I’m teaching a summer camp starting tomorrow. What is a good and quick ice breaker for 5th and 6th graders?
Bring a dog like this one
Teach them the lyrics to this song. Do your little mime & dance. It’ll be fun!
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Candy. Seriously good ice-breaker. Tell stories with it from your own life.
Sticky balls seem to be a perennial favorite
I’m a bit too white for Vanilla Ice
My contract says I can’t give the kids any food (my boss is worried about allergies).
How big is the group? What’s their English like?
Sticky balls is possibly a bit childish for that age group. My daughter is going into 6th grade and would probably roll her eyes at me if I tried to get her to play a sticky ball game (and she’s terrible at throwing).
Maybe a simple game like musical chairs using a kpop song. Or possibly 4 corners, or 2 true, one false, etc.
Please note: I didn’t say you had to ‘give’ it to them. Share your stories about candy to show them you’re a human being who likes candy, too! It’s part of the “let’s make the laowai a human being” strategy. Otherwise we become ‘performing monkeys’ in a circus. It’s about breaking down that kind of stereotype. Candy, whether students eat it or not, is something that unites kids across the world, even if the brands are a bit different.
Giving it to them would be nice… grade 5/6 students should know what they’re allergic, too. Your boss might be right, though. I wouldn’t second guess that.
This group was 20 kids. The English varied. Some could say “Hi” and nothing else… While one kid told me he could spell hippocampus and kept asking me for difficult words and their meanings.
I get to see each group one time for half a day. I only know the grade levels and material for this camp.
I don’t think any of my students or their parents see me like that. I play less games and have higher expectations than other teachers I’ve come across in Taipei. All my cram school students tell me that my English & science classes are very difficult but they like that I’m nice and patient.