Four Corners
This was alwaysTHE 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 andslowly counts from one to ten as the rest of the class tiptoes to a corner inthe 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 outof 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 stewpot!) “It” counts to ten again aseveryone 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 beanyone 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 theKindergarten Conference in Atlanta taught us this game that is similar to HotPotato.
The class forms acircle. The teacher points to onewho says, “One.” The next child totheir right says, “Two.” Continuearound the circle with each child saying the next number. When you get to “ten,” that child hasto sit down. Continue countingaround the circle and having the child who says “ten” sit down. The last child standing gets to choosewho will start the next round.
Hint! Count by tens and whoever says “100”has to sit down.
Practice countingby ordinals, “First, second, third…” The child who says “tenth” must sit down.
Quiet Touch
This is a great game to quiet children andbuild memory skills. The firstchild gets up and touches an object and then sits down. The second child gets up, touches thefirst object, then touches an additional object. The third child touches the first object, second object, andadds a third object. The gamecontinues as classmates touch what the previous children have touched insequential 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 thisgame. Explain that the object ofthe game is to see how many times you can toss the ball without talking. Look at the person you are throwing theball to so they will be ready. Silently count how many times we can throw the ball without talking ordropping it. If someone talks ordrops the ball, then the game begins all over again.
Snowballs
Eachchild takes a sheet of paper and writes a word wall word, spelling word, mathfact, etc. on it. Children wad uptheir 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 andidentify the information on it before throwing it back at the other side. The game continues until the teachersays, “Freeze!” Count the numberof snowballs on each side. Who hasmore? Who has less? In this game, the team with the smalleramount is actually the winner! Everyone gets another snowball and the game continues.
*Asa study review, have children write questions on the snowballs. When children
openthem they must answer the question before throwing it again.
*A teacher in OKshared a variation of this game that she plays. Write letters, words, numerals, etc. on paper to make yoursnowballs. Write correspondingletters, words, numerals, etc. on index cards and put them in a sack. The teacher chooses an index card andthe child holding that snowball has to sit down.
Hint! Tell the children that if they don’tknow the answer, it’s O.K. to ask a
friendfor help.
