My Body Blooms - Activity Instructions

Tune In

Play a game of tunnel ball with the group, emphasising the fact that there is a goal (to get the person at the front of the line back to the front) and to do it as quickly as possible the group needs to work together as a team.

Have your team stand in one line, behind each other (depending on the size of your group, you may break into a few teams to have everyone moving more often and to maintain engagement).
The person at the front of the line starts with the ball.
When the game starts, the ball needs to roll between each player's legs until it reaches the person at the back of the line.
They collect the ball, take it to the front of the line, and roll it between the teams' legs until it again reaches the person at the back.
Repeat this process until the person who started at the front of the line is at the front again.

Find Out

Discuss the Sprites in ‘Charlie’s Tales: The Sprites and the Heart Flower’ and each of the strengths they brought to the team. “Do you think the Sprites could have gotten to the heart flower by themselves? What were the different things the Sprites could do?”. Children might suggest

Bia had strong arms and could swing high.
Millie could run fast and jump far.
Zita had good aim and could get the ball through the window.

Our bodies can do lots of different things. Even when we were playing Tunnel Ball, there were lots of different ways you could help your team. How did you help your team?”

Children may offer responses that require physical ability, such as:

running fast to the front of the line
rolling the ball straight and fast
making a big tunnel with their legs to let the ball through

Turn children’s attention to other skills that are not determined by physical strength

Cheering for your teammates
Offering help if a teammate fell over
Thinking of different strategies to help the team move faster

Discuss other talents and abilities children have that can help their teammates, friends and families succeed.

Take Action

Let’s create a flourishing garden full of flowers blooming with all the strengths and capabilities of the children in your group. Each child creates a painted flower using their handprint, each petal representing one of their strengths.

Use a paintbrush to paint the child’s hand with their chosen colour of paint. Children can do this themselves or have peers help each other.

Assist the child to press their painted hand onto paper.

The print can be done once to create a tulip-shaped flower or multiple times around in a circle, with each handprint representing one petal of a flower.

Allow this to dry, and children wash their hands.

This is a great opportunity to discuss efficient hand-washing strategies with the children, as the paint acts as a visual cue to ensure they have washed their hands completely.

When the flower is dry, ask the children to think of their own unique talents and abilities. Write one talent/ability on each fingerprint/petal. Have children cut and glue a green strip of paper to create the stem (and leaves) of the flower.

Display your group’s blooming garden and discuss all of the unique talents and abilities with your group!

My Body Blooms - Self Esteem Activity

Go to

Summary

Activity Type

Target Age

Activity guides and printables

Activity Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

In this activity