Sweden has a fun gift-giving tradition called Julklappsrim. Julklappsrim is translated as ‘Christmas present rhyme’. When giving gifts to each other, Swedish people like to write rhymes, containing clues about the gifts, and attach them to the wrapped gift. It makes opening gifts so much more fun – reading the rhymes and guessing what’s inside! For this activity, we recreate this tradition but using objects from around the house instead of wrapped up gifts.
Set up Time: 10 minutes
Directions
- Select small objects from around the house (see our suggestions below) and a paper bag or box for each
- On each bag, write a short riddle to help the children guess what’s inside, leaving the last word as a blank line (e.g. “________”) so the children can guess the rhyme
- When they finish, let them open the bag and see if they guessed it right or not!
Riddle suggestions:
- Mittens: These keep you warm, they’re as soft as kittens, open the bag for a pair of _____
- Book: Take a look, inside this bag you’ll find a _____
- Spoon: You’ll use this to eat lunch soon, open the bag and find a _____
- Hat: Don’t put this on a cat, look inside and find a _____
- Cup: You use this everyday, yup….it’s a _____
- Candy: It’s very dandy to eat a piece of _____
- Tissues: When your nose is runny it can be an issue if you don’t have a _____
- Shoe: You wear these outside and always have two, inside you’ll find a _____
Materials
- Items collected from the house
- Paper bags or boxes
- Marker
Learning Through Play
Cognitive: Memory – Invite children to repeat this activity with their parents later on that day so that they can take on the role of the person hiding the objects and the excitement of being the one who initiates the game. Invite parents to read the riddle or see if children can remember some parts of the riddle.
Social-Emotional: Empowerment – Children may only guess the correct answer to a handful of the rhymes below, and will want to repeat it over and over. This is great! While it might seem repetitive to adults, this is actually their way of celebrating their own success.
School Readiness: Rhymes – Rhyme is one of the more difficult concepts for children to understand, so frequent exposure to silly, playful rhymes is the best way to invite them into the world of rhyming, which will help them later to understand how to read and write!
See this activity in the Rayz Kidz app along with the other fun activities. Rayz Kidz is your trusted source for play-based activities featuring over 100 themes and 500+ hands-on activities and clear descriptions of the beautiful learning that is happening through play.
