survival guide for primary school relief teachers

Finsen Educational Resources 2012 www.primaryschoolteachersurvival.com.au

A Survival Guide For Primary School

Relief Teachers

By Kari Finsen Dip. Ed. B. Ed. M.Ed.

www.primaryschoolteachersurvival.com.au [email protected]

0411 053 514

This master may only be reproduced by the original purchaser for use with their class(es). The publisher prohibits the loaning or onselling of this master for purposes of reproduction.

Copyright Kari Finsen 2012

Copyright Information


A Survival Guide for Primary School Relief Teachers

Contents

What to take with you on your Relief Teaching Day ................................................................................ 1

Tips for having a successful Relief Teaching Day ....................................................................................... 3

Getting to Know You Activities for Relief Teachers ................................................................................... 6

Behaviour Management Strategies for Relief Teachers ........................................................................... 8

Attention Grabbers ................................................................................................................................ 8

Positive Reinforcements ...................................................................................................................... 10

Discipline Plans & Strategies ................................................................................................................ 12

Tips for having success with Behaviour Management ........................................................................ 14

No Equipment Games for Primary School Teachers ............................................................................... 17

Popular games for Years Prep 4 ........................................................................................................ 23



Page 1

What to take with you on your Relief Teaching Day

The following is a list of things you need to have in your bag:

Your lunch & water bottle A hat & whistle for playgroup duty & sport An insulated mug with lid and your favourite tea bag or spoonful

of coffee A diary or note pad for writing down dates for other supply

days, keeping a log of your hours or notes on children A pencil case which should contain - pens, pencils, eraser, sharpener,

highlighters, colouring pencils, felt pens, scissors, blu-tack, stapler & white board pens & eraser

A dictionary or download a dictionary app onto your smart phone The Pocket Basics for Maths and Language booklet a compact spiral book

which lists all the numeracy and literacy rules and definitions ( may be able to get this in an App for your phone these days)

Reward items stamps, stickers, raffle tickets, small jar of marbles, and or a prize box

Kitchen timer or stopwatch (can use your phone) to use with games or setting time for work to be finished

A joke book & poetry book are always fun to have Dice & a pack of cards to play games with. Have a look online or in Educational

resource stores for fun activities using dice and cards, there are plenty around. A roll of sticky labels to write childrens names on and place on the corner of

their desk



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A collection of childrens reading books go to your local library and select some books which are fun to base a language lesson around. Picture books are great because you can do so much with the pictures for writing and art ideas. Just make sure the books you choose are appropriate for your school. Some popular authors are:

Terry Jones Middle/Senior school Mem Fox Junior school Pamela Allen Junior school Paul Jennings Middle/Senior school Lynley Dodd - Junior school Roald Dahl Middle/Senior school

A folder of activities which should include: five minute filler activities getting to know you activities fast finishers activities fun pictures for writing activities word puzzles, crosswords, and dot to dot puzzles physical activity games which require no equipment

You can look online for puzzles or the easiest thing to do is buy a big book of puzzles from your local newsagency or supermarket. They usually have a selection of puzzles for all ages. Also have a look at their educational resource books. You can buy books that cover all the curriculum areas in one book for each grade level. This allows you to get an understanding of what each year level is covering.



Page 3

Tips for having a successful Relief Teaching Day

Get to school early and be prepared. Having an understanding of what you need to do for the day is vital for having a successful day.

If your relief day is pre-arranged make time to go and meet with the teacher to discuss class routines and planning.

Take your Relief Bag packed full of resources that are interesting and challenging just in case there is no planning left for you.

Conduct yourself in a professional and confident manner. You may have to explain to the class that things are going to be run a little differently today.

Walk into the school happy and positive and dressed appropriately. You are likely to get more work if you show you enjoy being there.

When you arrive report to the schools Administration Office and introduce yourself. The school may give you a Relief Teachers Resource folder which should contain information on: the school behaviour management policy, lock down procedures, evacuation plans, students listed on medical alert, intercom phone numbers, playground duty rosters, a timetable for specialist lessons, a list of staff names, a map of the school and any other important information relevant to that school. If no such folder exists, ask for this information as it is very important. You may need to sign in and sign for a room key, and you will be given a badge to show you have been approved to be on school grounds.



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Ask your Administration staff if you have any specialist lessons for that day and where these lessons will be conducted. Also ask if youre required for a playground duty & where that may be in relation to your classroom. PLEASE NOTE - expect to have a playground duty every day you teach relief and if you don't, ask for one. It is such a lovely surprise for a teacher to have one less duty for the week. It also makes a great impression!

Find out where the toilets are and the teachers staffroom so you can put your lunch in the fridge and read any notices that may be displayed in the staffroom.

Stand at your classroom door when the first bell rings and greet your children as they walk in.

Introduce yourself to your class and tell them a little about yourself before asking questions about them.

Learn childrens names quickly. Start the day with some Getting to Know You Activities. It makes behaviour management a lot easier when you can address a student by their name.

Have your behaviour management plan clear and ready to explain. Remember to think about both positive rewards and negative consequences. Most classrooms will have their rules and behavioural procedures on the wall for you to follow or if you are going to follow your own, have it printed out, laminated and place it on the whiteboard so it can be clearly seen and is easy to refer to.

Identify children who can help you out when you need it. Difficult children in the class enjoy taking on responsible roles.

Follow the teachers planning if it has been left for you. There may be important tasks that need to be done for that day. Most teachers find it rude if they have gone to the trouble to leave set tasks and they are not completed.



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Mark childrens work. All work that you set for the children should be marked

by you. Dont leave it for the teacher you are replacing.

The class teacher aide is a great source of information. Take the time to speak with them and ask about how best to handle the class.

Introduce yourself to the teacher next door. They can be a great help when wanting some help with routines or behaviour management.

Any issues that happen during the day should be resolved before you leave. If it was a serious issue, it needs to be discussed with the Principal or deputy Principal.

Leave the classroom neat and tidy at the end of the day. Teachers love coming back to a tidy classroom and it makes a great impression.

Leave a note at the end of the day for the teacher. Inform the teacher of what you did that day and let them know if there were any incidences with certain children.

Make a point of thanking either the Principal or administration staff for your day. This makes a great impression and it may just get you more work.

Enjoy your day!



Page 6

Getting to Know You Activities for Relief Teachers

Here are 8 of my favourite activities

1. Name tags (all grades) Give the children a strip of cardboard with or without their name on it and ask them to decorate it with drawings that represent themselves. When they are finished, blu tack them to the front of their desk so you can clearly see them. You can have a competition for the best designed name tag.

2. Sticky labels (all grades) If you dont want to spend a lot of time on Getting To Know You Activities, write the students names on a sticky label and place them at the top corner of each desk. Remove them at the end of the day.

3. Name game (all grades) Ask a student at the very back of the classroom to

introduce themselves and tell you something that begins with the same letter as their name e.g. My name is Peter and I like Pumpkins. Move on to the student next to Peter but before they introduce themselves they have to repeat what Peter said e.g. Peter likes Pumpkins and my name is Toby and I like toffee. The third child along the row then has to say Peter likes pumpkins, Toby likes toffee and my name is Aaron and I like apples. You continue until every child has participated. An excellent listening and memory game.

4. Who am I (all grades) Not only do you get to know your students but they also learn a little about you. Sit the students in a circle and introduce yourself by using a personal box. The box should contain items that represent you. This may include things such as, a favourite CD, a picture of your family or pet, your favourite book, or something that may represent your favourite sport or hobby. Discuss these items with your class and encourage them to share their name and 3 things about themselves.



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5. Skipping rope (middle/senior) Senior students love this and are only too happy to go and locate a large skipping rope for you. Take the class outside and ask one student to take the other end of the rope while the rest of the class lines up behind you. The students run in one at a time, skip while introducing themselves and saying something they like doing, then run out e.g. , Hi my name is Jessica and I love to dance. Continue through the whole class. A variation is to nominate how many jumps they have to do before running out and each time they jump they say their name.

6. Seating plan (all grades) Draw the desk arrangement on a sheet of paper. Walk over to each child, shake their hand and introduce yourself. When they reply with their name write it on your seating plan. Place it at the front of the classroom or blu tack it to your ipad and walk around with it.

7. True or False (middle/senior) Write 4 things on the board about yourself.

Three of them are true and one is false. Ask the class to decide which statement is false. Now it is the students turn. They write on a piece of paper 4 things about themselves. Three are true and one is false. You and the class then have to decide which things are true and which one is false.

8. Alphabet flashcards (junior/middle) Shuffle a pack of alphabet flashcards. Randomly take one card out and hold it up. Ask all the children whose names start with that letter to stand up and introduce themselves one at a time to you. You can also blu tack the letter onto the whiteboard and ask the children to come and write their name beside it. Reshuffle the pack and pull out the next card until you have gone through all the cards. If you dont have cards you can write each letter on the board and the children write their names underneath it.



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Behaviour Management Strategies for Relief Teachers

Attention Grabbers

Being able to gain the students attention quickly and effectively is very important when faced with a new class. Here is a list of the most popular attention grabbers used in todays classrooms:

Rhythm clapping Clap a pattern with your hands and the students have to repeat the pattern. Keep giving a clapping pattern until you have their attention.

Hands up Raise one of your hands in the air without saying anything. The children who are focussed on you should copy what you are doing. It is important that children do this action without any speaking. When all the children in the class are sitting quietly with their hand up you can begin to speak. Another variation to this is raise one hand and put a finger up to your mouth to represent Shhhh.

Silence Sit or stand in silence at the front of the class and wait for them to be quiet. This technique is more effective when you put an action with it e.g. look at your watch, start putting tally marks on the board, or start a stopwatch. Explain to the children that you are keeping a record of how long you have to wait for them and that they will have to work hard to get the time off the board before lunch.

Simon says Quietly start saying If you are listening touch your head, If you are listening fold your arms, If you are listening touch your nose. Keep a record of how many instructions were given until you have all of the childrens attention. Write the number on the board and next time see if they can improve on the number. Reward them at the end of the day with some free time and if they work hard at this.



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Bell or instruments To save your voice, ring a bell or rattle an instrument to gain their attention e.g. Tamborine or triangle. You can be quite creative with this option.

Little sayings (here are 3 different ones)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and they reply, Once I caught a fish alive. 1, 2, 3, eyes on me and they reply 1, 2 eyes on you. Stop right now and they reply, Thank you very much (Spice Girls song)

Counting Count backwards from a certain number, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You can either count backwards with no instructions or give instructions on certain numbers e.g.

5.you should be starting to put your things away, 43 sit in your seat and settle down, 21 eyes on me ready to listen.



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Positive Reinforcements Like any human being, students respond very well to positive praise and they love being rewarded for good behaviour. You can use the following list of strategies to reward those students who are trying really hard with their behaviour.

Free time games, computer time, reading or puzzle time. Sometimes students will choose a game of handball just outside the classroom.

Stickers - stickers are a great incentive for children in the lower to middle grades. Certificates you can buy some fancy certificates, or design your own, and hand them out at the end of the day to the students who have worked and behaved well. Verbal reinforcement select those students who are working well and give them praise eg. Mary, I love the way you are working quietly. This will sometimes encourage students who are off task to refocus on their work. Raffle tickets hand out raffle tickets to students who are doing the right thing. Ask the child to write their name on the ticket and place it in a box. It is also important that you write their name on the butt of the ticket so you can keep a record of which children are receiving the tickets. You can either draw out a name at the end of the day or at the end of each session. It is also nice to give a prize to the child who has the most tickets in the box (this is where your butts come in handy).

Name on the board put two different coloured boxes on the board e.g. Red box is the working well box and the blue box is, needs to try harder. Give each box a catchy title like Batman (red) & The Joker (blue). As you are teaching, have the 2 coloured whiteboard pens in your hand and when you see a child behaving or misbehaving place the appropriate coloured pen on the students desk. The student then writes their name in the matching box.



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A variation to this is to just place one box on the board and this box stays on the board with any students names in it for their teacher to see it in the morning. Usually it is for misbehaving students but there is no reason why it cant be for the great workers too. Sport/game time write the name of a game or sport they want to play on the board e.g. CRICKET. Place a line under the word cricket and explain to the class that they have to work to get the word CRICKET written on the board under the other word. Add letters for good behaviour and rub letters off for inappropriate behaviour. This works very well with the upper school students. Group Competitions this can be done in groups that the children are already sitting in or boys and girls. Place boxes on the board for the number of groups you make (either name them or number them) and ask children to put tally marks in their box when theyre showing good behaviour. Reward the best group at the end of each session or the end of the day. Checklists write the class names on a checklist that has been blown up to A3 size. Blu -tack it to the board and ask the children to come and put a tick or sticker beside their name when they are doing the right thing. Prize box - find a fancy box and fill it with interesting inexpensive prizes e.g. stickers, rubbers, pencils, small chocolates, marbles, cards etc.. At the end of each session allow the best worker to select a prize from the box.



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Discipline Plans & Strategies As a Relief Teacher the best approach for behaviour management is to follow the classroom discipline plan that was set up by the class at the start of the year. This is the plan the students are most familiar with and follow on a daily basis.

Most discipline plans are displayed clearly on the walls of the classroom so the students and the teacher can refer to them as needed. If for some reason the plan is not displayed, then when introducing yourself to the class and explaining your expectations, ask the class to explain to you what the classroom rules are, (you can write these on the board if you wish), and what happens if they break these rules. This gives the students ownership of their discipline policy and reinforces to them the rules they need to follow even when a visiting teacher is in their classroom.

If there is no behaviour management plan set out and the students cant give you an explanation of one, the following examples are some of the most commonly used.

Example 1

When a student breaks a rule: 1. Give the student a verbal warning 2. Ask the student to sit at a time-out desk in the classroom 3. Exit the student to a buddy classroom (organise with a neighbouring teacher if

you could send unruly children to them for a certain period of time) 4. The student should complete any missed work in their lunch time



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Example 2

When a student breaks a rule: 1. Place the students name on the board Warning 2. If the behaviour continues place a tick beside their name - One tick = 5 minutes

of owed time 3. If the behaviour still continues place a second tick beside their name - Two ticks

= 10 minutes of owed time 4. Three ticks The student exits the classroom

Example 3

When a student breaks a rule: 1. Give a Verbal warning 2. If the behaviour continues give a second and final verbal warning 3. Finally remove the childs desk to work alone. 4. Child either loses free time or stays in and finishes work at lunch time

Example 4

When a student breaks a rule: 1. Explain at the start of the day that every child has 10 minutes of free time at the

end of the day. 2. If a child misbehaves during the day their name goes on the board and that

represents 1 minute of free time lost. 3. Each time you need to speak to a child for misbehaving put a tally mark beside

their name on the board and that is how many minutes they lose. 4. Allow the class to have their free time in the last 10 minutes of the day and for

those students who have lost minutes they must complete work (writing out times tables is also a good one) until the time approaches when they can join in.



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Tips for having success with Behaviour Management

1. If you are going to use your own behaviour management plan instead of the one already set up in the classroom, have it typed up, laminated and place it on the whiteboard so everyone can clearly see it.

2. You need to come across to your students as being very confident and positive. Always walk into your classroom happy and ready to enjoy your day.

3. Start each relief day by introducing yourself and telling the children a little about yourself. Next ask them to share with you something they are good at or a hobby they enjoy doing. Finding out a little about your students tells them that you are interested in them and it is a great way to start building a rapport with them. It also gives you topics to engage in conversation with them during the day.

4. Make it clear what your expectations and boundaries are. The children need to

learn quickly which behaviour is acceptable and what is unacceptable. By doing this you will make it easier for yourself if you have that class again on a relief day.

5. If you have set consequences for misbehaviour, never fail to carry them out

every time.

6. Humour sometimes can be a great way to get students on task but be very careful that you do not use sarcasm.



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7. Treat your children with respect and you will more than likely receive it back again. I always say to my class that they only have 2 rules to remember when in my class and I write them on the board for them all to see RESPECT and MANNERS. I explain that I will treat them with respect and use my manners and thats what I expect in return. I also expect them to do the same for their fellow classmates. Break my two rules and your name goes on the board which just means you have to earn your name back by doing great work and behaving. I explain my rules and consequences quickly and effectively and move on to explaining the positive reinforcement of having free time that afternoon or a game on the oval for those children who have followed my rules today. Dont fall into the trap of standing at the front of the classroom and laying down the law to them for the first half hour. You will lose their respect immediately particularly the children who dont really like authority.

8. Make sure you know what you are teaching for the day and have extra work

ready for fast finishers. Children who are idle are more likely to misbehave.

9. Stay calm and try not to get into a power struggle with a student. Quickly draw their attention to what you expect them to be doing and then move on. Do not ask questions like, Why are you not doing your work? This will give them the option of becoming confrontational with you. Dont single out a particular child, instead deliver the message to the whole class. Simply explain what work you expect to have finished before lunch and what the consequences will be if it is not. Also follow the statement up with some praise e.g. Mary youre nearly finished thats great and Billy youre also working very well. This will sometimes encourage those children who are off task to refocus and finish their work. The moment you see this happening praise that child e.g. Excellent work Sammy, keep working.



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10. It is hard sometimes as you are only there for a day but try to learn the childrens names. It makes behaviour management so much easier.

11. Any severe behavioural outburst needs to be dealt with quickly. When the childrens safety is at risk, exit the whole class and leave the misbehaving student behind in the classroom. Ring the office immediately or ask a student to go and get the Principal.

12. Some relief days are going to be easier than others with behaviour management but look at it as a learning experience. At the end of each day reflect back on what worked well and the things you need to change. Try different strategies and find out what works best for you. You are new to this so dont expect to be perfect first go and please dont take the bad experiences to heart. Learn from them and look forward to the next relief day where you can try to improve on certain areas and gain valuable experience for when you have your very own class one day.



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No Equipment Games for Primary School Teachers

Crows, Cranes and Crabs

This is a great running game which is good if you are in a large hall or outside.

Divide the students into two even teams and name one team Cranes and the other Crows. Line the two teams up into parallel lines facing each other with 3 metres between them. Explain that they are going to hear one of three words, Crows, Cranes and Crabs.

If playing in a hall make one side of the hall home for the Crows and the other side of the hall home for the Cranes. Stipulate a boundary line on each side of the hall making it a fair distance from the wall or they may run into it. Sometimes there are netball or basketball markings on the floor to help with this. If you are playing outside mark out the playing field with things such as jumpers, water bottles or 4 children.

The teacher then calls out Crows, Cranes or Crabs. If Cranes is called, the Cranes have to turn around and try and make it to their side of the hall without being tagged by the Crows. Any member of the Cranes that do get tagged, join the Crows team. If Crows are called, the Crows turn and run to their side of the hall again trying not to get tagged by the Cranes team. Any Crows member that gets tagged has to join the Cranes team.

If the teacher calls out Crabs, all children have to get down on all fours like a crab and stay perfectly still. Anyone that moves must join the opposing team. The game ends when everyone is on one team.



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On the River, On the Bank

All you need for this game is a straight line. Use a footpath edge or the line of a basketball court. Line the children up in single file one behind the other facing you. Tell the children that the left side of the line is the river and the right side is the bank. When the Teacher calls out river they have to jump with both feet onto the river side of the line or else a lion on the bank will eat them. When you call out bank, they need to jump quickly onto the bank side of the line or a crocodile will eat them. When you call bridge they need to put one foot in the river and one foot on the bank.

The last person to move or go to the wrong place when the instructions are called is out. The last person left is the winner.

Everyones Up Tag

The Teacher has to mark out a boundary where the children can safely run. The aim of the game is to be the last person left that is not tagged.

To start the game, the children have to spread out and get into a space of their own. The teacher then blows the whistle to start and each child tries to tag as many children as they can without being tagged themselves. Once tagged, children sit down where they are.

Rules - if anyone argues about who tagged who first, both children are out

Variations

1. Once children are tagged and sitting down, they can put their arms out to tag other children running past as long as their bottom is still on the ground.

2. If children are standing around the edges and the game is going too slow, blow the whistle and give them 10 seconds to go towards the centre and continue to tag as many children as they can.



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Relay Races

Line the children up in the lanes on the oval, or just in lines with enough space between them so they dont hit each other. Get the children to run first to a designated spot along the track and back to where they started to tag the next person in their team. That person then does the same thing and so on till the whole team has had a go.

Variation change the action each set of relays e.g. skip, hop, run backwards, side step, gallop, etc.

Round the Circle Chasing

The children get into a circle and the teacher goes around the circle giving each child a number from 1 4 in order (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). Then the children take big steps backwards so the circle is larger and there are at least 2 metres between each child.

Explain to the children that if their number is called they step out from the circle and get ready to run in a clockwise direction around the outside of the circle. The teacher then calls a number, those children with that number step back ready to run and the teacher blows the whistle. The children run around the circle once and stop back in their normal spot, trying to tag the person running in front of them. If tagged, tell the children to keep running and the tagger can run on the outside of the child they tagged and try to tag the next person as well.

Variations

1. Change the direction from clockwise to anti-clockwise so that the child is trying to tag the student who was chasing them.

2. Change your method of going round the circle, e.g. skipping, galloping, running backwards, side-stepping, etc.



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Signals

The teacher comes up with different signals for different actions. For Example Teacher puts hands on head = children have to lie flat on their backs Teacher claps their hands twice = children have to stand on one leg Teacher puts hands on hips = children have to squat down Teacher blows whistle = children do star jumps AND SO ON.

Play this a few times with nobody being out, then start taking out people who do the wrong action when the signal is called or are the last person to perform the action. The last child left is the winner.

Animal Yoga Move

Select 4-5 different animals and actions to go with each one.

Crab - walking, Kangaroo - hop, Turtle - swim Lion - lunges

When the teacher calls out each different animal name the children have to perform the action that goes with that animal. You can eliminate children who are last to perform the action and you can also get quicker and quicker at saying the names. The older the children are the more animals you can add. At the end of the game have the children lie on their backs on the floor and complete some deep tummy breaths to relax.

Variation: You can use bean names (Runner, string, French etc.) and ask the children to come up with different actions to go with each name.



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Ship to Shore

This is a following directions game similar to games like Simon Says. The Teacher stands out the front and calls out directions. The children who do not follow the directions correctly are out or if the direction requires them to get into a group of a certain number and they are the odd one out then they too have to sit out of the game.

The directions and actions are as follows:

Ship the children run to the left Shore the children run to the right Climb the ladder the children have to pretend that they are climbing a ladder Man overboard (2 person action) 1 child gets down on all fours while the 2nd

child puts one foot on their back and shades their eyes as if they are looking for someone

Crows nest (3 person action) the children have to make a group of three. Put their backs to each other and link arms.

Captains coming each child must stand perfectly still and salute. They cannot move until the at ease order has been given, which means they all stand with their arms to their side and wait for the next direction.

Three men in a boat (3 person action) the children have to stand in a line behind each other, squat down and pretend to row the boat. They must also chant the song Row, Row, Row, Your Boat

Shark the children must lie on their backs with their arms and feet waving in the air whilst shouting, shark, shark.



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Here, There, Where

The children run to the right (or a specific location) when the teacher calls Here.

They run to the left when they hear the word, There.

They run everywhere for the word Where.

The game can be elimination otherwise it's great just to get kids moving. The game can be modified for any students that cant run by touching a specific body part or pointing their hands/fingers to the correct location. The kids love it when the words are called really fast.

Elephants, Cows & Whales

The children move around in a designated space. The teacher calls out either, elephants, cows or whales. The children have to form groups of three to complete the following actions. The slowest group to complete the action has to sit out.

Actions:-

Elephants - one child stands in the middle with their right arm over their left & grabs their nose with their left hand. The remaining two children in the group stand either side and make the ears of the elephants by placing their arms in a C shape. Whales the child in the middle has their arms straight down both sides with hands out flat (like a penguin) and move left to right from the waist. The remaining two children stand beside them and make the waves. Cows - the middle child links their fingers together and points their thumbs towards the ground, like an udder. The remaining two students pretend to milk the cow.



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Popular games for Years Prep 4

Duck Duck Goose

Place the children in a circle facing each other. Select one child to stand up and position themselves on the outside of the circle. That child then walks around the circle tapping each child on their head and saying whether the child is a duck or the goose. As there is only one goose, the child that is chosen as the goose has to stand up and chase the original child around the circle and try and catch them before they make it back to where the goose was sitting. If the goose is not able to do this, they become the child on the outside of the circle and the game continues. If they do manage to catch the child, then they have to sit in the middle of the circle and the goose becomes the child on the outside of the circle. The child in the middle can't leave until another child is tagged and they are replaced.

Cat and Mouse

Ask the children to form a circle and all hold hands. Select a child to be the mouse and put them inside the circle. Select another child to be the cat and place them on the outside of the circle. The object of the game is for the cat to try and catch the mouse. The mouse needs to keep moving while inside the circle and can only stay in there for 10 seconds at any one time. The children forming the circle have to let the mouse come in and out of the circle by raising and lowering their hands. They must try at all times to not let the cat get into the middle of the circle. However the cat is allowed to reach over their arms and try to grab the mouse. A new cat and mouse are selected when the mouse is caught or the two selected children are getting tired of chasing each other.



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Stuck in the Mud

Set out a boundary for your class to run around in. Nominate which children are going to be taggers. Those children have to run around and tag as many of the other children as they can. The children that get tagged must stand still, with their legs apart and wait for another child to come and free them by crawling through their legs. No child can get tagged while crawling through another childs legs. Once a child is free, they are able to continue running around again, trying to avoid the taggers. To make the game interesting select another tagger every 1 minute. Stop when you have 5 children as taggers. Make the taggers wear their hat inside out so the rest of the class know who is up. You dont even have to announce when there is a new tagger just pull a child aside and turn their hat inside out.

Variation - Flush the Toilet - instead of legs apart, when kids are tagged they stand with their hand out for someone to touch and flush the toilet before they are released.

Simon Says

Tell the children the aim of the game is to follow what Simon Says. If Simon does not say the action then they dont do it. Start by giving the children a list of instructions eg, Simon says, Do 5 star jumps, Simon says, Jog on the spot, Simon says , Do some twists, etc.. Now to trick the children by giving an instruction without saying Simon says eg.. Fold your arms. All those children who follow the instruction are out. They can only do what Simon says

Body Molding group activity

Put the children into groups of 5. The teacher calls out an alphabet letter and each group of children have to work as a team to make the alphabet shape. This is a great activity for team work and encouraging all students to be a part of the game. You can also ask the children to makes different shapes.



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Grand Old Duke OF York

Put the children in a circle, start them moving in a clockwise direction and singing the song, "The Grand Old Duke of York. You may have to sing the song twice depending on how well the children know it.

The Grand Old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men, He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again, And when they were up they were up, And when they were down they were down and when they were only halfway up they were neither up nor down.

The children then turn around and begin to walk in an anti-clockwise direction while singing the song again but this time they must leave out the word up. This is repeated another two times alternating directions. You then change the game by saying the word up but not the word down. The last stage of this game is to explain to the children that neither up nor down can be said. If a child says the words up or down when they are not meant to be said the student is out and the rest of the class has to start the song from the beginning. This continues until only a handful or one child is left.

Follow the Leader

On an oval, children line up in a single file line or 2 single lines (maybe girls and boys) if there are too many children. They walk or jog along in their line mimicking the movements of the child at the front of the line the leader. After the leader has done a movement for 20 seconds or so, they move to the back of the line and the next person in line becomes the leader. Actions from the leader could include skipping, hands above heads, clapping, side-stepping, etc.



Page 26

Detective and Leader

Children stand in a circle, about 1-2m apart. The teacher chooses one child to be the detective. They walk away from the group and turn away so they cant see the teacher pointing to another child who will be the leader. The leader then starts an action (hops, twists, star jumps, skiing movements, etc.) and everyone copies them. (Make sure as the Teacher you model it first, changing the action every 10 20 seconds) Once the leader has started an action, the teacher calls the detective back and they have 3 guesses at who they think the leader is while watching the movements continuously changing. Once they have guessed the correct child or had 3 guesses and been told who the leader was, the game begins again with a new detective and leader.

Variation - play some dance type music on your iphone or CD for kids to do actions to. They need to try to do the actions to the beat of the music.

Whats the Time Mr Wolf?

Line the whole class up against a wall. Select one child to be The Wolf and have them walk forward from the line about 15 metres. The Wolf must stay facing away from the other children so they cannot see them. The rest of the class starts to chant, What the time Mr Wolf? The child chosen as the wolf responds with a time e.g., 2 oclock. The class then takes 2 steps forward towards the wolf. This continues until the wolf shouts, Dinner time. At this time the class must turn around and run back to the wall where they started before being tagged by the wolf. If the wolf tags someone then they are the new Mr Wolf.

Variation the wolf can say a time and a particular action which the class have to follow e.g. 5 oclock, kangaroo hops PicGifs.com

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