The School of Play Curriculum
Primary School Grade 3 & 4
Week Ten brings together movement, teamwork, and emotional awareness in a lively mix of games and reflective activities designed to strengthen social connections and well-being. Students stay active through high-energy challenges like Look Up and Down and the Chumbawamba – Tubthumper Workout, which boost coordination, cardiovascular fitness, and enthusiasm. These activities encourage students to interact positively, make eye contact, laugh, and build connections through shared physical challenges. Alongside the movement-based fun, students explore what it means to be part of a team, identify the strengths they admire in others, and consider how they can personally contribute to creating a supportive, uplifting environment.
The week also focuses on developing empathy and emotional awareness, giving students the tools to understand their own feelings and recognise emotions in others. My Dream Team prompts thoughtful reflection on teamwork and personal strengths, while Empathy Relay helps students practise identifying emotions and responding with kindness and understanding. Together, the activities foster a sense of community and belonging, showing students the importance of cooperation, empathy, and meaningful communication. By the end of the week, students have not only engaged their bodies and minds, but also strengthened the social bonds that help them thrive both inside and outside the classroom.
Weekly Lessons
Look Up and Down
Look Up and Down is a fast-paced, high-energy connection starter designed to help students build instant rapport and strengthen social bonds. By simply looking up, making eye contact, and reacting quickly, students learn to connect with one another in a fun, low-pressure way. The excitement of spotting someone across the circle, shouting “whoop whoop!”, and racing in for a high-ten jump greeting creates a playful atmosphere where students feel safe, engaged, and ready to interact. The game naturally encourages students to be present, stay aware of their surroundings, and take positive social risks that boost confidence and belonging.
Each successful eye-contact moment turns into an opportunity for teamwork as pairs complete a short fitness challenge or celebratory action together. This shared movement strengthens cooperation and allows students to support and motivate each other. With its simple rules, quick rhythm, and focus on fun, Look Up and Down is an ideal warm-up or energiser that builds trust, connection, and enthusiasm in any group setting. It leaves students laughing, moving, and feeling bonded, the perfect start to a positive and connected session.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
This game helps students:
- Build confidence making eye contact and engaging positively with peers.
- Strengthen social awareness by noticing others, reading body language, and responding respectfully.
- Show encouragement and empathy, celebrating others’ success through high-energy greetings and shared challenges.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Students practise:
- Working together by completing fitness or icebreaker tasks with a partner.
- Sharing responsibility as everyone contributes to the game’s flow and energy.
- Positive social interactions, learning to include different classmates each round.
Safety and Acceptance
The activity reinforces that:
- Everyone is included, as students rotate partners and connect with multiple peers.
- Rules keep the game safe, such as no repeating the same partner and maintaining respectful personal space during movement.
- Differences are valued, with students forming quick connections regardless of friendship groups.
My Dream Team
My Dream Team is a reflective and creative activity that invites students to imagine the kind of people they would love to have by their side, the friends, teammates, or even fictional characters who would help them feel supported, confident, and ready to thrive. By identifying the qualities they value most in others, such as kindness, positivity, encouragement, humour, or creativity, students begin to understand what makes a team truly work. This process helps them recognise the diverse strengths that different people bring and how each unique quality contributes to a successful and supportive group environment.
Students then shift the lens to themselves, thinking about the qualities they personally bring to a team. Through drawing or writing, they explore how they can be a positive teammate, whether by listening well, sharing ideas, helping others, or bringing enthusiasm and kindness to group situations. My Dream Team strengthens self-awareness, empathy, and teamwork by helping students appreciate both the strengths of others and their own role in building a thriving team culture.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
This activity helps students:
- Recognise and appreciate positive qualities in others, strengthening their understanding of what makes supportive friendships and teams.
- Understand different viewpoints, valuing diverse strengths and perspectives when imagining their dream team.
- Reflect empathetically on their own role, considering how their actions can support and uplift teammates.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Students develop:
- Teamwork awareness, identifying the different qualities needed for teams to work well together.
- Sharing and fairness, understanding that each team member contributes something unique and valuable.
- Positive communication, especially when discussing their dream team or sharing their ideas with classmates.
Safety and Acceptance
This activity reinforces that:
- Everyone deserves to feel safe, valued, and accepted, and that positive team environments depend on kindness and respect.
- Differences and diversity make teams stronger, helping students appreciate a variety of strengths, personalities, and qualities.
- Self-acceptance is important, as students reflect on their own strengths and see how they contribute meaningfully to a group.
Chumbawamba – Tubthumper
The Chumbawamba – Tubthumper Workout turns an iconic anthem into a full-body fitness blast filled with laughter, rhythm, and resilience. Students follow the music’s cues to switch between jogging, burpees, squat thrusters, plank holds, and squat holds, creating a workout that trains strength, stamina, and coordination all at once. The famous line “I get knocked down…” becomes the trigger for explosive movement, teaching students to push through the challenge while celebrating the energy and playfulness of exercise. Every transition keeps the group fully engaged, encouraging students to stay focused, listen carefully, and move together as a team.
Because the workout is driven by music, it feels more like a game than a fitness session. Students motivate each other, stay energised, and move with purpose as they respond to the rhythm and lyrics of the song. The mixture of cardio and strength movements builds endurance and resilience, while the shared experience fosters connection and team spirit. The Tubthumper Workout is a brilliant way to bring joy, movement, and motivation into any session, reminding students that fitness can be fun, dynamic, and something that lifts them up every single time.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
This activity helps students:
- Recognise and support each other as they work through a physically challenging, music-based workout.
- Encourage and motivate peers, strengthening positive communication skills in a fun, energetic way.
- Develop awareness of shared experiences, understanding that everyone is working through the same challenges and that encouragement goes a long way.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Students develop:
- Teamwork and connection, especially if completing exercises in pairs or groups.
- Positive social interaction, cheering others on, celebrating effort, and supporting classmates who may find certain exercises challenging.
- Fair participation, taking part safely, taking turns with space, and respecting the pace and abilities of others.
Safety and Acceptance
This activity reinforces that:
- Everyone can participate at their own fitness level, and modifying exercises is a safe and acceptable choice.
- Respecting personal space and movement safety is essential when exercising in a shared space.
- Every student belongs, regardless of speed, strength, or coordination, all efforts are celebrated.
Empathy Relay
Empathy Relay is an energetic and emotionally rich team game that blends movement with meaningful social–emotional learning. Students race through a relay course, acting out different emotions using only body language and facial expressions, encouraging them to deepen their awareness of how feelings can be expressed without words. As teammates guess the emotions, the game builds emotional intelligence, helping students recognise how others might be feeling and strengthening their ability to read non-verbal cues. The movement component keeps the energy high, while the guessing element sparks laughter, teamwork, and genuine moments of connection.
Once each emotion is identified, students briefly reflect together on situations that might cause someone to feel that way and how they could respond empathetically. This helps them translate the game’s fun into real-world skills, understanding others, offering support, and becoming more thoughtful teammates and friends. Empathy Relay is not about winning, but about building awareness, compassion, and connection through playful, active engagement.
Download the emotion cards HERE.
Respectful Relationships
Communication and Empathy
This activity helps students:
- Recognise emotions in others by reading body language and facial expressions during the relay.
- Express emotions clearly and respectfully, learning how different feelings can be communicated non-verbally.
- Respond empathetically, thinking about how to support someone experiencing a particular feeling.
Cooperation and Social Skills
Students develop:
- Teamwork and encouragement, supporting each other during the relay and guessing emotions together.
- Positive interaction, celebrating correct guesses and helping teammates feel safe and confident when acting.
- Shared problem-solving, working as a group to interpret emotional cues and communicate respectfully.
Safety and Acceptance
This activity reinforces that:
- Everyone experiences emotions differently, and all feelings are valid and deserve understanding.
- Students should respect classmates’ comfort levels, especially when sharing real-life experiences or acting out emotions.
- Everyone belongs, no matter how they express their feelings or how quickly they identify emotions, the focus is on learning, not winning.
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