Holding Hands Around the World: Where Are They From?

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1. Tape/Draw an Earth on the board
2. A child comes up and picks a paper person (link to printable below)
3. Have 3 interesting things about where the paper doll is from to give as hints when the children need help.
4. After they guess it right, sing.
5. Repeat

*You can add some movement to this activity by adding things to do related to the county you're talking about while you sing the song through. Below are my facts and my movements:

AFRICA (continent)
1. The two most popular sports are football (aka soccer) and cricket.
2. Four of the five fastest land animals live here. The cheetah, the wildebeast, the lion and the Thomsons gazelle.
3. This place is home to the largest living land animal, the African Elephant.
- clap the rhythmn

INDIA
1. Cows can be seen walking freely in the streets.
2. Their dancing uses expressive hand movements.
3. The national animal is the Bengal Tiger. The national bird is the Peacock.
- fancy hand movements

CANADA
1. It was founded by Vikings in 1000 AD.
2. They like to play hockey.
3. The border between this country and the US is 5,525 miles long.
- sing like a Viking (opera style)

CHINA
1. This country is known as the "Flowery Kingdom".
2. Ping-pong is the most popular sport. The most popular hobby is stamp collecting.
3. The color red is seen as a symbol of happiness and can be seen everywhere.
 - invisible ping-pong

ITALY
1. The first violin came from this country in the 1500s.
2. Pizza is popular in this country.
3. The capital city, Rome, is almost 3000 years old.
- play violin

MEXICO
1. Millions of Monarch butterflies migrate to this country every year.
2. Bullfighting is the national sport.
3. The world's smallest dog, the Chihuahua is named after a state in this country.
 - be a butterfly

FRANCE
1. Before eating a meal in this county it is polite to say "bon apettit".
2. This country is home to the Eiffel Tower.
3. The world's most famous bike race is here. (Tour de'France).
 - bicycle hands

HOLLAND
1. Windmills are a beloved symbol of this country.
2. People in this county wear wooden shoes.
3. 75% of the world's tulips come from this country.
-  walk the beat

RUSSIA
1. Largest country in the world.
2. This country has cold, cold winters.
3. This country is a leader is arts, music and ballet.
- ballet arms

JAPAN
1. This country makes the most cars in the world.
2. Rice cookers can be found in every home in this country.
3. Sumo is this country's national sport, although, baseball is also popular.
- drive a car

GERMANY
1. Gummy bears were invented in this country.
2. The first printed book was printed in this country.
3. The tradition of the Christmas Tree comes from this country.
- read a book

AUSTRALIA
1. The kangaroo, the koala and the wombat live in this country.
2. Much of the area of this country is desert called "the outback".
- jump like a kangaroo

HAWAII
1. This place has many active volcanoes.
2. This tropical place is a one of the states in the United States.
3. This state is called the "Aloha State". 
- do the hula

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*Here are the international kids printout from Singing a Song blog (find it in the blog post). Go to the document directly here.

*This can be done as a song correlation activity - where each child is a different song (rather than repeating one song over and over again).

Song ideas:

• I Am a Child of God
• Children All Over the World
• Holding Hands Around the World
• Feliz Cumpleanos
• I'll Walk With You
• I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus
• Jesus Wants Me For s Sunbeam
• Jesus Said Love Everyone
• Jesus Once Was a Little Child
• Love One Another
• Kindness Begins With Me
• I Am Like a Star
• A Special Gift is Kindness
• Jesus Loved the Little Children
• Friends Are Fun
• We Are Different
• Hello Friends
• Jesus Is Our Loving Friend

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UPDATE:

• JR liked the actions
• SR liked the questions