For Kate--Games!

**I know, you're shocked. Three blogs in one week! What?!**

This week I've been going to a Developmental Designs workshop. AMAZING. If you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend it. It's been very fun and useful. I swear, I was taking notes constantly so I wouldn't forget a thing! I won't write about all the games I learned about because it would take too long. (I can save that for another blog post.)

If you are someone that works with kids and need some games to use with them, this blog is for you.

This first game was REALLY cool. It helps students use their "sixth sense," if you will. I loved it because it encourages students to sense when someone else is going to speak. In this day and age, we are so focused on ourselves and what we have to say, it is important to give kids tools to be listeners. You really have to try it to fully understand it. When I first heard about this game, I had my doubts.


Patience

You can arrange students in multiple ways for this game. When I learned it, we sat in a circle with our eyes closed. (Another teacher said she used it in her children's theater by having the kids lay on the stage floor, not touching anyone, with the lights turned off.)

The goal is to count to a certain number. The number is decided by the number of people playing. Each person must say only one number. If two (or more) people say a number at the same time, you must start over. Encourage students to breathe, center themselves, and to keep calm each time they start over--it gets pretty stressful!

You can also mention to them to use strategies. I don't like to give them away, but one thing that worked for my group was once someone said a number, that was "their" number. In each multiple try they would try and say the same number. We had 28 people and were able to get it in under ten tries. It was very cool!

123 ESP

This game was played with almost 100 people. I could see this being used in the classroom as well. We split up into the four corners of the room. Try to make each corner as even as possible.

Each corner gathers together to come up with a motion. It can have sound if they wish. The motion can be anything from pretending you're playing basketball to playing air guitar. Each corner displays their action to the group, one by one. 

Once every action has been displayed, tell the corners to gather together and decide if they would like to switch to another corner's action. They goal is to eventually have everyone agree on one motion without talking to other corners about it. The leader says, "123 ESP!" and all corners do their motion at the same time. It is fun to see who has switched and who hasn't. 

Tell them to gather once more and decide if they want to switch or not. Say, "123 ESP!"and see what has changed. Give them one more chance if they haven't agreed yet.

Coseeki

If you have ever played "Frogger" this game will be familiar to you. It is just another way to play it.

Student sit/stand in a circle. Out of the group choose one person to be the "seeker". That student goes out of the room where they cannot see the group. The group silently chooses a "leader" who will lead the group in different movements, such as tapping their knees, patting their head, clapping their hands, etc. The other players copy the leader. The object for the seeker is to locate the leader.

Once the leader has been chosen, the seeker returns and stands in the middle of the circle. They will watch the group and have three guesses. Once the leader has been found you can play again and choose a new seeker and leader.