Square-location game to consolidate coordinate recognition.
Speed and agility game activities to hone skills.
EQUIPMENT: giant chessboard – name cards and holders - plasticized key- shaped cards with printed coordinates (there should be 64 coordinates or at least a number of coordinates greater than the number of children) - Boletus the Gnome - prize caps (plastic soft-drink bottle caps).
“... Once the guests had settled into their rooms, the king checked that all the guests were happy with the rooms they had been given. If they weren’t satisfied, they could change rooms as long as the new one was unoccupied ...".
Main instructions for the children
Sit around the castle.
When I give you a key, stand up and go to the room shown on the key (letter and number).
Sit down when you arrive in the room.
If you want, you can change to a new room.
Exchange your old key for a new one; look to see if the new room is unoccupied. If there is a guest already using the room, ask for another key.
Choose a route to get to the new room and go there using the Castle Step.
Don’t go through a room that is already occupied.
Sit down after you arrive in the new room.
Activity details for the teacher
All the children sit around the chessboard.
Give every child a key and tell them to go to the room indicated by the key’s coordinates (letter and number).
After all the children have gone to the rooms, collect the keys.
Ask if anyone would like to go to a new room; go to each one and let them choose a key.
The children read the coordinates on the chosen key, and if the room in question is unoccupied, they can go there on a path that does not contain occupied squares.
The children use the Castle Step, while their classmates check that the route is correct.
The children are asked to name the new room they wish to have and then choose the key, but they must use the precise coordinates (i.e. they can’t say something like ‘the room near my friend Paul’). For this variation to run smoothly, the keys should be in order so that you do not have spend time searching for the correct key to give to the child.
NOTE
To check that the children really understand everything, among the keys can be ones with non-existent coordinates, such as J4 orB9. You can also ask the children what colour a square is, if it is already occupied, and if you can arrive there without passing through a room that is already occupied.
Main instructions for the children
Go to the starting position behind the line with two other teammates.
When I give you the coordinates, run into the castle and go to the correct room.
As soon as you have arrived in the room, raise your arm, which stops the game.
Try to be the first to find the right room.
Activity details for the teacher
This fast-paced game activity is particularly suited to classes with lively students that have difficulty remaining seated and waiting their turn.
Divide the class into two teams.
Position three children from each team behind a predetermined line 2 or 3 metres outside the chessboard, depending on the space available.
Say out loud the coordinates for the squares the children must go to; each child runs onto the chessboard and tries to get to the right square more quickly than the others.
As soon as a child is on the correct square they must raise their arm, which is the signal for the game to stop: the first to arrive on the correct square and put their arm up wins a prize cap for their team.
At the end of the entire game activity, each team counts their prize caps to see which is the winning team. Point out that everyone is in fact a winner because they now know how to find rooms (knowledge is the most valuable prize of all).
VARIATION
The children can be told to adopt different positions once in the room:
balance on one leg.
touch the ground with one foot and one hand.
sit on the ground.
CLOSING CHANT: Finding my room’s as easy as can be – there are letters and numbers on each and every key. 1, 2, 3 Yeaaaaaah!
This game activity has the same merits as the previous ones, but is conducted in a more dynamic manner. Remember that children require an increase in the level of a challenge to stimulate mental activity; here the challenge is more demanding because of the presence of time (speed) and space (different distances) factors, with the children needing to maintain focus and concentrate on instructions.
The rhythm component introduces the personal performance aspect to a greater degree, as does the challenge component, which children need to experience if they are to develop a healthy sense of competition. The desire element is the same, which stimulates enthusiasm and the search for new strategies.
The introduction of a more dynamic activity requires finding a solution in a short period of time and frees spontaneous creativity. This is particularly useful when the children in the class are more lively, as children can quickly stop paying attention when an activity is too static.