Follow up Discussion Did anyone give their Valentine's Day card to someone new?
Read Aloud "Nerdy Birdy" by Aaron Reynolds - Nerdy Birdy and his best friend, Vulture, are very different. Nerdy Birdy loves video games, but Vulture finds them BORING. Vulture loves snacking on dead things, but Nerdy Birdy finds that GROSS. Luckily, you don’t have to agree on everything to still be friends.
After reading the book, we lead into a discussion about how two people do not have to be identical in order to be friends. We can all enjoy different things and look different ways and still be friends as long as we accept people for who they are.
Charades Charades involves acting out something written on a slip of paper. Students acted out their emotion, animal, or action so that the other students in their group could only guess the answer using gestures alone. This game requires a lot of imagination, and is great for a laugh. The goal of this game was for students to step outside of their comfort zone and perform silly actions. As they step outside of their comfort zone, they beginning to feel more comfortable with the friends in their group and have fun with one another.
"Finish the Story" One person starts a story with a sentence and you go around in the circle as other people add on more sentences to create a funny story. For example the first person might say, "Once a upon a time there was pirate on a pirate ship..." and the second person might add "...and the pirates names was One-Eyed Joe because he only had one eye..." and the next person might add, "...he only had one eye because he was attacked by shark when he was swimming..." and so on. The goal of this game is to get students to listen to others in the group to follow along with the story. As its a fun way to be creative and to create a silly story!
Strategy
Ask people to tell you about themselves - Whether that be small things like asking what their favourite movie is or simply asking what makes them happy. Most people love to talk about themselves, so asking others to open up, is a great way to build trust and cultivate a friendship.