5 minute
ACTIVITIES

Who is missing? 

Directions:

1. Have students sit in a circle. 

2. Select one student to go into the hallway. This student will be the Guesser. 

3. Once the student is in the hall, have one student hide (under your desk, behind the partition, etc.) 

4. Send a student to go get the Guesser from the hallway. 

5. The Guess gets 3 chances to correctly guess who it is. 

Optional: for younger students, you could provide a "hint" after each incorrect guess. (This person has blonde hair, this person is a boy, this person had on a red shirt, etc) 

The Wink Detective

Directions:

1. Have students sit in a circle and close their eyes with their heads down. 

2. Walk around the circle and tap one student 1 time. This student is the "Winker." 

3. Continue to walk around the circle and tap a student 2 times. This student is the "Wink Detective."

4. Tell the students to open their eyes have have the Wink Detective raise their hand.  

5. While avoiding detection from the Wink Detective, the Winker has to secretly make eye contact with someone and wink at them. 

6. If a person gets winked at, they have to fall over (dramatically of course...) 

7. After 3 students have fallen over, the Wink Detective gets 3 guess as to who the Winker is. 

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

Directions:

1. Have students walk around the classroom. 

2. Call out a random number and a body part. 

• Example: 4 elbows, 3 knees, 7 feet, etc. 

3. Students will hurry to get in a group with other students to make the right number of body parts. 

4. RULE - they have to figure out away for EVERYONE to be included in a group. 

Soup, Salad, Sandwich

Directions:

This game can be played whole group, small groups, or pairs. 

1. Explain that there is a theory that all foods can be categorized as a soup, salad, or sandwich. 

• Intentionally, there aren't specific parameters for what makes a food a soup, salad, or sandwich. That vagueness initiates discussion and encourages critical thinking!

2. Call out a random food (ex: cupcake, spaghetti, steak, pizza, etc.) and allow the students to discuss whether that food falls into the soup, salad, or sandwich category.

• You could allow one student to answer, one pair, or one group. After someone answers, they have to explain why they chose that category.

• Explain that there isn't a right answer!

Concentration

Directions:

1. Have students sit in a circle. 

2. Give a general topic. 

   • (Food, fall, animals, desserts, book characters, etc.) 

3. Students will go around in a circle as quickly as they can and name something in that topic.

   • The rule is you can't name something that has already been named.

4. If a student names something already said or can't think of something the game starts over with a new topic and starts at that person.

Pro tip: This game can also be used outside of community circle to review knowledge of taught topics. 

Boom, Clap, Snatch!

Directions:

Click HERE to see a video (this activity could also be used during academics as shown in the video) 

1. Put students in pairs sitting across from each other. 

2. Give each pair an object (markers are ideal) 

3. Explain what each direction means: 

   • Boom - they hit the floor/desk

   • Clap - they clap their hands

   • Snatch - they see who can grab the marker first 

4. Call out different combinations of boom, clap, or snatch (Example: boom, boom, boom. clap, clap, boom, clap, clap, snatch!)

   • Go faster for more of a challenge! 

Pancake or Waffle

Directions:

For the first round, your team has to decide on whether the world is going to keep pancakes or waffles, and the other is to be obliterated from existence. Anyone can advocate for a favorite choice, and ultimately you must have a vote of majority to make the decision. 

After one option is eliminated, you add a new competitor. For example, the game may become Waffles vs Pumpkins, and then Waffles vs Puppies, and then Puppies vs Kittens, and then Kittens vs Tacos...etc.

Typically the longer you play, the more intense the conversation gets and the more team members will share their values. 

Best Friends!!!

Directions:

1. Put students in pairs. 

2. Give each student a post it note. 

3. Give them a topic (pizza, fall, Halloween, etc.) 

4. Without talking to each other, students get 1-2 minutes to write 3 things related to that topic. 

   • Example - If the topic is Fall, students might write: leaves, pumpkins, and scarecrows. 

5. After the time is up, the pairs show each other their answers and see how many they got the same. 

Pass the Move

Directions:

Similar to the telephone game except instead of a verbal message, children have to pass the same set of movements to the next person in the circle. 

1. Have students stand in a line.

2. The person at the back of the line goes first by tapping the shoulder of the person in front of them and doing a set of movements. 

3. That person then taps the should of the person in front of them and does the same movement.

4. The first person in the line will show the last person to see if they got it right. 

Name, Place, Animal, Thing

Directions:

Could be played individually, pairs, or small group. 

1. Give each group a whiteboard or piece of paper. 

2. Call out a letter and have them write a name, place, animal thing that begins with that letter. 

   • You can also use a SPINNER WHEEL!

   • Example: If you call out E, they might write, "Erica, Egypt, Elephant, Egg." 

People to People
Game

Dum Dum Dah Dah
Game

Double This,
Double That
Game

4 White Horses
Game

Click the video to see how to play or read the directions and lyrics HERE