Would you rather…

Open Mic (Share a Joke)

10 Push-Ups

Dance Party

Turn on a fun song and dance for a minute.

High Cincos

High 5’s to 5 people.

Seat Switch

Rain Storm Start by everyone tapping one finger on the desk,

then two, then three, then four, then lightly tap

whole hand, a little harder, a little harder, now

pound! Now do it all backward. It should sound like

a rainstorm hitting the building.

Telephone Classic telephone game. Students play

with the friends at their table to make

it go quicker.

Categories Pick a category such as words with

long a, verbs, junk food, etc. Go

around the room and each student

says one word that fits in the

category.

Simon Says

Get in Order Say an order for the students to get it, such

as height, birthdays, ABC first name, ABC

last name, etc. Give them 1 minute to get

there.

Challenge – do it without talking!

\ Follow the

Leader

Walkabouts Students pick a partner and

take a 3-minute walk together.

While walking, they explain to

each other what they’ve just

learned about the topic.

Rock Paper Scissors

Tic-Tac-Toe The students play tic-tac-toe on their paper

with the person who sits next to them. They

try to see who can win the most in one minute.

Cars in Motion

Have students get into pairs. One person is

the D (driver) and the other is P (passenger).

P sits directly behind D in a chair. When you

give the green light, D should drive like a

maniac and P mimics the actions of D. After

45 seconds, have D “pull over” and have P

become D.

Yoga Poses

Neck Rolls

20 Jumping Jacks

Run in Place

Circle Run-Ons Have a group of 4-8 students stand in a circle.

One student starts a run on sentence about

the subject just completed. Then the next

student continues the sentence with

information about the topic but leaves off the

ending for the next person. The goal is to

keep the sentence going on for two minutes.

Commercial Breaks Assign a topic to a team. Give

groups five minutes to prepare.

Then have teams present their

30-second commercials to the

class about the information they

just reviewed.

Peer Suspense

Put your students’ names on slips of paper into a

bowl. Pull a name from the bowl. That student

must stand up. You randomly decide to either

have the class give that student a standing ovation

or they must answer a question that you ask them.

Then pull another name and repeat.

Pass a Face Have groups of 6-8 students form circles.

They designate someone as the leader.

He/she makes a funny face to the person to

the right. That person matches the face and

“passes” it to the person on the right and so

on. When the leader says, “Switch,” the

person who has the “face” must make up a new

face to pass.

Air Writing

Have all students stand and take a deep

breath. Have them write the concept in the

air with their finger or pencil. For variations,

air write with elbows, heads, or feet.

The Big Picture Challenge Divide the class into two teams. Each team needs a

large area on which to draw, such as a flip chart or

large poster board. By each team, put a selection of

colored markers. Give them a challenge such as an

elephant drinking a cup of tea, a rhino having a bubble

bath, a rabbit getting married, or a gorilla mowing the

lawn. Each team must draw a picture. Children take

turns going to the board and draw for ten seconds.

Use a funny instrument or noise to make the signal to

swap places and keep the pace fast.

Pairs Jiggle

Have students pair up and complete the

following actions: right knee to knee, left

knee to knee, right hip to right hip, left hip to

left hip, clasp hands, and “jiggle” their whole

bodies.

Hopping Squared Instruct the class to spread out because they will

be occupying a four square area. The upper left

square is “square one,” followed by the upper right

square being “square two,” the bottom left being

“square three,” and the bottom right being

“square four.” Then as the teacher calls out

square numbers students should hop on their left

foot to the designated square.

Imaginary Conversation

Players are in pairs around the room. They are told to

have a conversation with their partners without words

or sounds. They can only use facial expressions and

body language. Possible topics: a debate about what to

watch on TV, a discussion of whether cats or dogs are

better pets, two people who are disagreeing while

sitting at the dinner table, or a customer and cashier

arguing over the change that’s been given.

Knots of People Divide students into teams of 6-12 members. Have each

person join right hands with another person in the group that

is not directly to his/her left or right. Then have each

person join left hands with someone else in the group who is

not directly on his/her left or right and is not the same

person he/she joined right hands with. Now have groups

untangle themselves without letting go of hands. They may

have to loosen their grips to allow for twisting or turning or

they may have to step over or under people. There are four

possible solutions: one large circle with people facing either

direction, two interlocking circles, a figure eight, or a circle

within a circle.

Imaginary Toss Players stand in a circle facing in. The leader stands in the center

and begins by holding up one hand, cautiously cradling an imaginary

egg. The leader says, “I have an egg in my hand. It isn’t cooked so

when I toss it to you please be very careful. Don’t drop it or you will

make a mess. Susan, are you ready to catch the egg?” After the

imaginary egg is caught, the receiver sends it to another player.

After sending that object to someone else, the player then moves to

the middle of the circle to send the same imaginary object to

someone who has not yet received the object.

Here are some other objects to send: a paper airplane,

bubbles, a hot potato, a snowball, a squirming snake, a live

squawking chicken, a gentle butterfly, or a heavy bowling

ball.

Melvin Made a Marvelous Move Players stand in a circle facing in. A player calls out,

“Melvin made a marvelous move!” The rest of the group

chants back, “Make Melvin’s marvelous move!” The

player calls back, “Melvin moved marvelously like this!”

and makes a movement (taps foot, touches head,

shakes shoulders, etc.) The whole group then keeps

making the same move while chanting, “Melvin moved

marvelously like this!”

Yoga Poses

20 Jumping Jacks

Neck Rolls

Run in Place

State Changes Wake up the brain by changing your "state of mind"! Sit

like a…

Boss - Children cross arms, lean back, and put feet up on

their desk.

Cowboy and cowgirl - Children turn chair around and

straddle it as if riding a horse.

Rock and Roll - Pretend to hold guitar and dance and sing.

Opera - Extend arms and sing words dramatically.

Underwater - Put pointer between lips and vibrate as you

read or talk.

With a cold - Hold nose and talk or read.

Partner Teach Have children get a partner and tell each other

something new they've learned that day.

Have them ask each other a question about a book or

topic you've been studying.

Ask them to pretend a visitor just came to the

classroom and to summarize what they've been doing.

INHALE~EXHALE first, have the children take several deep, slow breaths.

Have them place their hands on their diaphragm so they can

feel their lungs expanding and contracting.

Ask them to inhale through their noses and exhale through

their mouths on a slow count of eight.

*Have them close their eyes and imagine they are a balloon

filling up with air. Exhale and let all the air out.

*Pretend to be a bag of sand and let all the sand run out.

*Challenge children to close their eyes and imagine they are

floating on a cloud as they inhale and exhale.

Criss Cross Apple Sauce

Have children do this activity on each other's

backs:

Cross cross, (Make an "x" on back.)

Applesauce, (Wiggle fingers down back.)

Spiders crawling up your back. (Crawl

fingers up back.)

Warm breeze. (Gently blow on neck.)

Gentle squeeze. (Hug from behind.)

Now you've got the (Tickle fingers down

back.) shiveries!

Show Me, Don’t Show Me Players spread out, randomly walking about the room.

The teacher calls out, “Show me operating a

jackhammer.” For a few moments, students pantomime

operating a jackhammer using actions and feelings.

Then the teacher calls out, “Don’t show me operating a

jackhammer” and students just walk around the room.

Other possible actions: swimming through Jell-O,

walking on a sidewalk covered with sticky glue, having a

horrible pain, or being a frog and hopping and catching

flies.

Mirror, Mirror

Players form pairs facing each other,

assuming the body position and facial

expression of their partner. Players take

turns pretending to be the mirror image of

the other person.

I-Spy

Moving Monkeys Every time the students are out of their

seats, they must move as an animal

would move. They must walk the same way

that the animal does (both

posture and speed) Vary the animals used so

as to move different body parts

and in high, medium, and low space as well as

in slow, medium, and fast motion.

BASEBALL AND BASKETBALL

Have children stand and pretend to dribble a basketball.

Spell out words as you dribble, then shoot the ball in the

hoop as you say the word.

For example: T (bounce), H (bounce), E (bounce) ~ "the"

(throw the ball in the hoop)

Take a batter's position.

Pretend to take a swing as you say the letters; then hit a

home run as you say the word.

For example: R (swing), E (swing), A (swing), D (swing) ~

"read" (swing around)

EXERCISE Oxygenate the brain with one of these exercises:

Windmills - Stretch right hand to left foot, stand, and then

stretch left hand to right foot. Etc.

Bend and stretch - Bend over and touch toes. Stretch up high

with hands in the air.

Waist bends - Right arm over head and bend left and stretch.

Left arm over head and bend right and stretch.

Hop on right foot - Hop on left foot

Jump rope - Pretend to jump rope ~ cross arms in front ~ jump

backwards

Skip, gallop, crawl, tiptoe, walk backwards, etc. around room

PoP!

This is a skip counting exercise. I say Pop! 2s,

then we go in a circle, each child saying a number,

but on each “2” they say Pop! 1, pop,3, pop, 5, pop,

7, pop, etc.