The School of Play Curriculum
Primary School Grade 3 & 4
Week Eight brings together teamwork, resilience, emotional intelligence, and physical movement through a series of high-energy and reflective activities. Students begin with Lumps, a fast-paced game that challenges them to think quickly, move confidently, and work closely with their peers to form groups of different sizes. The week then shifts to emotional awareness with The Power of a Smile, helping students recognise how a simple non-verbal gesture can influence their own feelings and positively impact those around them. This balance of physical activity and emotional reflection encourages students to understand the importance of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, in creating a supportive classroom environment.
The Moby Flower Workout is a fun fitness challenge that helps students build strength, endurance, and rhythm by synchronising bodyweight movements with music. Finally, Resilience Rally invites students to reflect on past challenges, share personal experiences, offer support to their peers, and celebrate how overcoming obstacles has helped them grow. Across these activities, Week Eight strengthens students’ physical coordination, emotional awareness, empathy, and ability to collaborate effectively. The combination of movement, connection, and reflection ensures students feel supported, energised, and proud of the resilience they continue to build together.
Weekly Lessons
Lumps
Lumps is an energetic, fast-paced classroom game that gets students moving while sharpening their quick thinking and teamwork skills. As students run, hop, skip, or move creatively around the room, they must stay alert and ready to form groups the moment the teacher calls out a number. The excitement builds as students scramble to connect with others, communicate non-verbally, and work together to make the correct group size. This movement-based activity boosts physical energy, improves agility, and encourages students to stay engaged and focused.
The game also strengthens social interaction and collaboration as students learn to support one another and quickly adapt to changing instructions. Whether completing fun challenges when left out of a group or celebrating successful formations, students develop coordination, cooperation, and positive communication. Lumps is a simple yet powerful activity that warms up the body, energises the mind, and builds classroom connection, making it an ideal choice for transitions, warm-ups, or community-building sessions.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
Lumps supports students to:
- Listen actively to instructions and respond quickly and respectfully.
- Understand different viewpoints, as they must work with a variety of classmates to form groups.
- Express their needs respectfully, such as asking to join a group or helping others find a place.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Throughout the game, students learn to:
- Collaborate with peers, forming groups quickly and helping classmates join in.
- Practise fairness and kindness, ensuring no one is left out and inviting students into their group.
- Show appreciation, encouraging teammates during the movement phase and supporting each other when forming lumps.
Safety and Acceptance
Lumps helps students to:
- Promote a safe and inclusive environment, ensuring everyone feels valued and has a group to join.
- Accept others, working with any classmate regardless of friendship groups or differences.
- Recognise equality, as every student plays the same role in forming groups and participating in the activity.
The Power of a Smile
The Power of a Smile is a gentle, reflective activity that helps students explore the emotional impact of non-verbal communication. Through writing and drawing prompts, students think about times when someone’s smile brightened their day, helping them recognise how small gestures can shift mood, create connection, and make others feel seen. By reflecting on these moments, students build empathy and emotional awareness, understanding that kindness isn’t always spoken, it can be expressed through simple, everyday actions.
Students also consider the power of their own smile and how sharing one can positively influence others. Whether recalling a moment they made someone else feel good or participating in a class “Smile Challenge,” students learn that a smile can spark confidence, warmth, and belonging within their school community. The Power of a Smile encourages them to appreciate how small gestures create big ripple effects, nurturing a positive, caring environment for everyone.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
This activity supports students to:
- Understand non-verbal communication, recognising how a smile can communicate warmth, kindness, and friendliness without using words.
- Actively listen and empathise, as they reflect on how someone else’s smile made them feel and how their own smile might impact others.
- Understand different viewpoints, thinking beyond themselves and imagining the emotions of others when receiving a smile.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Throughout the activity, students learn to:
- Engage kindly with others, using smiles to create positive, friendly interactions.
- Show appreciation, acknowledging moments when others have lifted their spirits.
- Practise fairness and kindness, recognising that everyone deserves to feel valued and included through simple positive gestures.
Safety and Acceptance
The activity reinforces that:
- Everyone has the right to feel safe, valued, and accepted, and small gestures like smiling help build this environment.
- Acceptance means appreciating others and responding with kindness, even in small ways.
- Equality is promoted by showing that every student can give and receive positivity equally, regardless of who they are.
Moby – Flower Workout
The Moby – Flower Workout transforms a classic fitness challenge into a fun, rhythmic, and engaging full-body workout. Students follow the famous “Bring Sally Up” cues in the song, matching their movements to the music as they work through squats, push-ups, or squat thrusters. The repeated rise-and-hold format builds real strength and endurance, encouraging students to push through fatigue while staying focused on their form. This workout helps students develop coordination, rhythm, and control as they learn to move in sync with the beat, turning exercise into a playful, musical experience.
Beyond the physical challenge, the Flower Workout promotes determination and group motivation, with students encouraging each other to keep going through the tougher parts of the song. The rhythm makes it fun, but the difficulty makes it meaningful, students leave feeling proud, energised, and connected. Whether used as a warm-up, a fitness focus, or part of a team challenge, the Moby – Flower Workout is a powerful and playful way to build strength, resilience, and classroom buzz.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
This activity helps students to:
- Recognise verbal and non-verbal cues, following musical prompts (“bring Sally up/down”) to stay in sync with the group.
- Understand others' feelings and perspectives, noticing when peers may be finding the workout challenging and offering encouragement.
- Express needs respectfully, such as asking for a break or modifying a movement if needed.
Cooperation and Social Skills
During the workout, students practise:
- Teamwork, moving together to the rhythm and supporting each other through difficult sections.
- Fairness and encouragement, celebrating everyone’s efforts rather than comparing abilities.
- Showing appreciation, by acknowledging peers who persist, try their best, or demonstrate great form.
Safety and Acceptance
The workout reinforces that:
- Everyone has the right to feel safe, by ensuring students use proper form and exercise at a level appropriate for them.
- Acceptance matters, as all fitness levels are supported and celebrated equally.
- Equality is key, with every student participating in a shared challenge, reinforcing that everyone has value in the group.
Resilience Rally
Resilience Rally is a powerful reflective activity designed to help participants explore their personal challenges, understand how they have grown from them, and recognise resilience within themselves and others. Through shared stories, anonymous prompts, and collaborative discussions, participants learn that every person experiences difficult moments, and that talking about these moments in a safe, supportive environment helps build emotional strength and connection. Whether exploring past obstacles, offering advice, or discovering silver linings, this activity encourages participants to reflect deeply while celebrating the courage it takes to share personal experiences.
The game also creates a warm, uplifting group atmosphere through rounds of encouragement and affirmation. As participants listen to one another and respond with empathy, they strengthen communication skills and develop a stronger sense of belonging. By ending with an affirmation chain, the group celebrates each person’s resilience and reinforces the message that challenges are not signs of weakness but opportunities for growth. Resilience Rally leaves participants feeling seen, supported, and empowered, a meaningful reminder that resilience grows stronger when shared.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
This activity helps students to:
- Recognise emotions in themselves and others, listening to peers’ challenges with care and understanding.
- Practise expressing feelings respectfully, by sharing their own experiences and talking about how they overcame difficulties.
- Offer empathy and encouragement, responding to others with supportive words and thoughtful suggestions.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Throughout the activity, students develop:
- Respectful turn-taking and active listening, especially during the Support Circle and Growth Reflection rounds.
- Helpful and inclusive communication, as they encourage each other and contribute to group problem-solving.
- Positive relationship skills, strengthening friendships and trust as they share stories and affirmations.
Emotional Literacy and Help-Seeking
Resilience Rally reinforces that:
- Everyone experiences challenges, and reflecting on them builds emotional awareness.
- Asking for help is a strength, with students practising giving and receiving support in a safe environment.
- Positive self-talk and affirmations improve confidence, helping students recognise their resilience and celebrate growth.
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