Energiser Wednesday

When you reach that mid-week slump in the classroom when you all need a bit of a boost (and some fun), nothing works like a bit of an energiser to get the creative energy flowing again.

Each Wednesday we will be adding a new energiser or ice breaker style activity for you to do with different age groups in classroom/group settings.

This week’s energiser is helpful to get students asking useful questions and learning about communication.

Celebrity Heads

For this game you will need either some headbands/hats you can stick names to, or a white/blackboard you can sit students in front of and write names on.

Have 3-4 volunteers sit in chairs in front of the rest of the class. Without showing the volunteers, but so that the rest of the group can see, either write a name above each student on the board or on a piece of paper stuck to their hat/headband. The name’s can either be fictional characters or real famous people, but try to make sure everyone in the group knows who they are.

Tell the first volunteer to ask a yes or no question to try and narrow down who their ‘celebrity’ identify may be. Keep going until they get a NO response, then move to the next volunteer. Keep going in order until one of the volunteers has guessed correctly who their celebrity identity is.

You can do several rounds so everyone gets a turn if you have time. You may even want to play based on the theme of your current lessons, i.e. native animals, famous explorers, etc, so long as the identities suit the age group of your students.

Energiser Wednesday

When you reach that mid-week slump in the classroom when you all need a bit of a boost (and some fun), nothing works like a bit of an energiser to get the creative energy flowing again.

Each Wednesday we will be adding a new energiser or ice breaker style activity for you to do with different age groups in classroom/group settings.

This week’s energiser is a good getting to know you one for the start of the year or when working with a new group. The best thing is it can work for all ages.

Group Storytelling

Cut out different words and place them in a bowl or hat. Have the group sit in a circle, and explain that each person will pick a word out and begin telling a story. Each person must incorporate the word they pick into the story.

The teacher/group leader will pick a word and begin the story with an opening statement. Go around the circle having each person pick out a word, add to the story and incorporate his/her word until each person has had a turn.

After the story is complete, you may want to ask the group what they thought of the activity and why it is an icebreaker (e.g., it gets the group to work together, it makes everyone have to be flexible and creative, it is funny, etc)

Here are some sample words, however you can use any you like:

Hippopotamus

Sea Shell

Playground

Stapler

Refrigerator

Peppa Pig

Football

Computer

Butterfly

Aeroplane

New Zealand

Lizard

 

Energiser Wednesday

When you reach that mid-week slump in the classroom when you all need a bit of a boost (and some fun), nothing works like a bit of an energiser to get the creative energy flowing again.

Each Wednesday we will be adding a new energiser or ice breaker style activity for you to do with different age groups in classroom/group settings.

This week’s energiser is focused around communication and the need to concentrate on the task at hand. It may be best suited to middle school and above age groups.

The Write Family

Have the entire group form a circle. Have each person write their name on a small piece of paper. Tell the group that you are going to read them a story. Every time they hear the words “right” or “left“, they are to pass their sheet of paper to their right or left, depending upon what they heard. Start reading slowly so they have a chance to catch on to what you want them to do.

The story:

One day, the Wright family decided to take a vacation. The first thing they had to decide was who would be left at home since there was not enough room in the Wright family car for all of them. Mr. Wright decided that Aunt Linda Wright would be the one left at home. Of course, this made Aunt Linda Wright so mad that she left the house immediately yelling, “It will be a right cold day before I return.”

The Wright family bundled up the children, Tommy Wright, Susan Wright, Timmy Wright, and Shelly Wright and got in the car and left. Unfortunately, as they turned out of the driveway, someone had left a trashcan in the street, so they had to turn right around and stop the car. They told Tommy Wright to get out of the car and move the trash can so they could get going. Tommy took so long that they almost left him in the street. Once the Wright family got on the road, Mother Wright wondered if she had left the stove on. Father Wright told her not to worry, he had checked the stove and she had not left it on. As they turned right at the corner, everyone started to think about the other things that they might have left undone.

No need to worry now, they were off on a right fine vacation. When they arrived at the gas station, Father Wright put gas in the car and then discovered that he had left his wallet at home. So Timmy Wright ran home to get the money that was left behind. After Timmy had left, Susan Wright started to feel sick. She left the car saying that she had to throw up. This of course got Mother Wright’s attention, and she left the car in a hurry. Shelly Wright wanted to watch Susan get sick, so she left the car too. Father Wright was left with Tommy Wright who was playing a game in the backseat.

With all of this going on, Father Wright decided that this was not the right time to take a vacation, so he gathered up all of the family and left the gas station as quickly as he could. When he arrived home, he turned left into the driveway and said, “I wish the Wright family had never left the house today!”

Follow up discussion:

• What made this activity difficult to accomplish?
• How hard was it to listen and pass the paper at the same time?
• How much of the story can you remember?
• What can this activity tell us about communication and trying to focus on two things at once?

Energiser Wednesday

When you reach that mid-week slump in the classroom when you all need a bit of a boost (and some fun), nothing works like a bit of an energiser to get the creative energy flowing again.

Each Wednesday we will be adding a new energiser or ice breaker style activity for you to do with different age groups in classroom/group settings.

This week’s energiser is great for practicing spelling, having some social interaction and stretching their legs.

HUMAN TYPEWRITER

Tape a different letter of the alphabet to the shirt of each student (or write it in easy to wash marker on their hand). If you have more than 26 people in the group, you can either start again from A or use the most popular letters/vowels again.

Make sure each person also has a piece of paper and a pen/pencil also.

Give the group 10-20 minutes to go around and create words out of their letters by combing with other students, adding each unique word to their lists. As each student is working individually, the winner is the person with the longest word list at the end.

You may wish to award a prize to the person with the longest list of actual words.

Energiser Wednesday

When you reach that mid-week slump in the classroom when you all need a bit of a boost (and some fun), nothing works like a bit of an energiser to get the creative energy flowing again.

Each Wednesday we will be adding a new energiser or ice breaker style activity for you to do with different age groups in classroom/group settings.

This week’s energiser is a good getting to know you one for the start of the year or when working with a new group. The best thing is it can work for all ages.

A Handful of Lollies

For this game you will need a bag of lollies, such as Malteasers, M&Ms, jellybeans, or anything really that is small enough for each person to have a handful. You could even use something healthy like grapes if you wanted to avoid the sugar rush.

Put the lollies in a bowl and have everyone in a circle.

Tell the group to grab some lollies out of the bowl as it comes around the circle.

Once everyone has their lollies, ask how many they have (this is a good counting exercise for younger kids but you can skip this step with adults and older kids).

For each lolly a person took from the bowl, this is now how many facts about themselves they share with the group.  (You may want to cap it at 5 or 10 if someone grabs a lot).

Once they share their facts they can then eat their lollies.