Attitude Activities, Part Two

Here is my finalized list for the attitude/teambuilding/character activities I am doing with my students Monday & Tuesday during "catch up time":

1. Shoe Game – Have everyone take off their shoes and put them in a pile in the middle of the room. Mix the shoes up. Divide the students into 4 groups. See which group can find their shoes and put them on first. When they have their shoes on the team done first must sit on the floor.

2. Trust Fall – Students sit in a close circle together in the middle of the classroom. Pair up students randomly to be partners for the activity. Each partner will take turns “trust falling” and catching their partner as they fall. Targeted skill: trust, friendship, character

3. Ball of String - While standing in a circle, pass a ball of string from one member to another. The rules are only the person with the string can talk about anything they’d like for 30 seconds. When the 30 seconds are over, they are to pass the ball to another classmate. At the end, there will be a web of string. This web illustrates the interconnected nature of class. Toss a balloon in the middle and have them try to keep it in the web of string. They are not allowed to touch it. Targeted skill: teamwork

4. Amnesia Game – Divide class into 3 groups. A participant is identified as suffering from amnesia. That person needs to pretend not to know anything about the past. The rest of the group tells some things that help the amnesia victim to remember and to become the same person as before. The amnesia person can ask questions to gain more insight. Targeted skill: character, teamwork

5. All Aboard – Divide the class into two groups and give each group large sheet (butcher paper, etc) and spread it on the floor. Have all the students stand on the sheet together. Once they have done this fold the sheet to make it smaller. Again, have all the students get on the sheet. Continue this process. Eventually, the sheet will be so small that the students will need to use a great deal of cooperation, teamwork, and ingenuity to get the whole class on the sheet without anyone falling out/off the sheet. Targeted skill: teamwork

6. Clue Card Game – Divide class into 2 teams and 12 participants. Each of the 12 participants will get a notecard with something from pop culture on it that they have to act out. The 2 groups will write their guesses on a sheet of notebook paper and trade with the other group at the end of the activity to see which group wins. Targeted skill: cooperation, teamwork

7. Your Values, Your Life – Have students partner up. Each pair will get 10 cards depicting common difficult choices and decisions students may encounter as teens (ex: bullying, sneaking out, friendships, relationships, etc). They have to pick a solution from the scenario and explain to their partner why they would use that choice. Targeted skill: values and character

8. Tug of War –Divide class into two groups and give them a rope. Play tug of war. (teamwork)

9. Character development/attitude discussions – www.goodcharacter.com