creative challenges

CREATIVE CHALLENGES

 

Follow up work for schools for a Creative Challenges project

Quickies

  • Animal Charades – children in groups (of 4 or 5) take turns to mime an animal together as one unit!

                                                [Speaking and Listening, PSME]

  • The Rope Bus – children take turns to lead the class (who are all holding the rope) around the school on a set route or to find certain things. Children who have been to Creative Challenges sessions would make good leaders!

                                                [Speaking and Listening, PSME]

Lesson Fillers!

  • Big Bug Hunts – children could be asked to collect as many ‘bugs and beasties’ as they can using      yoghurt pots. Afterwards they could sketch them onto pieces of card and then group/classify their beastie drawings using hoops. Children could also use identification charts to see if they can identify their beasties! [Science]
  •  Making bugs – using clay and other natural materials children could make their own bugs          [Science, CDT, Art]
  • Design a bug – children could be asked to invent/design a new bug which would be suited to the      school environment  [Science, CDT]
  • Leaf hunt – children could be challenged to collect as many different leaves as possible. Using      identification charts they could be asked to identify them. Alternatively children could make their own identification charts. [Science]
  • Scavenger Hunt – children could be asked to find examples to match those shown by a teacher/pupil eg      acorn, twig, leaf….. Who can find a match first? [Science]. Alternatively they could be asked to find      examples/objects that match chosen adjectives eg smooth, prickly, soft, flexible…
  • Un-natureTrail – a pupil or teacher could ‘plant’ man made objects around the school grounds. Children could then be challenged to find and identify them.[Science]
  • Smelly cocktails – children could be invited to make smelly cocktails in plastic cups using mud,      petals, sticks, grass….. Once their ‘potions’ are complete the children could      be asked to think of an appropriate name for them and to think of uses for it (‘what does it do?’) Perhaps they could also make up adverts for their potions.                    [Science, CDT, Literacy]
  • Smelly Adjectives - Children could write about and describe their favourite and least favourite smells! Perhaps they could be challenged to think of as many smelly adjectives as they can! Using these adjectives they could then write descriptions of, or tongue twisters about, the smells. [Literacy]
  • Creative Writing - Children could write stories or poems about some of the natural objects they      find/identify.  Hot seating (where a child or teacher pretends that they are a  bug, leaf, twig, tree…..) may help the children to form ideas. Smelly adjectives (see above) may help the children to write their poems.[Literacy]
  • Favourites  - Children could be invited to draw and describe their favourite outdoor places (woods,      beaches, moors…..) or views. Perhaps children could be invited to ‘present’ their favourite place/view and justify their choice. The class could then vote for their overall favourite.  [Literacy, Geography]
  • Natural measures – using sticks/twigs the children could measure various body parts. They could      also be asked to look for any patterns/relationships between their measurements [Maths]
  • Outdoor Art – children could make pictures on the style of Andy Goldsworthy using natural materials      found in and around the school. [Art]
  • Natural Colour Collages – the children could be asked to collect as many different coloured natural  materials as they can. Using these they could then make a colour collage. [Art]
  • Making mini-dens – children could be asked to design and make a den (using natural materials) for chosen animals (eg  birds, small mammals….)                             [Science,      Art, CDT]
  • Anagram Safari – children are challenged to a) find animal/plant names which have been hidden around theschool b) unscramble them                               [Literacy,      Geography]                        
  • Human Camera – children work in pairs, 1 child shuts their eyes and the other is the ‘photographer’      who points the ‘blind’ child (human camera) at an object. When the human camera is in the right place he/she is tapped on the shoulder as a signal to open their eyes. By opening their eyes they take a mental picture. Children take 3 photos each and then choose their favourite one to draw.  [Speaking      and Listening, Art, PSME]
  • How many ways (a memory game) – ask the children to find a leaf each. Organise them into 1 or 2 circles.Ask each child in turn to a) think of an adjective that describes their leaf b) remember all of the adjectives the children before them in the circle have used. (This is very similar to I went to the shop and      bought…). The adjectives the children have thought of could then be used as a starting point for writing poems or ‘Leaf Descriptions’.   [Literacy]
  • Sound Postcards – in theplayground or other outdoor area tell the children that they have to listen carefully for 3 minutes and identify 10 different sounds. After 3 minutes discuss the sounds they heard and how they could be represented using symbols or pictures. Next give each child a postcard with a cross in  the middle and a selection of coloured pencils. Tell them that next they  need to find a space on their own and that they will have 10 minutes to listen to the sounds around them and represent them pictorially on the postcard. Encourage the children to try and identify where the sound is coming from then to mark it’s position pictorially in the correct position on the map/postcard (the cross in the middle represents the child’s position)                   [Speaking and Listening, Art, Humanities]

Ginette Brown/Tracey Maciver (2007)