Games and activities to promote a good classroom climate and strengthen classroom relationships
14 September 2023
The beginning of the school year brings many challenges not only for teachers but also for pupils. New subjects, teachers, classmates they haven't seen for a long time. This can cause anxiety, fear or stress in children.
It is important for teachers to be sensitive to the emotional needs of pupils and to provide support and help them to adapt to new conditions. Creating a safe environment reduces stress and facilitates the learning process for pupils.
We offer activities that you can use with your pupils not only at the beginning of the year, but also throughout the year to bring the team together and foster a safe classroom environment.
Activities that allow pupils to get to know each other better
What did we do during the holidays? (younger and older school age)
Together with the pupils, create some questions about what they did in the summer. (Where did you go on holiday? What good things did you eat?) Pupils then go around the classroom and try to get as many answers as possible from their classmates. You can then count how many children have been to the seaside or how many have been to the same country etc.
Who has been there, goes here (younger and older school age)
Based on the teacher's questions, the pupils choose a place to stand in the classroom. "Who has been to Grandma's house in the summer? They stand by the window. Whoever wasn't at Grandma's goes to the door." "Whoever had sand in their sandals will go to the door, whoever didn't have sand in their sandals will go to the window." The pupils gradually move on to find out what experiences they have in common with their classmates.
Activities to build closer relationships
Story with vivid images (younger school age)
Teacher tells a story, e.g., "I went to the woods in the summer. The forest was full of trees." He says the word trees emphatically (or jingles the triangle as he says it) and the pupils take up the positions of the trees in the open space (standing up so that they look like trees), forming a forest around the teacher. "I took a walk and found that there were mushrooms growing everywhere." and the students transform into mushrooms. In the next narrative, a description can be included that requires the pupils to make pairs and work together (a basket with a large mushroom, a doe standing at a feeder).
Remains...I take... (older school age)
Pupils stand in a circle. The teacher chooses a theme, e.g. summer holidays. A volunteer goes to the middle and stands in a position, which he/she also names. E.g. he/she stands up so that he/she looks like a swimmer and says "I am at the pond and I am going to jump the dart." Another volunteer steps up and completes the situation. "I'm a water surface." and lies down on the ground in front of the first student. Now a third pupil comes up and takes the position. At this point the first pupil stands up and says which of the pair he is taking back to the circle with him ("I'm taking the surface."). The pupil who came third stays in the same position he was in, but names it differently. This creates a new situation and a new triad.
Activities to strengthen positive classroom relationships
Holding hands (younger and older school age)
Pupils move freely in a defined space. Their task is to shake hands with whoever they meet. However, they can only let go of the previous hand when they shake hands with another classmate. They must try to hold someone's hand at all times.
What am I like? (younger and older school age)
With the pupils, make a list of their characteristics - what they are like. For the younger ones we choose e.g. 5 characteristics, for the older ones up to 10. We then sit in a circle and a volunteer reads out their characteristics. If the pupils have the same one, they clap, stomp or otherwise show that they are like that too.
Variation: we do not focus on qualities, but on how the pupils are feeling today. Or how they might feel in another specific situation (e.g. failing at school).
Infernal Machines/Human Machines (younger and older school age)
The pupils' task is to gradually come into the play space and use sounds and movements to create a collaborative machine. The first pupil comes and demonstrates his/her movement, which he/she completes with a sound; the movement and sound will be repeated continuously. The task of the next pupil is then to complement the first with his movement and sound, so that they are in the same rhythm. The pupils may or may not be in physical contact. This can continue to involve the whole class, but consideration should be given to those who repeat their movement for the longest period of time.
Variation: divide pupils into groups and instruct them to create specific machines. We can then instruct them to invent any machine, even non-existent ones.