Sesame Street Birthday: Music game with Grover song

Grover is the hardest working muppet on Sesame Street, without a doubt. And one of his best jobs is explaining concepts like near and far or top and bottom. And you can use his expertise to develop a couple of new musical games for your Sesame Street birthday party.

Now we looked at a celebrity visit last time with Destiny's Child and "New Way to Walk". This time, we'll be using a classic Sesame Street skit with Grover explaining "Over, Under, Around and Through."



My brain just won't stop with the ideas on this one, but I'm going to put a halt at three. I'm sure you can come up with your own as well!

Follow the Leader – Make sure your party setting includes lots of things to crawl over, under around and through, then play a version of follow the leader where the kids have to tell you what word applies to the situation. So you go around the tree, through the tunnel, under the table, etc. If you have a lot of kids and plenty of room, enlist some other adults to be leaders as well and get a lot of short lines going.

Simon (or Elmo or Abby or Grover) Says – Develop some simple movements for each of the four words and play a variation of Simon Says. Maybe stand on tiptoe for over, squat down for under, make a circle for around, push arms out for through. Toss in a couple of other motions and you're on your way.

Obstacle Course – No, not a real one. We're likely talking about toddlers, after all. But, you could do a version of one with stations for each motion. Get the kids in a group, pick a word, then they can run (or walk fast) to the place to do the motion and then hurry back for their next instruction. If the kids are a little older and you have the space, just give them the word and send them out to figure out what they can go under or over on their own.

So those are my quick ideas. What are yours? I'm sure anyone planning a Sesame Street birthday party would love to hear them. Heck, I'd love to hear them!