Whenever I find those few minutes at the end of class when clean-up is done and the class is lined up,
I make use of this time with creative thinking games. Here are a few of my favorites.
Sharing Circle: "If you really knew me ______, you'd know"; if you really, really knew me, you'd know______"
Students repeat the above prompt, filling in the blanks. Some will struggle - allow a free pass.
Go around the circle more than once if time allows and see how the answers change!
"Ce n'est pas une pencil"
Pass around a pencil while saying "this is not a pencil, this is a _________", act out whatever you are pretending
the pencil to be. (a pool cue, a golf club, etc) Allow a free pass the first time around the circle. Watch how the
answers change and become more sophisticated as the pencil makes its second pass! Variation: use another
object with a different shape such as a piece of paper, a scarf, a ruler, a CD. The shape and form of the object
brings different associations. Use whatever you find and notice how your students respond to the object.
Voice inflection Game:
Read directions or ingredients from the back of a box in different ways (angry, frightened, bashful, nervous,
surprised, excited, sad) I keep a few items (jello box, canned goods) available for students to choose from - I
also have a set of expressive words in a hat for them to choose blindly.
The results of this game are side-splitting funny!