This game is called “There Are Rules?”. It is a fun back to
school game to reinforce the need for rules, directions, and
teamwork. Below, I will explain a guideline for you to
incorporate this game into your back to school routine. Please
feel free to modify it to your own liking. Each year I play this
game, it’s always a bit different because the students always
react differently. That’s the fun part.
Here’s the scenario….
The kids should not know what you are doing when you play
this game. You aren’t even going to give them a heads up that
it’s about rules or that you aren’t going to give them any.
That’s part of the lesson.
Begin by telling the kids that you are going to put them in
groups to play a dice game.
Put the kids in groups and give them 2 dice. The kids will be
eagerly waiting the directions. (There aren’t any.)
You then tell them to begin playing. At this point they will give
you strange looks like, “Huh? What? How?”
You just smile and tell them again to begin playing.
You’ll notice that the groups begin rolling the dice and playing a
game. What kind of game? Well, that’s up to them. It is so
interesting to see because they begin coming up with rules and
directions by themselves.
Some groups will be going pretty well with everyone getting
along. Others are already disagreeing on what to do and how.
You just smile and keep walking around. They’ll get so frustrated
and want your input, but you just smile and tell them to keep
playing. They look at you pretty strangely at this point. It’s great!
Just when they are really getting into their game, you go around
and change their rules. They look at you like, “What?” You tell
them, “Those are the rules. You didn’t know?”
Of course don’t let the class get to the point where they want to
start throwing things at you. Ha! You’ll know when to stop them.
Eventually you say, “Stop.” They almost look relieved!
At this point use the guided questions on the next page and
follow up with the blank rules/game sheet for them to fill out.
I then have a class discussion about how they felt when I told
them to play and didn’t give them any directions. Responses are
charted. Below are the guiding questions you can use.
1. How did you feel when I said we were going to play a dice
game?
2. How did you feel when I didn’t give you any directions and
told you to begin playing? Were you confused?
3. Without directions, how did you play the game?
4. What was the first rule you came up with?
5. Did your team get along?
6. Was there a leader in your group? How was that decided?
7. If your team disagreed, how did you resolve it?
8. How did your team feel when I changed your team’s
directions after you already had it set in place?
9. What do you think the purpose of this lesson was?
10. How important is it for there to be rules and expectations at
the beginning?
How many players:
You will need:
Directions:
To win the game:
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