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Toss-Up Topics

The more players in this game the better! Snap, clap, and declare items related to the topic, but stay on the jingle's beat.
By: Trish Kuffner, author of The Children's Busy Book

Toss-Up Topics


Directions

The more players in this game, the better! Before you play, learn the Tossup Topics jingle and its rhythmic accompaniment:

 (slap knees)  (clap hands)  (snap left hand)  (snap right hand)
 Toss-  up  Top-  ics
 Arctic  to the  trop-  ics
 Tossup  Topics  now  begins
 Starting  with the  top-  ics.

  1. The players sit in a circle on the floor.
  2. To begin, they recite the jingle together while slapping, clapping, and snapping as shown above.
  3. All the players continue to slap, clap, and snap as the first player declares a topic: for example, birthdays.
  4. The player to his left then must name something related to birthdays: for example, cake. Play continues around the circle.
  5. Each player must name something related to the topic during one slap-clap-snap-snap pattern. If a player is stumped or names something that's already been said, he must drop out.
  6. To resume the game, the remaining players recite the jingle again and declare a new topic.
  7. The last player remaining after all the others have dropped out is the winner.

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