A peeking box offers the perfect opportunity to surprise students. You have to let them in a room one at a time because if the students see the other children in front of them you will eliminate the “surprise” element. Place a box on a table with a hole in the bottom of the box and a way to reach through the table. Be sure the bottom of the table is covered so you can hide a person under the table. Have the students walk up and open the lid and the hand of the person hiding under the table suddenly reaches up toward the child’s face. The sudden motion will startle and surprise the students. You can have the kids come in as pairs. This offers a chance to showcase how the first student is truly surprised and the second student is expecting something. Have the children write how it felt to be startled.
Host class as you normally would. In the middle of a lesson have a surprise guest such as an adult dressed up as a character or a person bringing candy or another treat. Before the children have the opportunity to collect a treat or interact with the character, go over the sudden change in emotion in the room. Discuss how the sudden appearance of the person changed the feelings of the children from just another day to a surprise visitor. You can also show videos of various surprises such as the commercials showing various marriage proposals or the return of military personnel.
Probably the fastest way to teach the emotion “surprise” is to throw a surprise party. Do not let the students know the day is going to be any different than usual and when the kids return from lunch, have the classroom decorated for the party. You can host a movie or unexpected activity. As the celebration begins, discuss in a group how the children felt when walking into the room. What was it like to walk into a party? Have the students identify the difference between happy and surprise.
Magic is a great way to illustrate surprise. The sudden disappearance of things or appearance of objects makes for a perfect demonstration of surprise. Invite a magician to come and show some surprising tricks. After the show is over have the children discuss what each found most surprising during the act. Group the kids together and challenge each child to surprise the group. The best student in each group then presents his surprising trick to the class.