Community Building Activities

Just wanted to pass on to you some community building activities to do with your class. My kiddos really loved them!

Name Games

Name Games On my way to school… Have all of the students stand up and create an action for a verb of their choice. The action word can be something that they like to do, or something that they think is silly (the sillier, the better!). Divide the class into groups of three or four students. The students will then teach their action to the others in their group. Teach the groups the following sentence: “On my way to school, I saw ”. They will fill in the blank with the name and verb for each student in their group. As a group, they will decide the order for the name/actions. Have the groups march in place while they say “On my way to school I saw”, then do the actions each name.

“On my way to school, I saw… Sarah doing jumping jacks (students march in place) (students do jumpingjacks) Tommy wiggling his entire body (students allwiggle) and Amanda spinning in circles” (students spin in circles) Ask if any groups want to perform their actions for the rest of the class. If you have a large class, change the groups and have the students do the activity with a new group of classmates.

Alphabet Race

Alphabet Race Type and print out each student’s name, then cut off each letter. Be sure to use large, easy — to — read font. For example: Scatter the various letters (letter side down) in the middle of the classroom floor. Count down “3…2…1” and have the students all rush into the center of the room, flip over the letters, and construct their own name. Once the students have found the letters in their own name, have them glue the letters to a piece of colored paper and hold it up for others to see. When each student is finished constructing their own name, have the students take turns holding up their name as they say “Hi, my name is ”. The students can then use the paper as a name tag on their desks.

Speedy Hand Off

Speedy hand - off Have the class form a large circle. Pass a plush ball or stuffed animal around the circle with each student saying their own name and the name of the person to their left (to whom they pass the ball/animal). Time the class as they pass the ball around the circle. How fast can the ball/animal make it around the entire circle? Challenge the class to break their own record.