43 Team-building Activities for Key Stage 2

Description

This e-book aims to provide children with the much-needed opportunity to improve in a range of social and physical skills, in particular interpersonal skills. The development of these skills is targeted within a set of clearly written lesson plans. These have been carefully designed with the busy primary teacher in mind, requiring minimal preparation and equipment. The activities have also been designed to stimulate pupils’ imaginations through a series of exciting problems and scenarios.

Each plan begins with a story, which appears on the lesson plans in italic type. From the mountains of the Himalayas to the stormy seas of the Pacific, the children are placed in problematic situations in which they need to work together to find a solution.

Each challenge addresses different social and physical skills at various levels of ability in Key Stage 2.

Outdoor and Adventurous Activities (OAA) is one of the six areas of physical activity that Key Stage 2 children need to engage in within the PE curriculum, along with games, gymnastics, dance, athletics and swimming. The lesson plans in this book enable teachers to access elements of OAA throughout Key Stage 2 within their own school, rather than rely solely on a residential trip.

Each activity acknowledges the importance of every individual as a valued part of a team. Successful completion of these tasks requires even the more reticent children to become involved. Some activities necessitate a leader or spokesperson to come to the fore, which can result in dramatic improvements to some pupils’ self-esteem.

The activities can be planned into the PE and PSHE programmes or can be used by the teacher as stand-alone lessons. The activities have been divided into two main sections: Years 3–4 and Years 5–6. These are purely a guide and activities can be used as the teacher sees appropriate, depending on the class ability.

We have not specified a length of time for the activities as the time needed varies according to the children and teacher involved. The extensions allow the activities to be varied and played again. We have found it worth repeating favourites with variations. As a general guide, the longer activities (as identified on the Contents page) will take one lesson, while you may need to use two of the shorter activities to fill a lesson.

All the activities in this e-book have been tried and tested many times in schools.