Description

Students practice controlling themselves while working together as a group.

Supplies

• No supplies needed

How to Play

1. Have students sit in a circle.
2. Explain they are trying to count to 10 as a group.
3. Tell the group that this will be trickier than it sounds because there are several rules:

• No one can talk unless they’re saying a number out loud
• Students cannot tell each other what number to call out
• Students cannot point to each other or signal to let others others know when to go
• Students sitting next to each other cannot say consecutive numbers
• Two people cannot say a number at the same time

4. If any rules are broken, the group must start over with the number one.
5. Continue playing a few rounds having a new person start with number one and/or changing up the counting rules. See Other Ways to Play.

Activity Prompts for Reflection

• When was it difficult for you to control yourself during this activity?
• What emotion did you feel when you messed up?
• What was difficult to control while playing the game?

Other Ways to Play

• After each round have them brainstorm ways that they can improve on the next round.
• Have students practice spelling by spelling out a word for the round instead of saying numbers.
• Have students practice skip counting and set the end goal number based on how many students are in the group and what numbers they are skip counting by.

Additional Notes

• Use the SEL Activity Prompts to tie other SEL competencies to this activity.
• If you have a large group, you can split them into smaller groups.