The School of Play Curriculum
Primary School Grade 3 & 4
Week Nineteen centres on gratitude, creativity, personal reflection, and physical engagement. Students move between playful movement-based activities, imaginative reflection tasks, and gratitude-focused games that build emotional awareness and meaningful connections with their peers. By weaving together fitness, strategy, mindfulness, and self-expression, the week gives students the chance to cultivate a positive mindset while staying physically active and socially connected. The activities encourage students to recognise moments of joy in their lives, work collaboratively, and express appreciation for themselves and others, thereby building confidence and self-worth.
Throughout the week, students strengthen their communication skills, practise empathy, and engage deeply in activities that highlight their unique strengths, values, and daily sources of happiness. Games like Gratitude Counting promote mindfulness and presence, while My Perfect Day allows students to visualise what truly brings them joy creatively. The Magic Number blends numeracy with fitness and strategic thinking, keeping students motivated and active, and Self-Love and Appreciation Snap provides a nurturing space for sharing strengths and celebrating individuality. Together, these activities help students develop resilience, gratitude, emotional intelligence, and a deeper sense of connection, within themselves and with their classmates.
Weekly Lessons
Gratitude Counting
Gratitude Counting is a lively and uplifting game that blends movement, mindfulness, and meaningful reflection. Working in pairs, players hold a squat position while counting aloud together, pausing on special numbers to share something they’re grateful for based on the theme rolled on the dice. The game encourages players to stay focused on both their physical movement and their gratitude reflections, helping them practice concentration while also expressing the positive people, moments, and experiences in their lives.
As players rise from their squat to share gratitude and return to the game, they build social connection, empathy, and a deeper awareness of the good around them. Whether pairs reach a high score or enjoy the process, the game promotes teamwork, listening, and shared positivity. Gratitude Counting is a simple yet powerful way to warm up, energise a group, and strengthen relationships through movement and reflective conversation.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
Gratitude Counting supports students to:
- Practise active listening as they listen carefully to their partner’s gratitude reflections during the counting rounds, responding with focus and kindness.
- Express themselves respectfully by sharing meaningful gratitude statements in a calm, clear, and thoughtful way while staying engaged in the physical challenge.
- Understand different viewpoints by hearing what their partner is grateful for, recognising that everyone values and appreciates different people, experiences, and moments.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Gratitude Counting helps students to:
- Work as a team by maintaining the squat together, counting collaboratively, and supporting one another through the physical and reflective aspects of the activity.
- Show fairness and kindness by celebrating their partner’s reflections, encouraging them during mistakes or challenges, and resetting the game positively.
- Show appreciation by acknowledging the gratitude shared by their partner and demonstrating encouragement through praise and positive body language.
Safety and Acceptance
Gratitude Counting encourages students to:
- Ensure others feel safe by creating a supportive atmosphere where partners feel comfortable sharing personal reflections without judgment.
- Accept others as they are by valuing the unique gratitude responses shared by their partner and embracing differences in experiences, interests, and perspectives.
- Promote equality as every student participates equally, each partner counts, reflects, shares, exercises, and contributes to the score, regardless of ability level.
My Perfect Day
My Perfect Day invites students to use their imagination to design a day filled with joy, comfort, and the people and activities that matter most to them. Whether through writing or drawing, students create a personalised vision of what happiness looks like in their world, focusing on the places they love, the hobbies that energise them, and the moments that make them feel connected and fulfilled. This creative process encourages students to reflect on what truly brings them joy and express it in a playful, open-ended way.
Once their perfect day is complete, students explore the deeper meaning behind their choices, identifying which parts of their imagined day they value most and why. Through gentle reflection, they begin to recognise small, realistic ways they can bring elements of their dream day into their everyday life, building wellbeing through small actions, moments of joy, and intentional habits. My Perfect Day is a simple yet powerful activity that boosts positivity, nurtures creativity, and supports students in understanding how to create more happiness in their real lives.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
My Perfect Day supports students to:
- Express themselves clearly by describing or illustrating the activities, people, and places that bring them joy, helping them communicate their personal preferences and emotions.
- Understand others’ perspectives by listening to classmates share their perfect days, recognising that everyone experiences happiness in different ways.
- Build emotional awareness by identifying what makes them feel happy, calm, excited, or connected, helping them better understand and articulate their emotions.
Cooperation and Social Skills
My Perfect Day helps students to:
- Connect with others through sharing, using the activity as an opportunity to discuss interests and recognise similarities and differences in a positive way.
- Show kindness and respect by celebrating classmates’ ideas without judgment, promoting a safe environment for self-expression.
- Strengthen relationships by identifying the people they value in their lives and reflecting on how those connections contribute to their happiness.
Safety and Acceptance
My Perfect Day encourages students to:
- Ensure others feel safe to share by contributing to a calm, welcoming atmosphere where all ideas are valued.
- Accept and appreciate diversity by recognising that each student’s perfect day is unique and based on their personal experiences, values, and hobbies.
- Promote equality as every student has an equal voice in the activity, each person’s perfect day, whether simple or elaborate, is treated with the same respect and importance.
The Magic Number
The Magic Number is a lively combination of numeracy, strategy, and physical movement that keeps players thinking and moving from start to finish. Working in pairs, students roll dice to establish a “magic number,” then race to get as close as possible on their own roll. Every round becomes a fun mix of quick mental addition, chance, and decision-making as players try to match the magic number, calculate their difference, and take on fitness challenges based on how close they get. The simple structure keeps the game fast-paced, engaging, and full of suspense as the magic number changes each round.
As players progress, they build number fluency, confidence, and resilience while staying physically active. The mix of strategy and exercise encourages healthy competition and positive sportsmanship, with students supporting one another, celebrating close rolls, and embracing the physical challenges. The Magic Number creates an energetic environment where numeracy meets movement, offering a fun and motivating way to practise addition, develop strategic thinking, and improve overall fitness.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
The Magic Number supports students to:
- Encourage and motivate their partner through each round, celebrating effort and positive attitude regardless of the result.
- Show understanding and empathy when their partner feels frustrated by a difficult roll or challenging exercise.
- Communicate respectfully during scoring, problem-solving, and physical tasks, ensuring the game remains fun and fair.
Cooperation and Social Skills
The Magic Number helps students to:
- Work collaboratively with a partner to complete exercises, support each other, and stay engaged throughout the game.
- Practise fair play and positive competitiveness, demonstrating kindness whether they win or lose the round.
- Strengthen teamwork by encouraging each other’s effort, accuracy, persistence, and resilience during both the mental and physical parts of the game.
Safety and Acceptance
The Magic Number encourages students to:
- Create a safe and supportive game environment where all ability levels are respected and included.
- Accept differences in fitness, maths ability, and strategy, understanding that everyone brings unique strengths to each round.
- Promote a positive and inclusive atmosphere where physical effort, improvement, and good sportsmanship are celebrated equally.
Self-Love and Appreciation Snap
Self-Love and Appreciation Snap is a fun and uplifting twist on the classic card game Snap, designed to help players reflect on their strengths, achievements, and personal qualities. Each time a snap occurs, players pause the game to answer a positive reflection prompt connected to the matching card, encouraging everyone to think deeply about what they love or appreciate about themselves. The fast-paced nature of Snap mixes perfectly with meaningful self-reflection, creating a playful environment where confidence, gratitude, and self-esteem naturally shine through.
As players share their reflections, the game becomes a powerful tool for connection and encouragement. Listening to others’ stories fosters empathy, strengthens relationships, and helps create a supportive atmosphere where everyone feels valued. By blending laughter, quick reactions, and heartfelt conversations, Self-Love and Appreciation Snap becomes more than a card game, it becomes a joyful way to celebrate personal growth, build each other up, and spread positivity throughout the group.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
The Magic Number supports students to:
- Communicate clearly with their partner as they roll, add numbers, discuss results, and navigate the game together.
- Listen actively to their partner’s thinking, strategies, or explanations during the game, strengthening positive communication.
- Show empathy and encouragement by celebrating wins, supporting losses, and reinforcing a culture of kindness during competition.
Cooperation and Social Skills
The Magic Number helps students to:
- Work collaboratively by sharing dice, space, and routines while managing turns and exercise transitions smoothly.
- Demonstrate positive social behaviours such as fairness, patience, turn-taking, and honesty in scoring and movement.
- Build supportive peer relationships through shared physical challenges, teamwork, and respectful competition.
Safety and Acceptance
The Magic Number encourages students to:
- Create a safe and welcoming environment where participants feel comfortable trying new strategies and exercises.
- Treat everyone equally, understanding that each player can participate at their own fitness and numeracy level without judgment.
- Respect personal differences in skill, speed, or confidence by encouraging each other and acknowledging individual strengths.
.avif)
