Animal Sounds-After we played this game with my 6^th graders, we talked about how this might relate to friendship or success in school. My students actually found some really good connections! We also played this in preparation for our Shakespeare play and discussed how, in this game, you have to be confident to get the job done, vocal so people can hear you, and enjoy what you’re doing even if you may feel a bit goofy. Although I played this with my 6th grade class, 4th and 5th graders can play this game successfully too.

Players close their eyes, and then a teacher moves among them whispering the name of an animal to each person. The challenge is to find all the other animals of one’s own kind, and the first group to be completed wins. No one can talk; players can only make animal sounds. Loud chaos ensues, and gradually order and unity emerge as animals find one another. Be prepared to shepherd people from danger, though usually the game is very safe. Many do not move much, but rather focus on listening and calling out to others. animals (aim to have the same number of each animal—around three of each) might include wolf, cat, pig, kangaroo, snake, lion, crow, monkey, frog, elephant, and others. It was fun to make it more challenging at the end, but throwing in choo choo train, pirate, leaky faucet, race car and other wacky sounds like that.