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Topic “Small group”
Contains activities or strategies suitable for a small group.
Appropriate touch and proximity
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Proximity game | Have the children stand facing each other in pairs. Tell them to walk forward until they feel they're the right distance away. Discuss how close you can be to others. | Don't let it turn into a boisterous ' bumping into each other game' |
| Brainstorm Photos of familiar people e.g. adults leading the group, class teacher/s, head teacher, all children in the group, other children from the children's class/es, etc. photos of unfamiliar people e.g. child, baby, man, woman, police officer, shopkeeper/ market stall holder, bus driver, person at ticket booth at station etc. - from Flash-pro or internet image search | ||
| Colouring activity Outline drawing of the body e.g. from "pictures, please" or "language steps" for each child red and green pens/pencils | It's ok if children colour different areas, as they may feel differently about being touched e.g. most girls will say they don't want to be touched on their chests, but boys may say it's ok |
Adjust language in different social contexts
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| What you would say Photos of familiar people e.g. adults leading the group, class teacher/s, head teacher, all children in the group, other children from the children's class/es, etc. Photos of unfamiliar people e.g. police officer, shopkeeper/ market stall holder, bus driver, person at ticket booth at station etc. - from Flash-pro or internet image search. Comment suggestion cards: comment cards can say things like: Hello Hi, mate How old are you? What's your name? How are you? What do you want? Please can you be quiet Shut up Get out of the way! Get lost! Can you help me, please? Good morning Excuse me Oi, you! Are you a boy or a girl? Alright? | 1. Put the photos where the children can see them and check they can identify who every one is. 2. Have a child pick a comment card and decide which people they could say it to and which people they couldn't 3. children can suggest other comments |
Self other awareness - appearance
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Making friends Work sheet for each child - on the right hand side, there should be space to stick the picture, on the left, a cloze procedure passage saying: 'My name is ___________ I am ___ years old I have ____ eyes I have ____skin I have ____ hair I like_________________ I am good at __________ My friend is called ______' Printouts of body, hair, clothes etc from www.makingfriends.com Glue Scissors Mirror (optional) | 1. Print out bodies, hair and clothes from the website - make sure you have the bodies and hair available to allow each child to make a reasonably accurate representation of themselves. 2. Help the children make a picture of themselves using pictures from the website. 3. Add to the pictures to the sheet and help the children fill in the blanks. 4. Ask each child feed back to group. 5. Have a brief discussion of valuing everyone irrespective of colour, looks etc. |
Say how you would feel in situations
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| How would you feel if?: - Pictures/photos of different emotions - a printable set of emotion cards are available here. | 1. Print and cut out the resources. 2. Introduce the activity by having a quick discussion of how it's fine if different people feel differently about the same situation. 3. Take turns to choose a situation card and discuss it together. See if you can match how you would feel to the emotions symbols or pictures. 4. Some children may be able to explain why they'd feel that way e.g. "I'd be scared if I saw a spider because I don't like them'. | Reinforce the idea that there's no 'right' answer. |
Respond to contradictory emotional messages
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| How do I really feel? Photo emotions cards (e.g. LDA, Colorcards or from Flash-Pro) showing photos of Happy, Sad and Angry faces | 1. Show the child the pictures and ask them to identify the emotion shown. 2. Help the child to think of alternative names for each emotion (e.g. angry = cross, annoyed, vexed, mad, cheesed off, in a bad temper etc. ...). 3. Put the pictures where the child can see them. 4. Say a sentence in a tone of voice that contradicts the message, e.g. "I'm fine, nothing's wrong with me" in a sad voice. 5. Ask the child to point to the right picture (or say its name) for the emotion you portray 6. Ask the child: "how did I say I was feeling?" and "How did I really feel?" | Try to keep the activity fun by moving on quickly. Be prepared to discuss how the child is feeling if they want to. As an alternative to pointing, put the pictures in different locations in the room and ask the child to stand by the picture they select for the emotion you show. |
Ideas to encourage playing with one friend then playing with someone else
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Story Story script - see "Robert's Friend" (https://en.commtap.org/additional-resource/roberts-friend), or make up your own story (two main characters and two others - one of the main characters wants to play with their friend the whole time, and they fall out). | Explain to the child / children that you are going to tell them a story. They need to tell you what the characters did that was good and what was not good. Tell the story, and repeat it. Discuss. Talk about what the characters could do differently. | Make sure you talk about: - Do we need to play together all the time to be friends? - Do friends sometimes play at different games? - What happens if we try and play with one person the whole time? |
| Role-play with puppets Puppets / paper figures Story script used above | ||
| What to do if...your friend wants to play with someone else? A3 sheet of paper pens Flash cards (optional) Puppets (optional) | Key strategies: - Ask someone else to play with you - Choose something else to do - Say, 'ok, see you later'. - Ask an adult to play with you. - Ask if you can join in someone else's game. - Remember that it doesn't mean they don't want to be your friend - they just want to play with someone else for a bit. | |
| 'I would like to play a game with...' card Laminated card 'I would like to play a game with...' Sticky notes Pen Some simple games Timer (optional) | This can be used in the playground, provided there are at least two children who are willing to be chosen. If there are, the activity will be to play a specific game, for a set time, and then to play with someone else. |
To be able to display and interpret different emotions
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Emotions game Group game for a minimum of three people
| 1. Shuffle the emotions cards and put one face up in each of the spaces on the 1-6 grid. 2. Check the children/young person know what each card says and what the emotion is (remove any that are too difficult and put new cards in their place). 3. Let everyone choose a coloured counter. Everyone puts one of their counters on the “start”. 4. Choose one person to start (perhaps the adult should go first). 5. The person who starts shakes the dice in the cup, and puts the cup upside down on the table. Carefully lift up the cup and look at the dice so only you know which number is on top. Look at the emotions cards on the board to see which emotion corresponds to the number on the dice – but don’t say what it is. 6. Pick a phrase card. Read the phrase on the card, displaying the emotion you have been given. Use your voice and gestures. It’s fine to give children help in reading what the phrase is, but not in how to display the emotion! 7. The other players watch the player acting out the emotion. They decide which of the emotions the player is portraying. They put their other counter on the name of the emotion they have chosen. 8. When everyone has voted, the player who acted the emotion lifts up the cup to show which number was on the dice. 9. Check to see who chose the correct emotion. The people who chose correctly move their counter on to the next space 10. The player who acted also moves their counter on the same number of orange spaces as the number of people who guessed correctly. 11. The next player then has a turn to act. Continue until someone has reached the “finish” space. | This game rewards your child/young person for doing good acting as well as good interpreting; therefore, there is an incentive to display the emotion correctly. Using the coloured counters to "vote" for an emotion prevents people from changing their mind. If the game takes too long to play, use only the orange spaces on the board. |
Judge if behaviour is being a good friend
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Puppet role-play
|
| This is a good activity for group work. You could give the figures to the child / children, and let them generate their own story. Stop the action when a key behaviour occurs and discuss if it was being a good friend and why. |
| Drama
| ||
| Friendship Diary
| If you have not already done this, you may want to brainstorm what sort of things a good friend will do. Make a poster that you can refer to for ideas. Talking about what sort of things a good friend would not do will provide a contrast - you may want to make two posters. This activity could also be carried out by playground supervisors, at the start and end of playtime. You could write their 'friendship mission' down on a card or post-it note to remind the child throughout the day. | |
| Friendship Awards
| This works best in less structured sessions, e.g. in the playground. |
make predictions about what people would say
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| What are they saying? Pictures of people talking to each other, for example: Picture books (you may need to cover any writing on the page if this distracts the child); Commercially produced pictures (e.g. LDA - Emotions cards, "Passages a decouvrir", etc); Photos (e.g. family snaps, or photos you have specially prepared); Pictures from comics and magazines; Drawings you have done. Pieces of paper cut into the shape of a speech bubble (you can buy speech bubble-shaped post-its from stationers such as Ryman or on-line) Blu-tac (optional) | 1. Show the child the picture you have selected; 2. Encourage them to have a good look at the picture; 3. Encourage them to talk about what is happening in the picture; 4. Encourage them to think about what the people in the pictures might be saying; 5. Stick a speech bubble on the picture so that it is coming out of each person's mouth; 6. Ask what each person is saying; 7. Write this down in the speech bubble (or let the child write it themself). | If the child finds it hard to work out what the person could be saying, encourage them to imagine themselves in the situation and ask what they would say. |
Use a reward chart to modify own behaviour
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work and reward chart with reward toys Bag of small reward toys that are not too noisy for use in class e.g. small bubbles pots from party shops, squeeze balls, spinning toys, 'stocking filler' toys from catalogue companies. Laminated strip of card. Laminated symbols for 'work' and 'reward'. Or, make your own. You will need about 4 of each symbol. Sand timer. | 1. Put the reward toys into a bag and keep them only for reward times. 2. Make the laminated strip and the symbols and keep them in the bag with the reward toys. 3. When the child sits to do a work activity take out the laminated strip and put the 'work' and 'reward' symbols on the strip e.g.:
4. Encourage the child to do the work activity but watch carefully and as soon as the child looks as if they have had enough say 'work is finished......time for reward'. Then take off the first 'work' symbol and point to the 'reward'' symbol as you give the child the reward bag to choose a reward toy from. 5. Turn over the sand timer so the child has a visual reminder of how long they are allowed to use the reward toy for. 6. When the reward time is finished take the 'reward' symbol off the laminated strip and point to the 'work' symbol. 7. In time the child will come to trust that work is followed by a reward. You will be able to vary the length of time you expect a child to work depending on the child's mood and state. By watching the child carefully you will be able to give the child a reward before their behaviour slips into something unacceptable. This ensures that you are always rewarding good behaviour. | Apply this behaviour management technique methodically to get the best results. Be sensitive to the child's changing state. There will be times when the child can only do a very small amount of work and needs lots of reward time. This is OK so long as the adult is managing the arrangement and not the child. Give lots of warm feedback for 'work' and point to the upcoming reward as needed - but don't push the child so far that their behaviour deteriorates and you are not able to reward good behaviour. | |
| Star Chart 'I am working for .........' laminated card A 5 size. Symbols/pictures of motivators, laminated and with a Velcro square on the back to fix to the A5 star chart. Software to help create this. Small counters, smiley faces or stars with small bits of Velcro on the back so that they can be stuck to the star chart as needed. | As a rule make it easy for the child to get a reward to get the system started off. You may want to time the reward e.g. use a 10 minute sand timer or a watch if the child can understand a clock. |
Same and different
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Identifying a group of identical things as the same and a final object as different A group of identical objects e.g. red lego bricks/coloured beakers/paint brushes and an object that is quite different. Pictures of identical things e.g. lots of pictures of apples/shoes from the computer. Or photo copy something a number of times Contrast with a different computer image or photo copied item. | Put out the identical objects one at a time and say 'Red lego, red lego' etc 'Look...........the same.' Use a sign/symbol/word to label the things as 'Same'. Make a show of the item that is different. Label as 'Different' with sign/symbol/word. Follow the same procedure with pictures as for working with objects. | Its easier to identify something as different when it is very different from others in the group Extend understanding of this concept to everyday e.g. comment on children who have the same anorak/shoes/dinner and then contrast with a child who is different. |
| Barrier games Colouring -in pictures of house/car/child/snowman etc | ||
| Snap Set of snap cards. |
Activities to develop categorising items by where you find them/location
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Soring by location activity | 1. Print and cut out the resource. 2. Choose how many categories your child is going to sort - it may be best to start with 2 or 3, before making it harder by adding extra categories. 3. Shuffle the items to be sorted. Each take a turn at choosing an item, naming it and placing in the correct location. 4. If your child is finding challenging to name items, use some of the strategies in the word finding information sheet linked above. | |
| Make a collage - Paper - Glue - A selection of pictures from your chosen category. |
Developing the skill of sorting items into categories
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Sorting items by category - Printable category picture cards: Or use a seletion of your own real objects or pictures. | 1. Print and cut out the large category cards and the small picture cards. 2. Start by sorting items from teo different categories. 3. Place the picture cards from the categories face down. Explain to your child you are going to sort the items into groups. 4. Each take a turn at choosing a picture card, naming them item and placing it in the on the appropriate category card. 5. If your child is able to sort items into two catgories, next attemp items from three different categories. | If your child is finding this task challenging, you can help by searching for an item together.
If your child is able to do this activity, when they select a card, you could ask them to think of another item that belongs to that subcategory but is not in the picture cards. You could also move on to the activities that involve sorting items into subcategories - click here. |
Categories - to recognise the odd one out
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| What's in the bag - Draw string bag - Sets of objects, for example: Groups of pens, cars, Lego bricks. - You could also use objects which differ markedly in texture, for example six normal pieces of paper and a piece of sandpaper. If you do not have obejcts available you could print out and use a selection of category cards below: | 1. Put a group of objects/pictures into a bag and add one clearly different object/picutre. 2. Take turns taking things out of the bag and saying/signing what they are. 3. Comment on the item that is different, for example "look... this is the odd one out" or "this is different" (look surprised, puzzled, make an exclamation). | |
| Odd one out pictures |
Fine motor skills to support writing skills
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Link Cubes Linkable cubes | Play games linking these together and pulling them apart. Who can build the biggest tower? | Have fun with the activities in this area. The activities are designed to build up both skill and strength with thumb and forefinger as a precursor to writing. . |
| Tweezers and clothes pegs Puppets Cotton wool Containers Tweezers Small things to pick up | Can the child put pegs on the puppet's hand/nose/arm etc? Can the child rescue the puppet from the clothes peg monster which has covered the puppet in pegs? Can the child be the clothes peg monster and cover the puppet in pegs? Can the child use tweezers to pull off bits of cotton wool and hide them/put them into a container/give them to a hungry puppet? Can the child feed a teddy small bits of paper balls/sponge etc using tweezers held in finger and thumb? | |
| Card Threading Lace and card with holes | Can the child follow a line to thread the lace through the pre-cut holes? Can the child undo the threading to start again? | |
| Necklaces Beads Threading lace | ||
| Toy nuts and bolts on a board. | ||
| Pegboard and pegs | ||
| Silly putty and small objects to hide | ||
| Stress balls | ||
| Bubble wrap | ||
| Shape sorter |
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