The School of Play Curriculum
Primary School Foundation - Grade Two
Week Three centres on high-energy games and reflective activities that build mental agility, physical coordination, and emotional intelligence. Students engage in quick-thinking challenges like Set Go, which strengthens rapid counting skills and encourages active participation with peers. The week also introduces meaningful self-reflection through The Best Me Today, where students set achievable goals, reflect on how accomplishing them will make them feel, and begin to understand how small, daily intentions can help them grow. These activities combine movement and mindfulness, assisting students to develop both cognitive speed and emotional self-awareness.
The week continues with imaginative and physically engaging activities such as Off to the Big Game, where students perform stretches and movements while using storytelling to bring the experience to life. Physical play blends with creativity as students pretend, explore, and move in ways that develop flexibility and coordination. Finally, Gratitude Charades brings teamwork and empathy to the forefront by encouraging students to express gratitude through movement-based charades, strengthening social connections and positive communication. Together, these activities foster a balanced, joyful week of active bodies, thoughtful minds, and grateful hearts.
Weekly Lessons
Set Go
Set Go is a high-energy warm-up that blends quick thinking, movement, and friendly competition into one fast, fun burst of connection. Students hide their hands on “Set,” reveal a number of fingers on “Go,” and race to be the first to call out the total. Whether played in pairs or as a whole-group lap-style challenge, the game boosts mental agility, encourages active participation, and gets everyone laughing and moving right away. With no equipment needed, it’s an instant energiser that sharpens counting skills while keeping students physically engaged.
The simplicity of Set Go makes it a perfect starter game for building confidence, cooperation, and positive social interaction. Students learn to react quickly, celebrate others’ successes, and enjoy light-hearted competition in a supportive environment. It’s playful, inclusive, and adaptable for any group size, an ideal way to warm up brains and bodies while strengthening connection and classroom community.
Respectful Relationships
Social Interaction, Cooperation & Friendly Play
Set Go supports students to:
- Interact positively with peers, practising turn-taking, friendly competition, and cooperation in both pair and group versions of the game.
- Build social confidence, connecting with many different classmates as they rotate opponents or move through group play stations.
- Show good sportsmanship, celebrating wins respectfully, trying again after losses, and encouraging others.
Communication & Listening Skills
Set Go helps students to:
- Listen carefully to verbal cues, responding quickly to the commands “Set” and “Go.”
- Use clear verbal communication when calling out finger totals, maintaining respectful language while playing.
- Develop awareness of social cues, including when to reveal hands, when to count, and how to interact politely during high-energy moments.
Respect, Safety & Inclusion
Set Go supports students to:
- Respect personal space when facing a partner or moving around the group game setup, ensuring everyone feels safe and comfortable.
- Include all classmates, as the game requires no equipment and accommodates all abilities, allowing everyone to participate equally.
- Model respectful behaviour, cheering on others, taking turns honestly, and following rules that keep the game fair.
Emotional Literacy & Self-Regulation
Set Go encourages students to:
- Manage excitement and frustration, learning to stay calm during close rounds and keep trying even if they don’t win.
- Recognise feelings of pride, joy, and challenge, helping them connect emotional experiences to gameplay moments.
- Regulate impulses, especially during the “Set” and “Go” commands, practising waiting, patience, and controlled responses.
Resilience, Persistence & Trying Again
Set Go helps students to:
- Bounce back quickly after incorrect counts or losses, understanding that each round offers a fresh start.
- Keep practising mental agility, reinforcing persistence when tasks feel fast or challenging.
- Celebrate effort and improvement, not just winning, building confidence through participation and progress.
Physical Literacy & Movement Awareness
Set Go supports students to:
- Stay active in a safe and fun way, incorporating movement through running, hopping, and energising follow-up challenges.
- Develop body awareness, coordinating hand movements, counting, and quick reactions.
- Build healthy movement habits, using play as a positive introduction to fitness.
The Best Me Today
The Best Me Today invites students to pause, reflect, and set one small, meaningful goal that will help them show up as their best selves. Through simple writing and drawing prompts, students choose one positive action, like being kind, helping others, or showing effort, and imagine how they’ll feel after achieving it. This gentle, reflective activity helps students build self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and personal responsibility in a way that feels accessible and empowering.
By visualising their goal and the positive emotions that come with accomplishing it, students begin to understand the impact of their choices throughout the day. The activity encourages intention-setting, persistence, and pride in personal growth, while also creating opportunities for connection when goals are shared with classmates. The Best Me Today is a simple yet powerful routine that nurtures confidence, motivation, and a classroom culture where every student strives to bring out the best in themselves.
Respectful Relationships
Emotional Literacy, Self-Awareness & Positive Identity
The Best Me Today supports students to:
- Recognise their own feelings and needs, thinking about what will help them have a positive, successful day.
- Build a sense of personal identity, reflecting on what “the best version of me” looks and feels like.
- Understand emotional rewards, learning how achieving goals can lead to pride, happiness, calmness, or confidence.
Goal-Setting, Responsibility & Self-Regulation
The Best Me Today helps students to:
- Set a simple, achievable daily goal, such as being kind, listening well, or trying their best.
- Practise self-control and persistence, working toward their goal throughout the day even when it feels challenging.
- Take responsibility for their choices, learning that small actions can help them grow and feel proud of themselves.
Communication, Sharing & Respectful Listening
The Best Me Today encourages students to:
- Express their intentions for the day, using drawing or writing to clearly describe their chosen goal.
- Share their goals respectfully with classmates or in small groups, building confidence in expressing personal ideas.
- Listen to others’ goals, practising empathy, respect, and encouragement as peers work toward their own “best me.”
Cooperation, Encouragement & Community-Building
The Best Me Today supports students to:
- Encourage classmates, celebrating each other’s goals and progress throughout the day.
- Create a supportive classroom culture, where students recognise that everyone is trying to make positive choices.
- Strengthen friendships and belonging, as students share successes during end-of-day reflections.
Resilience, Growth Mindset & Trying Again
The Best Me Today helps students to:
- Persist even when goals are challenging, learning that progress, big or small, is something to be proud of.
- Reflect on effort rather than perfection, understanding that trying their best is what matters most.
- Bounce back from setbacks, practising resilience when the day doesn’t go exactly as planned.
Respect, Safety & Well-being
The Best Me Today encourages students to:
- Consider actions that support their own well-being, such as staying calm, being safe, and making caring choices.
- Respect themselves and others, understanding that positive behaviour helps everyone feel safe and valued.
- Promote a caring classroom environment, where each student contributes to a shared sense of kindness and positivity.
Off to the Big Game
Off to the Big Game takes students on a playful movement adventure where stretching, balance, and imagination all come together. As they travel from home to the stadium through a lively story, students follow physical prompts that mirror each part of the journey, packing bags, riding the train, reaching over crowds, celebrating goals, and winding down after the excitement. The narrative keeps them fully engaged while the stretching and gentle movements build coordination, flexibility, and body awareness in a fun and meaningful way.
With each transition in the story, students listen closely, follow instructions, and use their imagination to bring the scenes to life. Whether they’re stretching like athletes at half-time or reaching high to see over a crowd, the activity encourages focus, creativity, and movement without pressure or competition. Off to the Big Game is a joyful, low-stakes way to warm up, cool down, or reset the energy in a room, leaving students smiling, relaxed, and connected through shared play.
Respectful Relationships
Emotional Literacy, Imagination & Positive Engagement
Off to the Big Game supports students to:
- Use imagination to explore feelings and excitement, connecting emotions to playful story moments like cheering, travelling, or celebrating.
- Feel calm and focused through guided stretching, helping them recognise when their bodies feel relaxed, tight, excited, or tired.
- Build positive emotional experiences, associating movement with joy, creativity, and fun storytelling.
Communication, Listening & Following Instructions
Off to the Big Game helps students to:
- Listen carefully to verbal cues and follow each movement step-by-step, improving focus and receptive communication.
- Respond to sequential instructions, strengthening their ability to follow a narrative structure.
- Share imaginative ideas respectfully, such as discussing favourite parts of the journey or celebrating moments together.
Cooperation, Social Interaction & Classroom Connection
Off to the Big Game encourages students to:
- Participate together in a shared story adventure, helping them feel connected to peers through movement and play.
- Respect each other’s space, especially during stretches and full-body movements.
- Celebrate the imaginative journey as a group, building a sense of belonging and collective enjoyment.
Respect, Safety & Inclusion
Off to the Big Game supports students to:
- Use safe movement practices, being aware of their bodies and those around them while performing stretches and actions.
- Include all classmates, as all movements can be adapted for different abilities or comfort levels.
- Model respectful participation, taking part enthusiastically while keeping a calm, kind atmosphere.
Self-Regulation, Mind-Body Awareness & Calmness
Off to the Big Game helps students to:
- Notice how movement affects their feelings, from energised moments (celebrating a goal!) to cooling down stretches.
- Practise calming strategies, such as rest poses, slow stretches, and controlled breathing during the story.
- Develop awareness of physical sensations, improving their ability to manage big feelings through movement.
Resilience, Persistence & Trying New Movements
Off to the Big Game encourages students to:
- Try new stretches and positions, building confidence in their physical abilities.
- Persist through a sequence of movements, learning that staying focused leads to enjoyable outcomes.
- Celebrate effort, understanding that participation and imagination matter more than perfect technique.
Gratitude Charades
Gratitude Charades turns thankfulness into a playful, expressive adventure where students act out the things they’re grateful for using movement, gestures, and imagination. As they silently mime people, places, moments, or experiences that matter to them, students practise expressing positive emotions in a creative, non-verbal way. The game not only boosts emotional awareness but also encourages students to pause and appreciate the good in their lives, big or small.
Whether guessing as a team or acting solo, students build empathy, communication skills, and connection as they decode each other’s gratitude prompts. The atmosphere is light, joyful, and full of shared appreciation, making gratitude feel fun and accessible rather than forced. Gratitude Charades is an uplifting, laughter-filled activity that strengthens teamwork and celebrates the simple moments that make life brighter.
Download the FULL games resources HERE.
Respectful Relationships
Emotional Literacy, Gratitude & Positive Thinking
Gratitude Charades supports students to:
- Identify and express positive emotions, using movement and gestures to show things they feel thankful for.
- Recognise the good things in their lives, developing early gratitude habits that strengthen wellbeing and optimism.
- Connect feelings to actions, understanding how gratitude can be shown through body language, expression, and creativity.
Communication, Expression & Social Understanding
Gratitude Charades helps students to:
- Communicate non-verbally, practising clear expression through body movement, facial cues, and gestures.
- Understand others’ expressions, interpreting classmates’ charades to better recognise emotional cues and meanings.
- Use respectful communication, sharing why they are grateful and listening thoughtfully to peers’ gratitude stories.
Cooperation, Teamwork & Inclusion
Gratitude Charades encourages students to:
- Work together in teams or groups, taking turns acting and guessing in a supportive environment.
- Encourage and celebrate peers, strengthening social bonds through positive reinforcement and group success.
- Include all participants, understanding that everyone’s gratitude is valid and valued, whether simple or complex.
Respect, Safety & Belonging
Gratitude Charades supports students to:
- Respect different experiences, recognising that classmates may feel grateful for different people, places, or things.
- Create a safe, positive sharing space, where students feel comfortable expressing gratitude without judgment.
- Build a sense of belonging, as group charades bring students together through shared play and joyful interaction.
Self-Regulation, Confidence & Emotional Expression
Gratitude Charades helps students to:
- Manage big feelings with calmness, especially when acting, guessing, or waiting for turns.
- Build confidence in self-expression, performing movements in front of peers in a playful, low-pressure way.
- Reflect on personal feelings, increasing awareness of what makes them happy, thankful, or connected.
Resilience, Creativity & Trying New Things
Gratitude Charades encourages students to:
- Try new expressive movements, even if they feel unsure, helping build resilience and bravery.
- Persist when guessing is challenging, learning to interpret cues and celebrate effort.
- Celebrate creativity, understanding there is no “right way” to express gratitude through movement.
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