Personal development lessons help first-graders to understand their roles and the meaning of community effort.
"I Have a Friend Who" (Provided by Sonoma State University)
This game is ideally for 5 to 50 students. Gather children in a circle with a number of chairs that is one less than the total number of students. The student chosen first to stand will start the game, for example, by saying, "I have a friend who has blonde hair" (or "I have a friend who loves to run," "I have a friend who has two brothers," etc.). The students with blonde hair must get up and switch chairs (students may not sit in the chair in which they were just sitting). The student who is left without a chair is the next leader.
Contribute to academic development learning early by teaching first-grade children about the attributes that define a complete assignment.
"Complete or Incomplete? That Is the Question!" (Provided by Missouri Center for Career Education)
First ask students: "What does a complete assignment look like? What kinds of work habits help a person to be successful in school?" Then, the teacher/counselor will use two puppets for a mock conversation. One puppet will have a complete, neat worksheet that exhibits he followed the directions. The other puppet will have the same worksheet but his will be crumpled, without a name, torn, with errors, etc. The puppets will talk about the differences between the two papers. Then repeat the activity and involve the students in the identification of differences for remaining scenarios.
Put students on the path to discovering their career interests and advancing their skills to make informed decisions.
"Professional Naming"
For this game teachers should make a list of professional/career examples. Write the names of professional types (nurse, doctor, firefighter, scientist, etc.) on slips of paper and place them into a hat or big envelope. Then students will work in pairs, where one person will cite clues about the working professional (where they work, responsibilities, dress code, etc.). The goal is to get the most names guessed correctly in one minute.
The overall success for children depends on staying healthy. Kids Health offers teachers options for ways to engage children in games oriented around nutritional and healthy habits, such as the "Halloween Candy Game" or "Time for Bed." During the former activity, kids drop candy into a calorie-counting pumpkin to learn about nutritional value. "Time for Bed" shows children animal pictures and instructs children to choose the one that requires more sleep to earn points.