Voices from The Hub: Teachers’ Favorite Mighty Minutes

In a child’s classroom, each moment of the day is a canvas for endless learning opportunities. Even brief times of day, such as transition times, hold great potential for enriching learning and development. And this is where the power of Mighty Minutes comes to life!

Mighty Minutes are short activities featuring different songs, chants, rhymes, and games designed to turn these seemingly small moments into invaluable learning experiences. Mighty Minutes can serve as a tool to seamlessly incorporate language, literacy, math, science, social studies, and physical skills into those “in-between” moments of a school day—whether it’s preparing the class for an outdoor activity or gathering them for large-group time. And, like all other materials in The Creative Curriculum , Mighty Minutes activities are rooted in the curricular objectives.

Another wonderful feature of Mighty Minutes is their versatility: they can be tailored to suit your group of children, the community, seasonal variations, and several other factors, providing a truly personalized and adaptable learning experience.

We recently invited teachers to join us in The Hub—the Teaching Strategies online professional development community—to tell us about their favorite Mighty Minutes. Their enthusiasm led to a wonderful exchange, with educators not only sharing their absolute favorite Mighty Minutes but also offering inventive, alternative versions they’ve personally created. Here’s a glimpse into it!

Mighty Minutes 07, “Hippity, Hoppity, How Many?”

In The Hub, an educator shared this favorite Mighty Minute of hers! She taps her knees and chants, “Hippity, hoppity, how many?,” as she holds up fingers on each hand, letting the children count each finger. She then invites the children to write that number in the air with their own fingers. With infectious energy, she repeats the sequence, adapting the activity based on the children. “I really love it because it’s easy to do in any situation. The children love doing it and you work on so many of those important skills.”
– Cheryl W., Illinois

Mighty Minutes 15, “Say It, Show It”

This Mighty Minutes activity became a favorite because the children in the classroom love to sing its catchy tune and because it incorporates music and coordination! “I love this one – the kids love it. All I know is they’re singing and having a good time AND they’re learning!”
– Jennifer D., Louisiana

Mighty Minutes 30, “Bounce, Bounce, Bounce”

Another educator shared her favorite Mighty Minutes activity: “Bounce, Bounce, Bounce!” “I love that this one gets the kids up and moving and gets some of their wiggles out between activities.”– Lisa R., Louisiana. She even adapts this chant to each study, changing “some of the words in the chant to connect with the relevant study topic.”

Mighty Minutes 234, “Perfect Pairs”

One educator shared that she uses her favorite Mighty Minutes activity to get the children into pairs for different activities or transitions throughout the day. She simply passes out alphabet cards with two of each letter for the children to find their pair. “Depending on the students, we differentiate so they can either be finding the exact same looking letter, they can be looking for the same color if they need a bit more assistance, or if they need a bit more of a challenge, we let them find their uppercase and lowercase letters.” – Anna W., South Carolina

Mighty Minutes 284, “Veggie Stew”

Another top Mighty Minutes activity that was shared was Mighty Minutes 284, “Veggie Stew,” a chant to the tune of “The Farmer in The Dell” that invites children to come up with different vegetables and describe them, offering more opportunities for extended learning. “I think of this one as a community building activity because this one is going to draw all the kids in.” – Sherrie S., West Virginia

There are several other incredible contributions and ongoing discussions in The Hub. Join the conversation and be part of the fun.  You belong here!