Where is Santa? Here are three levels of games to play with young learners before or after singing "Santa, Where Are You?" Just print and cut and you are ready to go! (If possible, laminate the cards and playing boards to keep them in good shape).
Where's Santa? Game #1 (super simple)
Print and cut the cards to the right (print the question mark page on the back so that children will not be able to see through the cards). Show the children the Santa card, and then turn all the cards face down on the table or on the floor. Mix the cards up so nobody knows where the Santa card is.
Next, sing or chant the following 2 lines:
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
One child turns over one of the cards. If the card says "Not Here!", the child says, "Not Here!" and turns the card back over. (To make the game easier, have the students leave the cards faceup as they are choosen). Then everybody sings or chants again:
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
Continue playing until someone locates the Santa card!
With very young learners, don't worry so much about the formal rules of the game. Just turn all of the cards face down and have fun taking turns looking for Santa! Use less cards to make the game easier, or more cards to make it more difficult.
For more of a challenge and to practice prepositions of place, place the cards face down in different places around the room (under the chair, on the table, in the cup, under the teddy bear, on the TV, under the book, in the book, on the book, in the pencil case, on the pencil case, under the pencil, etc.). Players take turns trying to guess where Santa is, but they must point and say the location before turning over the card.
Where's Santa? Game #2 (easy)
This is a simple, fun game for practicing "Where are you?", "Over there!", and "Not here!".
Print and cut the mini-cards to the right (print the question mark page on the back so that children will not be able to see through the cards). Next, print the "Where's Santa Game Dice" sheet to the right, cut, fold, and tape or glue the die together. Last, print the "Where's Santa?" board.
Spread the "Santa" and "Not Here" cards around on the "Where's Santa?" board, making sure each color is covered by several cards. Next, sing or chant the following 2 lines:
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
The first player rolls the die. If the player rolls orange, she points to the orange section of the game board, says, "Over there!" and then turns over one of the cards in the orange section. If the card says, "Not Here!", the player says "Not here!" and turns the card back over. (To make the game easier, have the students leave the cards face up as they are chosen).
Then everybody sings or chants again before the next player rolls the die:
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
The player turns over a card from whichever color they roll. If the player rolls "miss a turn", she doesn't get to turn over a card. If the player rolls, "pick 2 cards!", she gets to turn over any 2 cards on the board.
Continue until one player finds Santa!
Where's Santa? Game #3 (a little more difficult)
This version of the game allows you to practice prepositions of place and some simple Christmas vocabulary.
Print and cut the mini-cards to the right (print the question mark page on the back so that children will not be able to see through the cards). Next, print the "Where’s Santa Game Dice (2)" sheet to the right. Cut, fold, and tape or glue the die together. Last, print the "Where's Santa?" board to the right.
Spread the "Santa" and "Not Here" cards around on the "Where's Santa?" board, making sure each picture is covered by several cards.
Next, sing or chant the following 2 lines:
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
"Santa, Santa. Where are you?"
(Alternatively, you can change the chant to "Where is Santa? Where is Santa?")
The first player rolls the die. If the player rolls "Christmas Tree", he points to the Christmas Tree section of the game board, says, "Under the tree!" and then turns over one of the cards in that section. If the card says, "Not Here!", the player says "Not here!" and turns the card back over. (To make the game easier, have the students leave the cards face up as they are chosen).
Then everybody sings or chants again before the next player rolls the die. If the player rolls the "House" picture, he says, "On the rooftop," before turning over a card from that section. If the player rolls "miss a turn", he doesn't get to turn over a card. If the player rolls, "pick 2 cards!", he gets to turn over any 2 cards on the board. If the player rolls "mix!" everybody mixes the remaining cards on the game board, moving all of the cards to different spots.
Have fun!