Doggie Doggie, Where’s Your Bone?
This is, by FAR, my students’ all-time favorite game in music class. Five minutes of free time? Doggie Doggie. Students earn a free choice reward? Doggie Doggie. Forgot to lesson plan? You guessed it, Doggie Doggie. Week after week, year after year, this is the students’ most-requested activity.
I believe the appeal lies in the silliness and the chance for students to perform for their peers. But it’s great for teachers too, because you can assess a students’ sense of rhythm, pitch-matching, and microphone technique (microphone use is optional, but trust me when I say it makes this game even MORE fun!).
Activity Requirements:
Number of Players: Best for 5-35 participants.
Recommended for Grades 1-5: Students should be old enough to keep their eyes shut and not peek, so about first grade and up. (Kinders are so excited to try this activity especially if they’ve heard about it from older siblings, but they tend to be too excited to shut their eyes and can’t fully grasp the concept.)
This activity is most successful when students are already very familiar with one another’s names. Unfortunately it just doesn’t work with our 50-student choir that spans multiple classes and age groups, because the students don’t know each other as well.
Set-up and Materials:
Students sitting in a circle.
Microphone (optional).
Your class list and/or whiteboard (to mark who has/has not already been chosen).
Song Lyrics:
Everyone: Doggie Doggie, where’s your bone?
Someone stole it from your home.
Doggie: Who has the bone?
Stealer: I have the bone!
I have the bone!
Doggie: [Guesses the identity of the Stealer]
Gameplay and Rules:
Select your first “Doggie” to stand in a corner of the room (they should have their eyes shut and face away from the group).
Everyone else sings the refrain together. While they are singing, the teacher chooses and points silently to a “Stealer” who walks silently to the microphone.
Doggie sings their question (with their eyes still shut, facing away from the group).
Stealer responds into the microphone using their silliest voice.
Note: it’s always recommended to remind students of proper microphone etiquette (no screaming, be respectful, etc.) before the game begins.
Doggie guess the identity of the Stealer. They can optionally ask “Who has the bone?” one more time for the Stealer to repeat their response.
If the Doggie guesses correctly, they get to remain the Doggie for another round, woohoo! If they guess incorrectly (or peek, or are having trouble following the rules), then the Doggie rejoins the circle, and the Stealer replaces them as the Doggie for the next round.
If a Doggie guesses correctly twice in a row, I call them a “Super Stud,” and we cheer for them as they return to their seat. This keeps the game moving and gives more students a chance to participate.
Repeat the refrain and let the silliness commence.
In order to avoid repeats, I like to write the Stealers’ names on the white board or mark names on my attendance sheet. If we spend 6-8 minutes playing one day, we might make it through half of the class and then I’ll save the list for the following week.
