More community-building activities for your kiddos!
Astronaut
Have the students sit at their desks with their heads down. Secretly choose one student to be the Lead Astronaut by giving him/her a light tap on the head; the Lead Astronaut’s job in this activity is to send everybody to space without revealing who they are. Once the Lead Astronaut has been chosen, the students will get up and walk round the room. As they walk around the room they will shake each other’s hands. The Lead Astronaut will discreetly scratch the hands of other students; this scratch means that they are being sent to space. If a student has his/her hand scratched, they should shake the hands of 3–5 more students, then go to space (“space” can be a specific area of the classroom). The student who identifies the Lead Astronaut before being sent to space is the winner of the game. The Lead Astronaut is the winner if he/she can send everyone to space without being identified first.
School supplies
Have the class sit in a circle. Ask each student say their name and one thing that they will bring to school to share with everyone (they’re not actually going to bring it in, this is just for the game!). The challenge is that the item they will bring in must begin with the same letter as their name. For example, I’m Rachel and I will bring everyone a ruler! or I’m Mike and I will bring in monkeys!
For a variation of this game, you could begin by saying something that you will bring for everyone, without revealing that it begins with the same letter as your name. The students will need to figure out the pattern on their own. For example, I’m Mrs. Smith and I will bring sandwiches. Ask the students to say their name and something they will bring. If the student says an item that doesn’t start with the same letter as their name, you can say sorry, we already have that! As students figure out the pattern, they will contribute more examples.
Picture freeze
Divide the class into groups of 4–5 students. Assign each group a summertime scene (this can be written on an index card). Each group should act out the scene and freeze in position, as if someone is taking a picture. Once they get into position, the other groups should try to guess what the scene is showing.
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