Ice Breaking Activity 1: “Find a Friend”
Objective: To help children get to know their classmates and build new friendships.
Instructions: 1. Prepare a set of picture cards with various objects or animals (e.g., a ball, a cat, a flower, etc.). 2. Distribute one card to each child. 3. Instruct the children to walk around the classroom and find the classmate who has the matching card. 4. Once they find their match, they can introduce themselves to each other and share one thing they like about the object or animal on their card. 5. Encourage them to exchange contact information (if applicable) and become friends.
Ice Breaking Activity 2: “Name Song”
Objective: To help children learn each other’s names through a fun and interactive song.
Instructions: 1. Teach the children a simple name song, such as “Hello, Hello, What’s Your Name?” (Tune: “Frère Jacques”). Hello, hello, what’s your name? (x2) My name is [child’s name], my name is [child’s name] Nice to meet you, nice to meet you, too! (x2) 2. Sing the song together as a group, emphasizing each child’s name when it is their turn. 3. Encourage the children to sing the song in pairs, taking turns to introduce themselves and ask for their partner’s name. 4. Repeat the activity several times, allowing the children to interact with different classmates each time.
Ice Breaking Activity 3: “Feelings Charades”
Objective: To help children express and understand different emotions while having fun.
Instructions: 1. Prepare a set of picture cards depicting various emotions (e.g., happy, sad, surprised, angry, etc.). 2. Explain each emotion to the children and demonstrate how to express it through facial expressions and body language. 3. Divide the children into small groups. 4. One child from each group will pick a card and act out the emotion without speaking, while the rest of the group guesses the emotion. 5. Rotate the roles within the group until everyone has had a chance to act out an emotion. 6. Encourage the children to discuss why they chose certain expressions for each emotion and how they can recognize these emotions in others.
Remember to adapt these activities based on the specific needs and abilities of your primary 2 children.