Stuck for an idea? (Set 2)

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By Nina Filipek – Freelance education writer and supply teacher and
Sarah Woods – Assistant Editor, Child Education PLUS
(based on original article published February 2008)

Are you stuck for an idea? Here are some ideas to try out in your classroom. Whether you are looking for a circle time starter or a pre-assembly activity, you’re bound to find an idea to try out.

Have a Manners Monday, a Tidy Tuesday and a Work Hard Wednesday. Relate a task or a skill that you wish to cover to one day of the week. Reward the children who can keep on task for the whole day!
Challenge children to tell a fairytale by taking turns in a circle. Each child tells a part of the tale and by the time you have gone all around the circle you have to have finished telling the story. Younger children may need some visual clues to help.
Why not take your class on holiday! Pick a destination and plan a holiday involving all aspects of the trip; from looking in brochures to planning flights and finding out about the country’s climate. On the day of the holiday, enjoy some local cuisine or traditional entertainment.
Sit the children in a circle and give them a subject, such as vegetables or animals in a zoo. Pick a child to begin by naming an example, such as giraffe, and then continue round the circle with all the children having a turn. See how many times around the circle you can get.
Allow children who have difficulty with certain letters or numbers to paint the shapes using their fingers. This will help them to remember and learn how these letters are formed.
Play the ‘Yes, No’ game with your class. Ask a child questions and see if they can last one minute without answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’. So if you asked, ‘Is your name John?’, that child might avoid saying ‘yes’ by answering ‘It is.’ This is a great game for developing children’s language skills.