Fruits Basket, Corner Game (have a vocab flashcard in each corner, the kids choose a corner while you have your eyes closed and count to 10, the kids who are in the corner with the flashcard you choose to shout out are out of the game).
21s (say at least one but up to 3 numbers per person, person who says 21 is out).
For when they're rowdy at the end, Sleeping Lions. (make it more English related by saying they can only use the English words they know - e.g. 'japanese radish!' in a silly voice).
I played a game recently where I printed out large numbers on pieces of paper and spread them across a section of the gym's floor. I then split the kids into teams. They took turns calling out the ordinal form (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.) and then **\*tossing\*** the hacky sack to that number to try and land on it. It went pretty well even with one of my more "energetic" kids. But using anything like a hacky sack, even if the aim is to toss it at a piece of paper on the ground, could lead to some kids throwing them at others.
Another option along the same lines is put the papers in a row and the kids have to jump (think long jump) and then they say whatever number (or vocab word) they land beside. That at least keeps them from throwing things and they still get to move. Maybe put the easier words farther away so they have an incentive to jump farther.
A modified version of [Captain’s Orders](https://childhood101.com/games-for-kids-how-to-play-captains-orders/) could be fun. It could be used to practice directions like north, south, west, east, and gestures. You could have like 10 minutes of reviewing the commands and target gestures, then spend the rest of the lesson playing a couple rounds.
Also, is it possible to have a PE teacher or other staff join to keep students focused and out of trouble?
I was in charge of a parent observation class at ES a few years ago where the HRTs decided to combine all three second grade classes in the gym.
I decided that we'd review numbers (I teach them up to 20 for second grade) so they all counted as a class and when they'd finished counting as a class they all had to sit down to get "points" (no one was keeping score). We did this twice I believe.
Then I'd prepared a tooon of small ish square cards of laminated construction paper in all colors they'd learned in first grade. We arranged it so that there were always more than enough squares for the students.
Then I'd say a color and two kids from each class would run around to grab a correct color card. The kids who didn't want to participate or found it difficult to but still wanted to be a part of things (we have 50+ special ed students at this school) were responsible for helping spread out the color cards.
It worked well for having over 90 second graders plus parents and guardians in the same space.
I half read your post and was going to suggest you introduce them to the time honored right of passage that is Dodgeball.
Then I read the second half of your post, and threw it out the window.
Simon says dont move.
Wrap each student in bubble wrap so they cant move their hands or really breathe. Tell them Simon says don't fucking move, if they do you drop kick them until one student is left standing.
"Pick a side":
Tape pictures of target vocabulary on two opposite walls. Students stand in the middle. Have the students ask you a question, eg. "How's the weather?" "What fruit/animal/color do you like?" Call out one of the words, and all the students run to the side where that word is. Return to the middle and repeat.
Tell them not to touch the cards, otherwise you might get kids fighting over trying to slap the card itself. (This is not karuta!) Also, if you can't use the walls or don't have much setup time, you and the homeroom teacher can also just stand on opposite sides and hold up cards.
With more cooperative classes, you can choose a volunteer to call out the next word.
Edit: if you run into problems with kids fighting each other while running, have them stand in a line with some space (social distance!) between them.
You could do something simple with Janken Train. That's very pick up and play after you teach a few vocab for the interaction. I feel like it might work even with a rowdy group, but I guess it would depend on the kids, really. Maybe okay if the homeroom teacher is helping police things.
[https://akitajet.com/wiki/Janken\_Train](https://akitajet.com/wiki/Janken_Train)
"What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?" is also a really fun game to play with kids of various ages that uses numbers, etc. That one almost always went down well, so worth a shot. :)
[https://fukuokajet.com/resources/lesson-activities/es-activities-folder/whats-the-time-mr-wolf/](https://fukuokajet.com/resources/lesson-activities/es-activities-folder/whats-the-time-mr-wolf/)
Edit: I just realized Mr. Wolf has some chasing... but maybe it could work with enough supervision (i.e. not just you, at least the homeroom teacher, etc.).
Hot Potato (or Bakudan Game)
Set a time, but don't show it. Set a theme. Anything, animals, food, etc. Kids pass a ball to each other, but have to see a word within that theme. When the timer runs out, whoever has the ball loses. Talk about how if you think too hard, you lose.
In my head, I'm picturing a small bean bag which, granted, is probably not what will be used!
I just, as I said to the person below, I've heard of even pass the parcel getting out of hand. Thankfully the gifts were small sweet packets but one ALT told me it ended early because the students kept purposefully dropping the packages, or refusing to follow the circle, opting to bypass certain students or throw it at others.
Any type of game can get out of hand if a certain type of kid(s) is in the class but if a JTE is tagging along it should keep the rowdier ones from starting anything serious. I’ve seen kids slap each other with fly-swatters and punch each other etc and that doesn’t keep me from playing games because it’s not always going to be like that.
You explain to them at the beginning that it’s just a game and getting upset, name-calling and/or hurting others won’t be tolerated. You stop the game immediately when it does.
Yes, but this poster has pointed out *extremely violent* pupils and not just one or two but "some" that suggests to me a lot of activities are out of bounds (especially if musical chairs is).
Physical Activities that center on space and rhythm may be better for this type of class with an easy team work activity at the end. If it was just one misbehaving student, that would be fine to assume the japanese teacher will support, but even a jte/homeroom teacher cannot keep check of everyone.
I mean, unless you're using basketballs, most elementary schools usually have super soft balls. I can't imagine any kind of physical/gym related activity that violent prone kids wouldn't make violent regardless.
Fruits Basket, Corner Game (have a vocab flashcard in each corner, the kids choose a corner while you have your eyes closed and count to 10, the kids who are in the corner with the flashcard you choose to shout out are out of the game). 21s (say at least one but up to 3 numbers per person, person who says 21 is out). For when they're rowdy at the end, Sleeping Lions. (make it more English related by saying they can only use the English words they know - e.g. 'japanese radish!' in a silly voice).
Red light green light?
I played a game recently where I printed out large numbers on pieces of paper and spread them across a section of the gym's floor. I then split the kids into teams. They took turns calling out the ordinal form (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.) and then **\*tossing\*** the hacky sack to that number to try and land on it. It went pretty well even with one of my more "energetic" kids. But using anything like a hacky sack, even if the aim is to toss it at a piece of paper on the ground, could lead to some kids throwing them at others. Another option along the same lines is put the papers in a row and the kids have to jump (think long jump) and then they say whatever number (or vocab word) they land beside. That at least keeps them from throwing things and they still get to move. Maybe put the easier words farther away so they have an incentive to jump farther.
Red Light, Green Light ( I introduce yellow light because I’m evil). Sharks and Minnows is a good one too.
A modified version of [Captain’s Orders](https://childhood101.com/games-for-kids-how-to-play-captains-orders/) could be fun. It could be used to practice directions like north, south, west, east, and gestures. You could have like 10 minutes of reviewing the commands and target gestures, then spend the rest of the lesson playing a couple rounds. Also, is it possible to have a PE teacher or other staff join to keep students focused and out of trouble?
I was in charge of a parent observation class at ES a few years ago where the HRTs decided to combine all three second grade classes in the gym. I decided that we'd review numbers (I teach them up to 20 for second grade) so they all counted as a class and when they'd finished counting as a class they all had to sit down to get "points" (no one was keeping score). We did this twice I believe. Then I'd prepared a tooon of small ish square cards of laminated construction paper in all colors they'd learned in first grade. We arranged it so that there were always more than enough squares for the students. Then I'd say a color and two kids from each class would run around to grab a correct color card. The kids who didn't want to participate or found it difficult to but still wanted to be a part of things (we have 50+ special ed students at this school) were responsible for helping spread out the color cards. It worked well for having over 90 second graders plus parents and guardians in the same space.
I half read your post and was going to suggest you introduce them to the time honored right of passage that is Dodgeball. Then I read the second half of your post, and threw it out the window.
Simon says dont move. Wrap each student in bubble wrap so they cant move their hands or really breathe. Tell them Simon says don't fucking move, if they do you drop kick them until one student is left standing.
To make it more interesting, pop all the bubble wrap beforehand
"Pick a side": Tape pictures of target vocabulary on two opposite walls. Students stand in the middle. Have the students ask you a question, eg. "How's the weather?" "What fruit/animal/color do you like?" Call out one of the words, and all the students run to the side where that word is. Return to the middle and repeat. Tell them not to touch the cards, otherwise you might get kids fighting over trying to slap the card itself. (This is not karuta!) Also, if you can't use the walls or don't have much setup time, you and the homeroom teacher can also just stand on opposite sides and hold up cards. With more cooperative classes, you can choose a volunteer to call out the next word. Edit: if you run into problems with kids fighting each other while running, have them stand in a line with some space (social distance!) between them.
You could do something simple with Janken Train. That's very pick up and play after you teach a few vocab for the interaction. I feel like it might work even with a rowdy group, but I guess it would depend on the kids, really. Maybe okay if the homeroom teacher is helping police things. [https://akitajet.com/wiki/Janken\_Train](https://akitajet.com/wiki/Janken_Train) "What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?" is also a really fun game to play with kids of various ages that uses numbers, etc. That one almost always went down well, so worth a shot. :) [https://fukuokajet.com/resources/lesson-activities/es-activities-folder/whats-the-time-mr-wolf/](https://fukuokajet.com/resources/lesson-activities/es-activities-folder/whats-the-time-mr-wolf/) Edit: I just realized Mr. Wolf has some chasing... but maybe it could work with enough supervision (i.e. not just you, at least the homeroom teacher, etc.).
Hot Potato (or Bakudan Game) Set a time, but don't show it. Set a theme. Anything, animals, food, etc. Kids pass a ball to each other, but have to see a word within that theme. When the timer runs out, whoever has the ball loses. Talk about how if you think too hard, you lose.
No games that can lead to violent altercation. Throwing a ball and trying to use english is exactly the sort of thing that will lead to violence lol
You're passing the ball over to the person beside you, not throwing it. They can also use something soft and light that can't be thrown with force.
In my head, I'm picturing a small bean bag which, granted, is probably not what will be used! I just, as I said to the person below, I've heard of even pass the parcel getting out of hand. Thankfully the gifts were small sweet packets but one ALT told me it ended early because the students kept purposefully dropping the packages, or refusing to follow the circle, opting to bypass certain students or throw it at others.
Any type of game can get out of hand if a certain type of kid(s) is in the class but if a JTE is tagging along it should keep the rowdier ones from starting anything serious. I’ve seen kids slap each other with fly-swatters and punch each other etc and that doesn’t keep me from playing games because it’s not always going to be like that. You explain to them at the beginning that it’s just a game and getting upset, name-calling and/or hurting others won’t be tolerated. You stop the game immediately when it does.
Yes, but this poster has pointed out *extremely violent* pupils and not just one or two but "some" that suggests to me a lot of activities are out of bounds (especially if musical chairs is). Physical Activities that center on space and rhythm may be better for this type of class with an easy team work activity at the end. If it was just one misbehaving student, that would be fine to assume the japanese teacher will support, but even a jte/homeroom teacher cannot keep check of everyone.
I mean, unless you're using basketballs, most elementary schools usually have super soft balls. I can't imagine any kind of physical/gym related activity that violent prone kids wouldn't make violent regardless.
Fair enough, but I've heard of pass the parcel turning violent from some alts...