~ Miscellaneous Sponges ~
~ Dead Lines ~
Stage: Early Stage One, Stage One.
Time: Five minutes
When: This activity is a settling activity for the children so it’s best
employed after lunch or after an active recess.
Resources: NIL
Procedure: The children lay on the ground, while the teacher tells them a
short story:
“The hunters walked around the forest, looking for a fox to take home and eat. You are the foxes
and I’m the hunter. You all look dead, but are you really?”
The aim is for the children to lay on the ground as quietly and as still as they can. The teacher
is the hunter. If the teacher sees a child move, even a little, the teacher points to the child, stating
their name. The game continues. This game isn’t an active filler, but rather a fun way to calm the
children down.
Variations: Another game, called “Gnomes” is a little different. The teacher
is the gardener and the children are the gnomes. The gnomes are seated on the floor in various
positions. When the gardener is not looking, they must change positions. If they are caught
changing positions by the gardener, state their name and continue the game. This game could
take a while if you wanted everyone out, so let those children who have been caught moving to
continue in the game.
Recommended By: Katie Higgins.
~ Peach, Pear, Plum
~
Stage: Stage Two & Three
Outcomes: The children will deal with ‘tongue-twisters’ in this game and
will learn to react quickly when they are called upon. Children will also develop their listening
skills.
Resources: NIL
Procedure: Three children are selected and sit in seats out the front, facing
the class. Each child is given a fruit name. The first is given, “Peach”, the second is “Pear” and
the third is “Plum”. Let the children practice saying their fruit name.
One child from the class is selected. That child stands up, facing the three children in seats
and has to say the name of one of the children three times. So if the child chooses “Pear”, they
have to say “Pear, Pear, Pear”. However, the child who is “Pear”, must say what fruit they are, in
this case “Pear” before the child has finished saying “Pear, Pear, Pear”. If the “Pear” child says
there name first, they remain in their seat. If the child in the class finishes before the “Pear”
child, the two children swap positions, so there is a new “Pear” child. The game continues like
this.
Considerations: You can let the class be the judges as well. Ask them who
finished first, and if it is undecided, let the child have another turn.
Recommended By: Katie Higgins.
~ Arm Untangle
~
Time: Five minutes
Stage: Stages two and three
Outcomes: The children develop skills like teamwork and cooperation, as
they work together to develop strategies to untangle themselves. Children also learn to
communicate and experiment.
Procedures: Break the children up into groups of five or six. The children
form a circle, cross their arms and join hands with people opposite them. Ensure you instruct the
children not to join hands with those next to them, and that they should be holding two different
people’s hands. At this stage, the children should still be in their circle, and in the centre should
be a mass of arms, weaving and entwined among each other. All hands must be holding someone
else’s hand in the circle. The children must try to untangle themselves to form a circle. The main
rules is that children can not let go of the other person’s hand.
Once the groups have untangled themselves, or attempted to untangle themselves, try combining
some of the groups and then ask the children if it was more difficult to untangle. Listen to some
of their strategies and observe their methods. Children should be encouraged to experiment and
predict the results. Even if a group does not achieve success, ask the groups that did to explain to
the class some of their methods. Use this game every now and then and see the developments in
communication and decision making strategies.
Considerations: It is best not to use the whole class because the timing is
much more difficult to predict and the task becomes much harder for the students to achieve
success. Small groups allow for easy communication and experimentation.
~ Who Am I? ~
Time: Two - Five minutes
Stage: Early Stage one, one, two and three.
Procedure: The aim of this game is for the children to guess who the
teacher is talking about. They do this by the teacher giving them clues about the person they are
thinking of, like on Sale Of The Century. The person can be a child in the classroom, a teacher at
the school or a familiar celebrity. The teacher asks the class, “Who Am I?”. The teacher then
must give clues about who they are, such as, “I am a member of this class”, “I enjoy soccer”,
“My name has a double letter in it” or “I am someone who works hard in Mathematics and
handwriting”. This can even act as a source of praise and recognition for students. The children
must guess who you are based on the clues.
Considerations: Do not use the game too much in your classroom, because
the children will enjoy the sudden spontaneity of the activity. Ask the children to pick someone
and give clues to the class as well.
Variations: You can use this activity in all lessons by simply changing the
“Who” to “What”, for example, “what has three sides and three angles?” (triangle) or “What is
round and never seems to end?” (Circle)
~ Chinese Whispers ~
Time: Five to ten minutes
Stage: Early stage One, stage one, stage two, stage three.
Outcome: The children will be able to communicate through whispers, as
well as developing their listening skills and cooperation skills.
Procedure: The children are seated in a circle on the floor. One child is
selected to make up a sentence which will be passed around the circle, with each child
whispering the sentence into the next child’s ear and so on, until the sentence has made it all the
way around the circle. The original sentence is told out loud to the class, and the final sentence is
then told to the class. Ask the children questions such as, “Why were there changes in the
sentence?” , “What could have caused them?” and “How could we rectify this communication
problem?”.
This may be a tradition activity, however, in my last two practicum classes I have had this game
was a big hit!
Consideration: Stress the importance of quiet when the sentence is being
whispered around the circle and tell the children to speak clearly and articulate words correctly
so that the sentence has as few changes as possible.
Recommended By: Brett Perkins
~ Pass The Tissue ~
Stage: Early, stage one, one, two and three
Time: Depends on the length available.
Resources: Box of tissues.
Outcomes: Students will work cooperatively in their group to achieve a
common goal. They will also develop strategies to improve their technique and chance of
success.
Procedure: Students sit in a circle, either in small groups or whole class.
Beginning with one student, a tissue is held above the student’s head. The children blows on the
tissue trying to hold it up with their breath. This student blows the tissue to the next person. The
tissue is passed around the circle. All children must remain seated. The tissue is not allowed to
touch the ground. If it does, the tissue continues around the circle. Once the children know and
have had practice with passing one tissue, additional tissues are added to the circle, one at a
time.
The game can be competitive, hence groups competing against on another.
Recommended By: Kathryn O’Neill.
~ Keys In A Cave ~
Stage: Early Stage One, Stage One, Two and Three
Outcomes: The children will learn to rely on their sense of hearing in this
activity. This game also helps the children to be silent when a child is playing.
Resource: Set of Keys (Car keys, classroom keys etc), Blindfold.
Procedure: The class sits in a circle, and one child is selected to sit in the
centre of the circle on a chair. Underneath the child’s chair is a set of keys. The child in the
middle is a bear and the chair is the bear’s cave. The child in the seat is blindfolded. The aim of
the game is for the children in the circle to retrieve the keys without being heard by the sleeping
bear.
One child is selected by the teacher to attempt the retrieval. That child must crawl quietly upto
the keys, collect them and take them back to the circle before the bear (child) points to him/her.
If the child retrieves the keys, they become the new bear, the keys are placed under the chair and
the old bear joins the circle. If the child is heard and pointed at by the bear, that child returns to
the circle and another child is selected.
Considerations: The teacher selects the child so that only one is attempting
the retrieval at one time. However, for a trick every now and then, select two or three children to
attempt the retrieval and see who can make it first. Also, instruct the rest of the class, who
remain in the circle, to respect the children who is trying to get the keys by remaining silent.
Recommended By: Vanessa Sims
~ Why Should I Leave? ~
When: Best used when children are leaving for lunch or recess or leaving at
the end of the day.
Stage: Early Stage One, Stage One, Two and Three.
Time: Approximately two minutes
Outcomes: Allows the children to give praise to their teacher, no matter how
untrue it may be!
Resources: NIL
Procedure: Before the children leave for lunch, ask them to give you a
reason to leave. Basically, in my practicums, the teacher lets the child leave if they say a nice
thing or compliment the teacher. She believed it improved the teachers self-esteem and gave the
children a fun way of exiting the classroom. She would only accept answers that were
compliments to her and once the children had played the game a few times, they understood
what she wanted to hear.
Considerations: Be aware that children will grossly lie through their teeth!
Recommended By: Brett Perkins
~ Back Track ~
Stage: Early Stage One, One, Two and Three.
Outcome: The children will work cooperatively to achieve success. The
children will also improve observation skills and strategy development.
Resource: A pencil or pen, or for a greater challenge, a set of keys.
Procedure: The children form a circle and one child is selected as the
detective. That child, the detective, goes outside as the teacher gives the pencil, pen or keys to
one child in the circle. The child hides the object behind their back as the detective enters the
room. All children must have their hands behind their back at all times throughout the game, so
as to decrease the amount of movement needed to pass the object on. The detective moves to the
centre of the circle and the game begins.
The aim of this game is for the children to pass the object around the circle, behind their
backs, so that the detective does not see who has the object. If the object has traveled around the
circle once, the class has won. However, the detective will be on the lookout for movement that
may tell him/her which child in the circle has the object. When the detective thinks they know
who is currently holding the object, he/she points to the child, who shows their hands. If that
child has the object, the detective joins he circle and two new children are selected. If not, the
game continues. The detective has three guesses at who is holding the object.
Considerations: Children are bound to fake passing the object to distract the
children passing the real object. This is allowed and acceptable, so the game becomes much
more of a challenge for the detective. Ensure that you tell the children to remain silent at all
times throughout the game so that the detective has full concentration. If a child is caught
holding the object, don’t necessary let them be involved in the next game, because if children
realise they will have a turn by holding onto the object and getting caught, they will hold the
object for long periods of time so as to get caught. This game is fast and sneaky! Have heaps of
fun!
