The School of Play Curriculum
Primary School Foundation - Grade Two
Week Two centres on strengthening social connection, emotional awareness, and playful movement through fun, interactive activities. Students begin with energetic partner-based games that build teamwork and cooperation, encouraging them to connect, communicate, and support each other. Throughout the week, students also explore empathy and emotional understanding through creative reflection tasks, helping them recognise their own and others' feelings. The activities blend imagination, physical coordination, and expressive communication to create a learning environment filled with laughter, movement, and meaningful conversations.
Across the week, students engage in games that help them notice emotions, act with kindness, and use their creativity to express how they feel. Whether they’re acting out animal movements, identifying emotions through emojis, or reflecting on moments when they helped others, students build emotional intelligence while having fun. By combining physical activity with reflective tasks, Week Two fosters a holistic learning experience in which students feel connected, understood, and confident in expressing themselves, laying a strong foundation for social-emotional growth.
Weekly Lessons
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up is a fast-paced, high-energy connection starter that gets students laughing, moving, and interacting right from the first moment. As students turn to face their partner and choose one of the four playful gestures, they practise coordination, quick thinking, and body awareness, all while building confidence and strengthening social bonds. The simple structure makes it easy for everyone to join in, creating a fun, inclusive activity that encourages movement and connection.
With each new partner and each new round, the room fills with excitement, positivity, and teamwork. Students celebrate matching gestures, enjoy the friendly unpredictability, and experience the joy of meeting and interacting with multiple peers. Whether used as a warm-up, energiser, or playful break, Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up creates a vibrant classroom atmosphere where students feel connected, active, and ready to learn. It's quick, joyful, and the perfect spark to bring a group together.
Respectful Relationships
Social Connection, Cooperation & Turn-Taking
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up supports students to:
- Build friendships and social confidence by working with many different partners throughout the game.
- Practise cooperating with peers, taking turns, responding together to the countdown, and celebrating matched gestures.
- Engage in positive social interactions, learning how to encourage others, smile, laugh together, and include everyone in the activity.
Communication & Listening Skills
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up helps students to:
- Listen to cues, such as the group countdown (“3, 2, 1…”), helping them practise focus and timing.
- Respond non-verbally, building awareness of body language and developing confidence in communicating without words.
- Use positive and respectful communication, praising partners, sharing joy, and participating in a supportive group environment.
Respect, Safety & Belonging
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up supports students to:
- Respect personal space, especially when turning, bending, and touching body parts close to the ground.
- Include all classmates, regardless of physical ability or confidence level, ensuring everyone feels welcome to participate.
- Contribute to a safe, fun environment, where students follow simple rules, move with care, and help others feel comfortable.
Emotional Literacy & Confidence
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up encourages students to:
- Recognise and enjoy positive emotions, such as excitement, pride, and joy when they score a point or connect with a partner.
- Build confidence through repeated, low-pressure interactions that help them feel successful and included.
- Understand others’ emotions, noticing when partners are happy, shy, excited, or proud, strengthening early empathy skills.
Self-Regulation & Body Control
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up helps students to:
- Manage energy levels, switching quickly from stillness (back-to-back) to movement (gestures and turning).
- Practise body control, accurately touching head, shoulders, knees, or toes while keeping balance and staying safe.
- Follow simple routines, helping them learn predictable structures that support calm participation even when excited.
Resilience, Persistence & Growth Mindset
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes Add Up encourages students to:
- Celebrate small successes, like matching gestures or improving coordination.
- Bounce back quickly if they don’t match gestures, each round is a fresh chance to try again.
- Enjoy the process, learning that fun, movement, and connection matter more than “winning.”
My Empathy Tree
My Empathy Tree invites students to reflect on moments when they supported someone else, helping them understand the power of kindness and emotional awareness. As they write or draw a time they helped a friend, family member, or even a pet feel better, students begin to see themselves as capable, caring contributors to the world around them. Through simple storytelling and creative expression, they lay the foundation for empathy by recognising how their actions influence others' feelings.
By adding leaves of memories, feelings, and reflections to their Empathy Tree, students deepen their understanding of how helping someone else also lifts their own emotions. The activity creates a gentle, reflective space where students learn to notice emotions, name them, and celebrate moments of support and compassion. Whether shared in a group or kept as a personal reflection, My Empathy Tree strengthens emotional intelligence and nurtures a classroom culture rooted in kindness, awareness, and connection.
Respectful Relationships
Emotional Literacy & Understanding Feelings
My Empathy Tree supports students to:
- Identify and name emotions by describing how they and others felt in real-life situations.
- Recognise feelings in others, building early emotional awareness by thinking about how someone else may have experienced a moment of need.
- Develop vocabulary for empathy, learning words and symbols (e.g., emojis) that help them communicate emotions clearly.
Empathy, Caring & Perspective-Taking
My Empathy Tree helps students to:
- Understand how actions affect others, recognising that their kind behaviours can comfort, support, and reassure someone who is upset.
- Put themselves in someone else’s shoes, imagining the feelings of a friend, family member, or pet they helped.
- Show compassion through reflection, strengthening their ability to notice when others need help and respond with care.
Communication, Expression & Sharing
My Empathy Tree encourages students to:
- Express their ideas creatively through writing or drawing, helping them share their empathy stories in a personal, meaningful way.
- Communicate openly about emotions, building confidence in talking about feelings and positive actions.
- Participate respectfully in group sharing, listening kindly to others’ stories and learning from classmates’ experiences.
Respect, Kindness & Positive Relationships
My Empathy Tree supports students to:
- Recognise the importance of helping others, reinforcing respectful behaviours and caring interactions.
- Value the feelings of peers, understanding that everyone deserves support, kindness, and understanding.
- Build stronger connections, as sharing empathy stories helps students feel more included, understood, and respected.
Self-Regulation & Emotional Growth
My Empathy Tree helps students to:
- Reflect calmly on past experiences, giving them time and space to think about emotions with clarity.
- Recognise the positive emotions that come from helping, such as pride, warmth, or happiness, encouraging prosocial behaviour.
- Use empathy as a tool for problem-solving, learning that caring actions can improve relationships and reduce conflict.
Resilience, Confidence & Personal Strengths
My Empathy Tree encourages students to:
- See themselves as helpers, building confidence in their ability to care for others.
- Understand that small actions can make a big difference, which helps them persist in being kind even when moments are challenging.
- Celebrate acts of support, reinforcing resilience by showing students they have the power to make positive emotional change.
What Animal Would You Be?
What Animal Would You Be? is a lively, imagination-filled movement adventure that takes students on a global journey as they transform into animals from around the world. Through fun, high-energy movements, like slithering like a worm, hopping like a kangaroo, sprinting like a cheetah, or soaring like a wedge-tailed eagle, students strengthen coordination, balance, and fitness while exploring what it might feel like to be each creature. The storytelling element keeps them fully engaged, encouraging creative thinking as they listen, follow instructions, and bring each animal to life with enthusiasm.
By moving through a sequence of playful animal challenges, students build confidence, stay active, and enjoy a joyful sense of connection with their peers. The activity ends with reflection, allowing each child to choose the animal they would most like to be and share why. What Animal Would You Be? blends physical movement, imagination, and storytelling to create an energetic learning experience that supports physical development, creativity, and social engagement, all while ensuring plenty of laughs and memorable moments.
Respectful Relationships
Emotional Literacy, Imagination & Self-Expression
What Animal Would You Be? supports students to:
- Express emotions through imaginative play, using animal roles to explore feelings such as excitement, bravery, calmness, and strength.
- Build confidence in self-expression, choosing a favourite animal and explaining why it represents them.
- Use creativity to embody different characters, helping them understand how movement and behaviour can show feelings.
Communication & Active Listening
What Animal Would You Be? helps students to:
- Listen carefully to instructions, responding to cues about when and how to move as different animals.
- Follow a story sequence, strengthening attention and communication skills as they move through the adventure.
- Share their ideas respectfully, especially when discussing their chosen animal and why it suits them.
Social Skills, Cooperation & Positive Peer Interaction
What Animal Would You Be? encourages students to:
- Participate together in a shared movement adventure, helping them feel connected and included as part of the group.
- Celebrate each other’s creativity, building a positive classroom environment where all choices are valued.
- Support peers during movement activities, showing kindness and encouragement to classmates trying their best.
Respect, Safety & Belonging
What Animal Would You Be? supports students to:
- Move safely in a shared space, learning to respect boundaries and keep personal space while jumping, crawling, and running.
- Recognise that everyone participates differently, encouraging a sense of belonging for students with varying abilities and confidence levels.
- Create an inclusive environment, where all students feel welcome to join in and express themselves freely.
Self-Regulation & Body Awareness
What Animal Would You Be? helps students to:
- Manage their energy, switching between fast-paced animals (cheetah, kangaroo) and slow, calm ones (sloth).
- Control their bodies, improving balance, coordination, and motor awareness through diverse movements.
- Understand physical cues, such as feeling tired, excited, or calm during different animal actions.
Resilience, Confidence & Trying New Things
What Animal Would You Be? encourages students to:
- Attempt unfamiliar movements, such as bear crawls or donkey kicks, helping them build courage and resilience.
- Persist through challenging actions, learning that effort and practice help them improve.
- Feel proud of their achievements, building confidence as they complete each animal transformation.
Six in a row Emoji
Six in a Row Emoji invites students into a playful and meaningful space where emotions become visible, relatable, and easy to talk about. Using a bingo-style grid filled with emojis, pairs take turns rolling a die to land on different feelings, share a moment when they experienced that emotion, and mark it on their board. The emojis act as simple visual cues to help students connect personal stories with emotional vocabulary, while the turn-taking structure builds patience, cooperation, and confidence in sharing. With each roll, students practise naming feelings, listening respectfully, and exploring their own experiences in a supportive, low-pressure way.
As pairs work toward completing a horizontal line of six marked squares, the game becomes a gentle pathway into emotional awareness and connection. Students learn to recognise emotions in themselves, understand them in others, and communicate with empathy and clarity. Six in a Row Emoji turns reflection into a fun, interactive challenge, strengthening emotional literacy while nurturing meaningful conversations between peers. It’s an accessible, heart-warming way to bring feelings to the surface through play, curiosity, and shared experience.
Download the FULL game resource HERE.
Respectful Relationships
Emotional Literacy & Self-Awareness
Six in a Row Emoji supports students to:
- Recognise and label basic emotions using child-friendly emoji symbols, helping them link feelings to simple visual cues.
- Reflect on real experiences, identifying times they felt happy, sad, worried, excited, scared, or proud.
- Understand that all emotions are normal, strengthening emotional vocabulary and healthy expression.
Communication, Sharing & Empathy
Six in a Row Emoji helps students to:
- Share personal stories in a safe, partner-based setting, practising clear and respectful communication.
- Listen with care and curiosity, building empathy as they hear about their partner’s emotional experiences.
- Respond kindly, showing they value their partner’s feelings through gentle questions, nodding, and positive body language.
Cooperation, Turn-Taking & Social Connection
Six in a Row Emoji encourages students to:
- Work together toward a shared goal, forming a line of six squares while respecting the rules and taking turns.
- Practise patience, waiting for their turn to roll the die and listening fully before sharing.
- Build connection with a peer, strengthening friendships through open conversation and teamwork.
Respect, Inclusion & Emotional Safety
Six in a Row Emoji supports students to:
- Respect personal boundaries, recognising that everyone’s feelings and experiences are unique.
- Create a safe space for sharing, where emotions, big or small, are accepted without judgment.
- Celebrate differences, understanding that classmates may feel emotions in different situations and that all feelings are valid.
Self-Regulation & Emotional Reflection
Six in a Row Emoji helps students to:
- Pause and think about their feelings, practising calm reflection before sharing.
- Understand emotional triggers, beginning to notice what makes them feel certain emotions.
- Develop early coping tools, as sharing emotions can help students feel lighter, calmer, and more supported.
Resilience, Confidence & Positive Risk-Taking
Six in a Row Emoji encourages students to:
- Speak openly about their feelings, building confidence in emotional expression.
- Try again when rolls repeat squares, learning to adapt, re-roll, and persist in the game.
- Feel proud of participating, reinforcing that sharing emotions takes courage and strengthens relationships.
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