What's In The Box?

Gifts are a big part of the holiday season for many people. There can be a lot of joy surrounding presents, like making lists, shopping for family and friends, and wrapping the gifts. One fun part of the season is trying to see if we can guess what's in the packages before we open them. Is it possible to tell by the size or weight of the package? What other clues could there be? That's what this tune is all about.

This infectious synth-based pop song gives your students the opportunity of going through various emotions as the track progresses. Start them off singing sweetly, innocently, as they describe the holiday surroundings. Encourage them to be more and more dramatic as the song goes on with the challenge of trying to figure out what's in each box. For example, picture an inquisitive child getting frustrated, clenching teeth while asking "WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!" They can also "dig in" to the consonants (like the word "gotta"). Being overly dramatic is a plus. That should get your audience laughing. In addition, the students will likely enjoy singing the downward slide from "the" to "box," as you can hear from the full performance track. If you have a shy group of kids, then singing it normally would also work well.

If you're doing this song in a performance, you could use wrapped gifts for props. Make them all different sizes and shapes. Include some very odd shapes for giggles. Your students could grab the gifts and act like they're guessing what's inside. They can mime to the sounds matching the lyrics on the second verse. For example, "shake it" is followed by a shaker, "swish side to side" followed by the ascending bell tree, and "squeeze it" is followed by the squeaks from a toy.

Here's an amusing idea: After all the mystery, let one student actually open the box and discover it's a pair of bland socks, or something equally disappointing. It would be particularly funny if the box was huge. Follow that with an exclamation accordingly, like "Aw, man."