Group Games for the Classroom

You'd like more play in your lessons, but you've seen what happens when 30 excited children won't settle again. So the games never get played.

A breathing signal changes that. Once children know that "if you can hear me, please take a deep breath" means stop, breathe and be still, you can let a game get loud and still bring the room back. It's a game in its own right, too. None of the eight games needs balls, pens or chairs. Pick one to suit the moment: animal walks or whole-body rock, paper, scissors to wake a sleepy class up, or counting to 10 as a group, without two people speaking at once, to settle them.

Games like these help children feel they belong in the group. When a class has a favourite, let them change the rules and make it theirs.