Games for Kids Age Level: 3‐5 Language Level: All Levels Competency: Animal Yoga Poses Naming Foods
“Animal Dinner Party” Facilitator Instructions: ① Begin by reviewing the necessary yoga poses with the children from your stack of yoga cards (e.g. the snake, the kangaroo, the elephant, etc. ) ② Explain, “today we are going to write a story together, that involves a whole bunch of animals, and a whole bunch of yummy food!” ③ Begin by saying “once upon a time there lived a…”
Materials:
✐ Animal yoga cards ✐ Food cards ✐ Yoga mats
Sample Story:
Once upon a time there lived an animal. He/she loved to plan beautiful dinner parties for all of his/her friends. Who do you think he/she will invite this year? Well let’s see. He/she decided to invite the animal, the animal and the animal. Whatever will they eat? It’s hard to say. It changes every time. Sometimes they eat food or food or food. One time they even ate food. But this time, this very special time they are going to eat food. Yummy!
④ Walk around the room and choose a child who is listening to choose the animal card from the stack. ⑤ Help all of the children to do the appropriate pose. ⑥ Continue the story stopping when you come to animal references and food references to draw cards.
Games for Kids Age Level: 5‐6 Language Level: All Levels Competency: Distinguishing Fruits Making Healthy Food Choices Materials:
✐ 2 stuffed toys (that are either fruit‐shaped people or look like super heroes) ✐ 1 picture of a smiley face ✐ A deck of cards ½ with pictures of fruit on them and the other ½ with pictures of non‐ fruits on them.
“Mr. & Mrs. Tutti Fruity” Facilitator Instructions: ① Form a circle with the children. ② Introduce the children to your “Mr. & Mrs. Tutti Fruity” stuffed toys. ③ Explain that Mr. & Mrs. Tutti Fruity are very healthy because they eat lots and lots of fruits. Also say that this gives them lots of energy to play games and makes them feel good all day! ④ Next ask the children if they know what a fruit is. ⑤ If they say yes, say “great!” if they say no, say “no problem, I’m going to teach you what a fruit is”. ⑥ Hold up a picture of a fruit and ask, “is this a fruit”. ⑦ If they say yes, show them the smiley face picture and say, “you got it”. ⑧ If they say no, say, “nice try but it’s a fruit”. ⑨ Repeat with a non-fruit card. ⑩ Take turns drawing cards and deciding if they are fruits or not. For each fruit card reinforce it gets you lots of energy.
Games for Kids
“Sink or Float?”
Age Level: 5‐6
Facilitator Instructions:
Language Level: Beginner
② Use an object that floats (e.g. a sponge) to demonstrate.
Competency: Predicting Observing Buoyancy
③ Repeat this but with an object that sinks.
Materials:
✐ 10‐12 diverse objects from your classroom or on‐the‐go kit that have different sinking or floating profiles: Ex: penny, chalk, leaf, eraser, sponge ✐ A container filled with water ✐ A sink sign for each student ✐ A float sign for each student
① Ask the students if they know what it means for something to sink or float.
④ Lay out your other 8‐10 objects. ⑤ Ensure that all of the children know the names for the objects. ⑥ In teams, have them make predictions about whether they think the objects will sink or float. ⑦ Record their predictions on the board. ⑧ Next, run the experiment. ⑨ Give each student a sink and a float sign and have them hold them in the air as you drop the items in the water. ⑩ Once the item sinks or floats, yell the answer out to confirm it for the class.
Games for Kids Age Level: 8‐10 Language Level: Intermediate to Advanced Competency: Writing Questions Answering Questions Materials:
✐ Oversized paper ✐ 8”x11” paper ✐ Tape ✐ Pencils ✐ Felts ✐ 1 strip of paper with each student’s name on it ✐ A hat or something to hold the names in
“Classroom Secret Pen Pals” Facilitator Instructions:
① Create oversized envelopes out of construction paper either on your own or with the aid of your students. Fold the paper in half and tape the edges. Include a triangular flap if you wish. ② Have the children decorate the envelopes and write their names on them. ③ Have the students draw names of other individuals in the class from a hat. Make sure these are kept secret. ④ Have the children pose 3 questions on a topic of your choice to their classroom pen pal (e.g. pets, house, sports or food). ⑤ Collect the letters and distribute them in the envelopes for the students. ⑥ Take turns opening the letter, trying to respond to the questions and guessing who posed the questions.
Tristan
Sample Envelope
⑦ Repeat this activity on multiple days.
Games for Kids
“What do you think?”
Age Level: 9‐12
Facilitator Instructions:
Language Level: Intermediate to Advanced
② On the ground within each quadrant place a sign that says ‘agree’, ‘somewhat agree’, ‘somewhat disagree’ or ‘disagree’.
① Divide the entire class into four quadrants using yarn.
Competency: Stating Opinions Using Comparatives Materials:
✐ 4 large labels (Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree & Strongly Agree) ✐ 1 strip of paper for each student ✐ 30 feet of yarn
Music: Play an upbeat,
fast‐paced song when the children are choosing quadrants.
Agree
Strongly Disagree
Strongly Agree
Disagree
Classroom Floor Plan
③ Read one of the statements below to the class. ■ Cars are better than bicycles. ■ Purple is better than orange. ■ Crafts are better than sports. ■ Cats are better than dogs. ④ Have the students travel to the quadrant that best represents their opinion. ⑤ For advanced groups, structure a debate and have each position give three reasons why they chose their quadrant. ⑥ You may also wish to have the students generate the statements and give them turns reading their statements to the class.