encourages students to be gentle when they keep the beat. My saying is "feel the beat, don't pound the beat!"

Then I have students echo sing, phrase by phrase. I like to show the melodic contour with my hand to assist the students in visualizing the melody. I have found that my students have been very responsive to this strategy.

For the game, I use my rug as a guide for the outline of our "kitchen." Students are connected, hand in hand, in a tight rectangle. The "mouse" is in the middle of the "kitchen" and the "cat" is on the outside of the "kitchen." I use a handmade mouse mask (paper plates hot glue gunned to sunglasses) for the student that plays the mouse, and I have a stuffed animal cat for the student that plays as the cat to use to try to catch the mouse. Before I start the game, I demonstrate what the mouse does first, then I add a student volunteer as the cat. I make sure that the class understands that the cat must chase the mouse from behind the mouse not in front of them, to prevent students from crashing into each other.

After the mouse and the cat are chosen, the cat closes their eyes and turns away from the rest of the class. Then, I pick a partnership to be the "kitchen door." On the word "Scat," that partnership will raise their hands to let the mouse out. I emphasize to my students that the door has to stay open for the mouse to get back to the kitchen.

Once the door is picked, the cat opens their eyes and turns around, and then the class sings the song.
 At the end of the round, I have the cat choose another cat of the opposite gender and the mouse choose another mouse of the opposite gender. I recommend having a round start this way: girl cat vs boy mouse or boy cat vs girl mouse.

Do you know another version of "Naughty Kitty Cat?" If so, how do you teach your students to play the game? Please share in the comment section!