exercises, activities, games

2.2 EXERCISES, ACTIVITIES, GAMES
Activity 2a Show and Tell. 5 min
Materials: Childs choice
Objective: to improve pupils social skills
Each child can choose to show off their favorite, toy, stuffs, book, game, etc. to the others. This is a great way to encourage social skills while they get to know one another. Be sure and have extra things available for those who might forget their favorite show and tell thing. It wont be their favorite thing, but it will give them something to talk about with the others, so they wont feel left out. 
Activity 2b Where is my Friend? 5 min
Materials: Music; Large blanket
Objective: to check the results
Play music while the children walk freely around the room. When the music stops, they must crouch down where they are and close their eyes, no peeking! Cover one of the players with a blanket. Once the player is covered tell the others to open their eyes and guess who is under the blanket. 
Activity 3a Friendly Musical Chairs 8 min
Materials: Music; Chairs (one less than the number of children)
Objective: to check the results
Objective: to improve pupils solving problem skills
Start with everyone standing still. When the music starts, they must walk around the chairs anticipating when the music will stop. When the music finally does stop, they must all sit down. The object of this activity is to remove a chair each time a new round begins. The children must sit down so they will need to sit in the same chair with a friend or pile onto laps. When the game is finished there should be only one chair remaining and the children must all be in that one chair. 

1. Collect Weather Data

Studies have found that kids who feel “connected” to nature act in more sustainable ways because of it. What better way to connect students to nature than by connecting to the weather going on outside every day? Another environmental activity for kids that helps the wide world of science, collecting weather data for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network draws on those data and analysis skills again, while helping students to make predictions and see real-world connections to the work they’re doing in math class.

2. Determine Your Carbon Footprint

Students can use a carbon footprint calculator (this calculator from the EPA and this calculator from 8 Billion Trees are free but each does require some pretty specific details parents would have to supply, while ) to determine approximately how much carbon their lifestyle emits in a year. The calculators provide some small lifestyle changes they could make in order to reduce their carbon footprint.

• 
  Your class can record, collate and compare the numerical data that their quiz responses generate.
  

Students can plot individual, small group, or class data in a graph or table.

• 
  Establish what the average carbon footprint is for your entire class and set a goal to reduce it to a certain amount by the end of the school year. Have students examine the lifestyle changes suggested to them in their own results and identify which change they will embrace to help lower the class carbon footprint.
  

We know that children learn through play, and learning to be more sustainable and caring for the environment follows that same trend. Then add in the fact that spending time in nature can help children develop a connection to the environment, making them more aware of the beauty, diversity, and interdependence of natural systems, and a nature scavenger hunt is a great way to get kids thinking more sustainably.
Connecting kids to nature can foster a sense of stewardship for the natural world, leading our students to think more carefully about how their actions impact the environment.
Print off a free nature scavenger hunt grid, and turn recess into an adventure in connecting with the environment.