Tuesday, December 27, 2011

RAINY~SNOWY DAY GAMES

How about some games for those rainy ~ snowy January days up ahead?

Four Corners
This was always THE favorite game in my classroom.
Number each of the corners in the room ~ 1, 2, 3, 4.  Choose one person to be “it.”  “It” hides their eyes and slowly counts from one to ten as the rest of the class tiptoes to a corner in the room.  When “it” says “freeze,” everyone must be in a corner.  “It” then calls out a number (1, 2, 3, or 4) and the children in that corner are out of the game.  They sit down in the “stew pot” in the middle of the room.  (And vegetables can’t talk so they have to be quiet in the stew pot!)  “It” counts to ten again as everyone moves to a new corner.  The game continues until there is one person left.  That person becomes the new “it.”
Hint!  As the game continues there will be fewer players and there might not be anyone in a corner called. 

Hint!  Shorten the game by having “it” call out two corners at a time.
If there is no one in the corner, ask “it” to call out another number.

Countdown
Someone at the Kindergarten Conference in Atlanta taught us this game that is similar to Hot Potato. 
The class forms a circle.  The teacher points to one who says, “One.”  The next child to their right says, “Two.”  Continue around the circle with each child saying the next number.  When you get to “ten,” that child has to sit down.  Continue counting around the circle and having the child who says “ten” sit down.  The last child standing gets to choose who will start the next round.
Hint!  Count by tens and whoever says “100” has to sit down.
Practice counting by ordinals, “First, second, third…”  The child who says “tenth” must sit down.

Quiet Touch
This is a great game to quiet children and build memory skills.  The first child gets up and touches an object and then sits down.  The second child gets up, touches the first object, then touches an additional object.  The third child touches the first object, second object, and adds a third object.  The game continues as classmates touch what the previous children have touched in sequential order and then add a new item.  When a child forgets, simply begin the game all over again.

Silent Ball
You will need a small, soft ball for this game.  Explain that the object of the game is to see how many times you can toss the ball without talking.  Look at the person you are throwing the ball to so they will be ready.  Silently count how many times we can throw the ball without talking or dropping it.  If someone talks or drops the ball, then the game begins all over again.

Snowballs

Each child takes a sheet of paper and writes a word wall word, spelling word, math fact, etc. on it.  Children wad up their sheet of paper to make it a “snowball.”  Divide the class into  two teams and have them stand about 20 feet from each other.  When the teacher says, “Let it snow!” children begin throwing their snowballs at the opposite side.  Children pick up a snowball and identify the information on it before throwing it back at the other side.  The game continues until the teacher says, “Freeze!”  Count the number of snowballs on each side.  Who has more?  Who has less?  In this game, the team with the smaller amount is actually the winner!  Everyone gets another snowball and the game continues.

*As a study review, have children write questions on the snowballs.  When children
open them they must answer the question before throwing it again.

*A teacher in OK shared a variation of this game that she plays.  Write letters, words, numerals, etc. on paper to make your snowballs.  Write corresponding letters, words, numerals, etc. on index cards and put them in a sack.  The teacher chooses an index card and the child holding that snowball has to sit down.

Hint!  Tell the children that if they don’t know the answer, it’s O.K. to ask a
friend for help.