FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2014
Class Activities
I am ALWAYS on the lookout for new games and activities to use as brainbreaks or team building activities in my morning meeting --especially now that
the kids have spring fever! To organize my expanding collection, I write the
name of the activity on a large Popsicle stick and store them in a cute mini-pail
from Target. These hang in our meeting area.
Here are some of our favorite activities:
2-4-6-8: This is like the classic team cheer. The class stands in a big circle and
everyone puts one hand in toward the center. All together, cheer this chant: "24-6-8, who do we appreciate? __(name)___, yeah! yeah!, ____(name)___, hey!"
During the chant, one child goes around inside the circle and gives a "low five"
to each person. They should return to their spot by the time everyone chants,
"hey" then the next person goes in the center. Repeat until everyone has a turn.
At the end we like to have everyone put their hand in the center and we do a big
cheer to our school or class.
North, South, East, West: This game is SO simple but the kids LOVE it! In your
classroom, post labels on the walls of the 4 directions (North, South, East, and
West). One child hides their eyes and counts down from 10. During the
countdown, everyone scrambles around the room and chooses one of the 4
directions. When the leader gets to zero (eyes still closed), he/she calls out a
direction. Everyone who is standing in that direction is out! The game repeats
until one person remains as the winner (or everyone is just out!).
1-2-3-4: Get ready to dance the wiggles out! Everyone stands in a circle and
chants, "1-2-3-4 come on __(name)___, hit the floor! We're so glad you're hear
today! Makes us shout hip-hip-hooray!" (We also do a pat-clap beat to keep the
rhythm going). During that time, a student goes in the middle and gets dancing!
Repeat until everyone has had a turn. At the end we like to do, "1-2-3-4 come
on EVERYONE hit the floor!"
I 8 the : A silly counting game. To start someone says "I 1 the ___(insert
something silly)__." The next person says, "I 2 the ___." Keep going until you
get to "I 8 the ___." It sounds something like this, "I 1 the toad. I 2 the toad. I 3
the toad. I 4 the toad. I 5 the toad. I 6 the toad. I 7 the toad. I 8 the toad." I ate
the toad!!! (HAHAHA!) You can see how kids would get into this!
Hot Dog: Another counting game. To play, you need a ball, beanbag, or
something to pass around the circle. The first person starts with 1, next person 2,
next person 3, next person 4, then instead of 5 the child says hot dog and sits
down. Start again from 1 and continue counting until "hot dog!" The game ends
when the last child sits down. The goal is to go as fast as you can so kids love
timing the game and keeping a "hot dog record." As they get good at it, you can
make it more challenging by counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, etc.
Silent Ball: SO easy but the kids beg for it and it's one of the quietest times in
our day (bonus for the teacher!). It's also great for practicing eye contact and
communication without speaking. Stand in a circle. Start a timer. At that point,
NO ONE can speak or make any noise. Continue to toss the ball across the
circle to each other for as long as possible. The game ends if someone makes
noise or the ball drops. It's fun to keep a record posted for this game, too, trying
for a longer and longer time.
Hope this has given you some ideas for getting your class moving and working
together!
Comment below if you have more.
Posted by Jenny Bennett at 7:02 AM
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Labels: morning meeting, classroom Classroom Managem
Play Mood Charades!
Collect This Activity
3.7 based on 10 ratings
By Kate Smith
Updated on Jun 4, 2014
Does your kid love to play charades? Mix things up and put a new moody twist on the classic
game. Not only is this moods game a fun family activity, but it also helps with identifying
emotion—a very important skill when it comes to both social development and reading
comprehension!
Download Activity
What You Need:

Nothing—just a kid or two who wants to play!
What You Do:
1. Tone, mood and emotion are very subjective and hard to explain. Spend some time first just
talking with your child about it. Mood is probably the easiest one to figure out. Ask him to
describe what a bad mood would look and sound like, and then a good mood. He should be able
to give you a pretty good explanation of each. Then move on to more complex moods. Come up
with 20 different moods, and write each on a slip of paper. Examples to get you started:
o Nervous
o Confused
o Frustrated
o Hopeful
o Excited
o Stern
o Uncertain
o Confident
2. Get family and friends together for a game of mood charades! It's easy to play, but hard to win.
Split into two teams of two or more people. Each team should take turns. In a turn, a team
member draws one of the mood slips from a hat or bowl. She must act out the mood, without
saying a word! Set a time limit on the turn (thirty seconds should be about right), and see if her
team members can shout out the correct mood! If so, they earn themselves a point, and it's the
other team's turn. Play until all mood slips have been drawn. The team with the most points
wins!
Kate Smith has been a teacher since 1997. She has taught in New York and California, with
experience in all subjects and grades from 1 to 12, but the heart of her expertise lies in middle
school, primarily English and Journalism. She has a B.A. in English and a Master of Science in
Teaching from Fordham University.
Tips & Tricks :: Inexpensive &
Creative Therapy Toys
POSTED ON JULY 11, 2014 BY ONE-STOP COUNSELING SHOP
With the school year starting up in just a few weeks (I know, I know), many of you are probably
starting to stock up on new materials for your classrooms and offices. If you’re looking to save a
little money, here are some creative ideas to help you get the biggest bang for your buck!
Dollhouse
If you don’t have the money to spring for an awesome actual dollhouse like this one, Kim’s
Counseling Corner has a few great ideas for saving money – just use a bookshelf or dresser from a
garage or rummage sale, add a little paint, and you’re done! Amazon also has some really cheap
bookshelves that would work perfectly here.
If you’re REALLY on a budget, just tape cereal boxes together to make walls and voila!
Play-Doh or Clay
While Play-Doh isn’t really that expensive, you could include your students in a project to make your
own! Here’s an easy recipe you could do for kids of all ages (they make great kneaders after it cools
– obviously don’t let them handle the boiling water!):

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

1 1/2 cups boiling water

food coloring (optional)

few drops glycerine (optional, but adds nice shine)
Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar and oil in a large mixing bowl. Add food coloring to the boiling
water then into the dry ingredients (color optional). Stir continuously until it becomes a sticky,
combined dough. If you’re using it, add the glycerine. Allow it to cool down then take it out of the
bowl and knead it vigorously for a couple of minutes until all of the stickiness has gone. If it comes
out a little sticky, add a bit more flour until you reach the right consistency. Store in plastic bags and
it’ll last for several months!
Jenga
There are tons of great icebreaker get-to-know-you type games out there, but my personal favorite is
a variation on Jenga. One game you could buy is called Totika, which combines Jenga with many
different types of questions to get kids talking. If you don’t want to spend the money and have a bit
of free time on your hands, you could use regular Jenga or wooden blocks and tape your own
questions to the bottom of each block. It makes them a little harder to balance when stacking, but
definitely gets the job done!
Stress Balls
One of my favorite crafts for the beginning of the school year are stress balls. We’ve all seen the
flour-filled balloons that inevitable get holes in them and spill all over the place. Well, here’s a no
mess, no fuss, dirt cheap solution…pool noodles! Just grab a bread knife, slice 2″ segments and
you’re set. At the beginning of the year, I leave a bunch in the teacher’s lounge (or teachers or kids!)
and have received an awesome response!
Sand/Sensory Tray
There are a lot of really great sand trays out there. However, you don’t necessary have to spend a lot
of money unless you want to! When I was younger, my mom bought a huge bag of rice and dumped
it into a storage bin. I loved playing with little toys, measuring cups, etc. in it and it was significantly
less messy than sand.
Fidgets
There are a million different types of things you can use as fidgets. I’ve shared a great resource that
details many of them here, but examples include keychains, pieces of exercise band, paper clamps,
pipe cleaners with pony beads on them, therapy tangles, beanbags…the list goes on and on!
Have any other ways to create therapy toys? Share below in the comments!
New Products :: Anger Tab Book
POSTED ON MAY 18, 2015 BY ONE-STOP COUNSELING SHOP
I’m really excited to share this new product with you because teaching social-emotional skills
doesn’t have to be difficult! With Tab Books, students’ drawings, writing, and graphic organizers
come together to create a customized book they can be proud of and use a reference whenever they
need reminders! Great on their own or as part of an Interactive Notebook, Tab Books are a tried and
true way to get your students excited about learning! I have my students for 30 minutes sessions and
they usually take 2-3 sessions to complete.
This book helps students learn anger regulation and coping skills. A couple of the pages are
presented in 2 versions – one for older students (grades 3-5) and one for younger students (grades K2).
The best part? Print and go. No fancy supplies or prep needed!
I’m planning to add more in the future, so check back often for new ones! Any topics you’d like to
see? Leave them in the comments!
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