Fun sight word activities kindergarten
48 Fun Sight Word Activities That Work
Teachers are always on the hunt for great sight word activities. Sight words are any words readers recognize automatically “by sight”—for fluent readers, that’s almost all words! High-frequency words, the most commonly occurring words in written English like those on the Dolch list, are often thought of as the most crucial sight words.
It’s a myth that blindly memorizing every letter in a sight word is the only way to learn it. The science of reading tells us that linking sounds and letters is the most effective way for kids’ brains to learn any word. Many common words are easy to tackle using beginning phonics skills (like “at,” “can,” “him,” etc.), so staying true to a strong phonics curriculum is one way to support kids’ sight word learning. Even irregularly spelled words have decodable parts, e.g., kids can use the sounds of “s” and “d” to help with “said,” even if the “ai” is unexpected. Experts often call these words “heart words” to call out for kids that they should learn the unexpected word parts “by heart.
” (If all this is unfamiliar to you, it can feel overwhelming, but you’ve got this! Check out teaching guru Jillian Starr’s explanation for more help.)
Check out these low-prep and engaging sight word activities for both teaching and practicing words.
1. Map it and drive it
This is a genius way to introduce words with appealing materials: Say the word, represent each sound with a LEGO brick, write letters for each sound, and “drive” to read it.
Source: @droppinknowledgewithheidi
2. Smush play dough for each sound
Set up a routine that works for any word. Play dough squishing for each sound is the ultimate multi-sensory component.
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Source: @playdough3plato
3. Map words with a magnet wand
It is so super-satisfying to drag those magnetic dots around! Watch the video below for lots of tips on introducing a word using this process.
Source: @warriorsforliteracy
4.
Make a mini bookLots of handy info in one place for your little learners.
Source: @hughesheartforfirst
5. Tap it, pop it, learn it!
Hardwire those words in kids’ brains with this comprehensive word intro routine. (You had us with the pop its!)
Source: @hellojenjones
6. Find and swat words
An oldie but such a goodie. Find a word in an array and WHACK! Swat it with a fly swatter!
Source: @kids_play_learn_laugh
7. Flip word pancakes
Serve up sight word pancakes while practicing spelling them aloud.
Source: @bee_happy_teaching
8. Wear heart word bracelets
Make kids feel like sight word VIPs.
Source: @teachingmoore
9. Search for sight word balls
Write sight words on ball pit balls with a chalk marker or dry-erase marker. Kids can race around hunting for balls to read and toss in a basket, or hunt through a big tub of balls for a certain word.
Source: @preschoolforyou
10.
Start a sight word bandLoud but oh-so-fun! Feel the rhythm while tapping and reading sight words stuck to homemade percussion instruments.
Source: @earlyyears_withmrsg
11. Drive on a sight word path
This is one of many fun ways to use magnetic tiles for learning! Kids love “knocking down” word tiles with a toy car as they read each one.
Source: @travisntyler
12. Use sticky notes to inspire sight word sentences
Have kids stick words on items that give them ideas for sentences. “My Mom said to wear a helmet!” = so good!
Source: @kinneypodlearning
13. Write words on a sensory bag
So easy: Fill a zip-top bag with a small amount of kid-safe paint, seal well, and have kids practice “writing” sight words with their finger or a cotton swab.
Source: @makeitmultisensory
14. Wear a sight word crown
Wear your word proudly and practice reading others’ words. Fun in person or virtually.
Source: @mrsjonescreationstation
15. Play a magnetic-tile board game
We love new ideas for ways to use magnetic tiles for sight word activities. Easy to set up and fun to play.
Source: @twotolove_bairantwins
16. Spell words to a familiar tune
Get sight words stuck in everyone’s head, in a good way. We’d add a line for chanting the sounds in the word!
Source: @saysbre
17. Feed a word monster
Nom, nom, nom.
Source: @ecplayandlearn
18. Search for the pom-pom under sight word cups
Read all the words as you try to find the cup that hides the prize.
Source: @la.la.learning
19. Play sight word KABOOM
This classroom classic is perfect for sight words. If you need a refresher on the rules, Jillian Starr covers them.
Source: @essentiallykinder
20. Roll and write words
Roll, write, repeat.
Source: @mylittlepandamonium
21. Write words with rainbow colors
Bonus points for aromatic markers.
Source: @mylittlepandamonium
22. Trace words with flashlights
Stock up on batteries because kids never get tired of this!
Source: @giggleswithgerg
23. Find words in plastic eggs
Give kids a checklist of words to find as they open each egg.
Source: @blooming_tots1
24. Spy words around the classroom
Just add a magnifying glass and clipboard to make kids feel like supersleuths!
Source: @readingcorneronline
25. Find words in the morning message
Don’t forget about old standbys! This is one of our favorite ways to get kids to recognize sight words in connected text.
Source: @tales_of_a_kinder_classroom
26. Build words with bricks
Such a great use of extra building bricks!
Source: @raysinkinder
27. Write words in sand
Easy-peasy to set up and keep neat if you use plastic pencil boxes.
Source: @teacherhacks
28. Spell words on a construction site
Bulldozing over each word to read it is the best part!
Source: @planningplaytime
29.
Spell words with toy carsDrive on over!
Source: @lozlovesprep
30. Park in a sight word “parking lot”
This one is easy to modify based on whatever toys are available in the classroom or at home.
Source: @msbendersclassroom
31. “Plant” words in play dough
Watch those reading skills grow!
Source: @planningplaytime
32. Build words in a sensory tub
Because spelling is just more fun when your hands are covered in beans!
Source: @coffeeandspitup
33. Write words on a magnetic drawing board
That eraser track makes for a perfect word card holder!
Source: @moffattgirls
34. Or write words on the window!
Everyone wants a turn to write on the window!
Source: @kindergarten_matters
35. Shhh! Discover words written in invisible ink
Write words in white crayon and reveal them with watercolors on top!
Source: @teachstarter
36.
Dot-paint words with a cotton swabCalming and effective.
Source: @sightwordactivities
37. “Type” words on a keyboard
Busy day at the sight word office! Use a keyboard cover or any old keyboard.
Source: @lifebetweensummers
38. Read words before heading through the door
The line leader can double as the word pointer during transitions.
Source: @ms.rowekinder
39. Read the word the teacher’s wearing!
Wait, is there something on my shirt?
Source: @theprimarypartner
40. Take a sight word cakewalk
Choose a winning word when the music stops!
Source: @joyfulinkinder
41. Play sight word hopscotch
If you can’t get outdoors, tape on the floor works just as well.
Source: @wheretheliteracygrows
42. Play tic-tac-toe
I’ll be team “the.”
Source: @create_n_teach
43. Go sight word bowling
No bowling pins? Use half-filled plastic water bottles instead.
Source: @thecreativeteacher_
44. Ready, aim, read
Just throw a beanbag at a word target if foam darts are a no-go.
Source: @laurens_lil_learners
45. Play muffin tin ball toss
Toss and read. It’s easy to use colored muffin cups to prep different sets of words.
Source: @homeschooling_fun_with_lynda
46. DIY sentence flash cards
Authentic use of words in context for the win.
Source: @teachertipsandtales
47. Play sight word checkers
King me! If kids don’t have a partner available, they can “play” with a stuffed animal and get double practice.
Source: @sightwordactivities
48. Play sight word Guess Who?
Set up this game once and use it forever.
Source: @lessons_and_lattes
We’d love to hear—what are your favorite sight word activities? Share in the comments below.
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Plus, what are sight words?
Fun Sight Word Activities for Kindergarten
Featured | Reading | Sight Words
When learning sight words, repetition is the key to fluency.
We want our students to be able to read smoothly, without a lot of pauses. Since sight words make up majority of text we read and write, these little words are a big part of reading success. Planning fun sight word activities is also uber-important.
Sight words, in most cases, are words that can’t be sounded out, they need to be memorized. Continuous practice will help readers learn and remember the sight words so that they become second nature.
The trick is to keep the sight word activities fun and fresh so that students are excited about learning, rather than it being a chore. Any kid (and teacher) will tell you learning with plain flashcards is not going to cut it. The activities need to be hands-on.
So, today I wanted to share fun sight word activities that are easy to prep and engaging for students – and are WAY more fun than just memorizing from flashcards!
Plus an EDITABLE sight word freebie that will help you monitor and track student progress.This article, along with many other articles on The Printable Princess, contains Amazon affiliate links.
If you purchase through the links I earn a small commission. Clicking these links does not cost you any extra but helps this website to keep great articles and freebies coming your way.
Rubber Stamps
Rubber stamps make for some fun sight word activities. Rather than re-inventing the wheel, I am all about repurposing things to create a new activity. So, with that in mind, these stamps can be used two ways. You can grab some stamps and stamp pads and have students stamp their sight words in a notebook or on a piece of paper.
Another alternative is to have students use stamps to press the letters into play dough. Students flatten out the dough and press in the stamps to leave the letter impression in the dough. This is a great way to help strengthen fine motor skills too!
I like to have a separate set of stamps that are just for play dough. It helps keep this activity and the play dough cleaner, otherwise the ink from the stamp pad rubs off into the play dough.
If you’re looking for an easy and versatile sight word activity, check out this Know and Show Sight Word kit. Students can stamp their sight words right on the mat.
Best of all the little word cards are editable, so you can customize the sight word cards to fit your class list.
Word Building Letter Cubes
Students love to use linking cubes for math, so why not use them for literacy activities too? Word building letter cubes are a fun way for students to have hands-on practice physically putting the letters together, in order, to spell sight words. I love that, just like magnetic letters, they have one color for vowels and a different color for consonants.
If you don’t have word building cubes, you can make your own using old math cubes. Just take a sharpie and write letters on the sides. Take care to make sure all of the cubes are facing the same direction so that they link together.
Mini Eraser Words
Easy to prep and fun sight word activities are the best.
For this one you’ll need sight word cards or flash cards and mini erasers. If you don’t have flash cards you can create some using index cards. Students read the sight word on the card and use the mini erasers to form the word.
Letter Beads
The letter beads pictured below came from Lakeshore. They are one of my favorites for building sight words! But if you’re like me and love the convenience of Amazon, you can find a similar set lacing letters set on the ‘Zon.
Just like with the letter cubes I mentioned above, these beads provide students with a tactile way to put the letters together as students string the sight word together. The strings that came with the beads were kind long, so I just used pipe cleaners.
The activity pictured also comes from the Know and Show Sight Word kit. This picture shows the mat which prompts students to build the sight word using two types of manipulatives. Students can use magnetic letters on top and letter beads on the bottom. Or letter beads on the top and a dry erase marker on the bottom.
It’s pretty flexible!
Shaving Cream Activities
I think it’s a kindergarten rite of passage to use shaving cream. It’s a tool I used every year in my classroom. Whether it was practicing letters, numbers, names, or sight words – seeing that can brought smiles to every little face! Plus it makes the room smell amazing.
Shaving cream works great for a whole group activity. Give each student a small squirt and have them spread it to create a thin layer in front of them. If your students have a hard time with personal space, plastic plates from the dollar store as a work space.
Call out a sight word and have students use their finger to write the word. Quickly circulate the room to check for accuracy. For a challenge, you can mix-up a sight word and write it on the board. Have students unscramble the word and write it correctly in the shaving cream.
Magazines Sight Word Hunt
Magazines are another way to practice sight words and sneak in fine motor skills.
You can have students look through magazines to find sight words. They can cut those sight words out and glue them on a paper. Or you can give students a list of sight words and have students cut out individual letters to spell the sight words.
Be sure to preview the magazines first and remove any advertisements that may not be suitable for little eyes.
Highlighters
Want to get kindergartners excited about learning sight words? Hand them over some highlighters! These magical little writing utensils are a great way to get kids looking for and recognizing sight words in text.
Simply provide students with magazines (again preview them first!) and have students look through the text to highlight the sight words that they find. You can also rip out the pages and give students just the pages.
If you’re not wanting to use magazines, Find the Word: Sight Word Worksheets Bundle is a great alternative. Just print and use highlighters or bingo dabbers to identify the sight words on the page.
You can add some fun finger pointers for an extra special touch.
Wikki Stix or Yarn
If you’re not familiar with Wikki Stix, they are these really neat yarn-like sticks that students can bend and mainpulate to form objects, letters, and numbers. They are re-usable and there is no prep required. Unlike yarn, the sticks already come pre-cut and ready to use.
Supply students with a list of sight words and have them form each letter in the word to spell the sight words.
A great inexpensive alternative is yarn. You can cut yarn into long strips and have student form the letters in the words.
Magnetic Letter Activities
I absolutely love these giant magnetic letters. They are much bigger than traditional magnetic letters, which means they are great for little hands. Another easy center idea is to have students use these large magnetic letters to build sight words on the board. Students think it is an extra treat when they get to work at your teacher easel.
Add in some fun pointers for students to read the sight words after they’ve built the words.
Sight Word Games
Learning to interact, get along, and problem solve is an important part of the early primary classroom. Incorporating games is a great way to not only develop strategic thinking, it also help students learn to problem solve.
Memory Matching Sight Word:Create this game by writing sight words on index cards. Be sure the words can’t be seen through the index cards. You can also use foam cut-outs and a sharpie to write the words on. You’ll need two cards for each sight word. Students lay the sight word cards face down and take turns selecting two cards to try and make a match.
What’s Missing?:Students play with a partner. They will need a set of sight word cards. Player 1 will select three sight word cards, read them, and lay the cards in front of them and then close their eyes. Then player 2 will remove one of the sight word cards.
Finally, player 1 will open their eyes and determine which sight word is missing. Students will switch rolls and continue to pla
This is a twist on the traditional Tic-Tac-Toe game using sight words. To play, instead of choosing X or O, each student choose a sight word. They use the same rules as the traditional game, but instead of writing X or O they write the sight word they selected at the beginning of the game. Each time they write the word, they have to read it too. The first person to get three words in a row is the winner!
Sight Word Trail Game:This game is editable so you can add your own sight words. Students start on the first space in the upper left corner of the game board. They spin the spinner and identify the sight word they spun. They identify the sight words on the trail and move their game piece to the nearest sight word that corresponds to the one that they spun. The gray shaded themed spaces are free spaces.
The first player to make it all the way around to the last space on the game board is the winner. To win the game, the player must spin the final word shown in the last space on the game board.
Whiteboards
Kids love writing with different tools. Switching out writing utensils is an easy way to keep things fresh. You can begin by giving students a whiteboard and dry erase marker to write their words. Switch up the activity by adding a different color marker. You can have students write vowels in one color and consonants in another.
Students can use a dry erase marker to pyramid write their sight words on the whiteboard. If you’re not sure what that looks like, scroll down just a bit on this post. On the freebie picture I’ve written the word “with” as a pyramid on the whiteboard.
Pre-Made Activities
Let’s face it. Sometimes we just need something pre-made. Maybe we don’t have the time or energy to create our own. You can find pre-made sight word activities in my TpT shop.
From cookie word building and gum word building to secret codes – you’ll find a growing variety of fun sight word activities that are easy to prep and super engaging for students.
Sight Word Freebie
I’ve put together a freebie that you can use to assess your students and keep track of their sight word development.
You can take a peek at the picture below to see an example of pyramid writing on the dry erase board. Once students have completed their pyramid, I have them write the word one more time and then underline it as they say the word.
The sight word cards and check-up list are editable, so you can type in your own words and make this activity fit your classroom.
If you’re looking for more DIY hand-on sight word activities for Kindergarten click here to read more.
Post Tags: #Freebies#literacy centers#sight words
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| "The use of methods of fairy tale therapy, modeling and mnemonics in the work on the formation of personal and speech development of preschoolers" SPEECH AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN FAIRY TALE THERAPY Any activity contributes to the emergence of personality neoplasms as a person becomes a member of it. In turn, mastering the position of "I" in fairy tale therapy allows the individual to respond to the proposed situation with their own negative experience and clarify the meaning of the means of linguistic expressiveness in the language of gestures, facial expressions, postures, and movements. In fairy tale therapy, the development of the personality and speech of preschool children is carried out in the following areas.
Directions of fairy tale therapy are logically connected and implemented in a complex. In the system of work on fairy tale therapy, three stages of work with preschoolers are distinguished.
Objectives: comprehension of fairy tale plots with the help of linguistic means of expression, perception of musical compositions, expressive intonation of characters' replicas, rhythmization of emotional states, expressive performance in facial expressions and movements of a fairy tale image.  Game techniques: verbal directing game, psycho-gymnastic studies, rhythmic exercises 2. Verbal commenting on emotional and affective situations: Objectives: mastering the skills of managing one's behavioral reactions by compiling detailed verbal descriptions of the sensations received when perceiving the timbre, dynamics, melody of a musical composition, performing expressive movements and rhythmic patterns. Game techniques: verbal commentary, pantomimic, rhythmic and musical riddles; relaxation exercises. 3. Expression of a replacement need. Objectives: balancing emotional behavior and expressive speech through the transfer of emotional problems and actual experiences - needs in fantasy games based on a fairy tale. Game techniques: for younger preschool age - joint verbal improvisation, pantomimic exercises to overcome bodily barriers; for senior preschool age - fantasizing in music, verbal drawing, pantomimic exercises to overcome bodily barriers. 4. Speech games are widely used at different stages of work in close connection with other methods and techniques. In the verbal directorial game, speech games help children understand the emotional states and actions of the characters; in verbal commentary, they deepen awareness of their own feelings in pantomimic rhythmic etudes; in verbal drawing, they lead to the use of appropriate linguistic means to create psychological portraits of the heroes of a fairy tale. On the one hand, this enriches the vocabulary, on the other hand, it qualitatively influences the emergence of interest in linguistic wealth and independent verbal creativity. Speech tasks help in solving the common goal of each of the stages of work, therefore, in some cases, they are not distinguished as independent ones. Game methods and techniques are used in a certain sequence, taking into account the increasing requirements for the development of the child in each group. Verbal director's game. 1. To cultivate the ability to guess by the mood of the music about the actions and emotional states of the characters and natural phenomena. Such alternative questions as: “What mood does the music convey: sad or cheerful?”, “Music is fast or slow?”, “What can be done to such music: have fun playing in a clearing or crying?” - allow preschoolers to navigate the dynamics and melody of musical composition. By the nature of the musical passage, they recall what happened to the heroes of the fairy tale. With the help of lexical means (adjectives, adverbs) children define their emotions, feelings that arose while listening to music. Gradually, by the senior preschool age, when a child perceives a piece of music that has similar rhythmic organization and dynamic shades, musical-speech connections are formed. A preschooler can easily describe musical impressions with epithets. 2. Lead to the ability to expressively intotone the voices of fairy tale characters with different voice strengths. Games are widely used in which children continue the statements of an adult. At first, they learn to select words that are opposite in meaning. 3. Introduce figurative expressions and fabulous repetitions, activate forms of the imperative mood of verbs, semantic shades of words in speech. Clarifying questions direct the attention of preschoolers to the content side of the word, understanding its semantic shades, clarifying the meanings. Games are widely used in which children continue the statements of an adult. At first, children learn to choose words that are opposite in meaning. Senior preschoolers can continue the phrases of an adult using figurative expressions and phraseological units from a fairy tale. Psycho-gymnastics. Using this method allows us to solve two main problems. 1. Encourage expressive transmission in facial expressions and movements of emotional states, voluntary release of tension and relaxation of the muscles of the body. The simplest are the exercises for the execution of contrasting emotional states, and which fly with an adult act simultaneously and in the same way. The commonality of experiences enhances the emotional mood of the child Before showing the states in facial expressions and posture, the adult helped with leading questions. Older preschoolers are more independent in choosing movements to display the images of a fairy tale, therefore, at this age, the scope of pantomime epods expands. Children can show not only the emotional states of the characters, but also convey through pantomime inanimate objects, natural phenomena. The musical composition is of great importance for the child's emotional involvement in the expressive performance of the image. It is also a signal for removing emotional barriers through arbitrary tension or relaxation of the muscles of the body. 2. Display emotional images in tempo. Performing exercises for the rhythmization of natural phenomena, feelings and actions of the heroes of a fairy tale contributes to the normal functioning of the rhythmic processes occurring in the child's body. A special role in such games is assigned to an adult. Together with the children, he discusses different options for how emotionally significant situations are perceived in a rhythmic way (a quarrel between friends, reconciliation, the joy of meeting). An adult preliminarily discusses the features of presenting an image in a rhythmic exercise. Under the influence of joint discussion, children explore various states, learn to manage them, and also master the alphabet of expressing emotions in rhythm. Gradually, the children develop the ability to rhythmize the movements and emotions of a person, animals, the image of objects and plants, weather phenomena. Verbal commenting. The implementation of this method allows us to solve two problems. 1. Bring the idea of a fairy tale to the children, evoke an appropriate emotional response, encourage them to make statements about familiar content. To remember and reproduce the main episodes and facts, to better understand the tension of events, to express in a word one's own attitude to the actions of the characters, the questions offered after the tale help. 2. Lead to the joint compilation of verbal descriptions of the perception of pantomimic etudes, tempo, musical composition; activate figurative expressions, fabulous repetitions in speech. In games to guess the emotional states of the heroes of a fairy tale by expressive execution of movements, children learn to select words that expressively describe facial expressions, postures, and movements of a character in a problem situation. Joint verbal improvisation. An adult offers to act out individual episodes of a fairy tale, while the main characters are the children themselves. Thus, new elements are introduced into the fairy tale while maintaining the storyline. Verbal fantasy based on musical composition. Similar creative tasks are recommended for older preschoolers. By this age, children accumulate a significant vocabulary, develop a critical attitude towards their own and other people's grammatical errors; imagination is actively developing, stimulating creative manifestations. The children are happy to come up with fairy tales on various topics; they can dream to the music, speak out about the associative representations that have arisen under its impression. Therefore, special attention in fairy tale therapy is paid to verbal fantasizing based on musical composition. So, after listening to a musical passage, children come up with possible options for continuing the tale, suitable for the character, dynamics, melody of the musical image, and dramatize the invented story. Word drawing. Recreation of mentally imagined episodes and emotional states of characters in problem situations requires a certain decentration (the ability to take the position of another). Therefore, this method is designed for the older group. By this age, the child accumulates life and literary experience. At the same time, an adult helps to apply existing knowledge in new conditions. Discussing how to recreate the image of a hero with the help of paints, the guys penetrate into the sphere of his thoughts, feelings and states, rise to a new level of deeper understanding of the emotional subtext of a fairy tale. Fairy tale therapy rules. The central point of fairy tale therapy is the voluntary participation of children. Therefore, the motivation of the participants is important. An adult must find an adequate way to include children in fairy tale therapy. In one case, it can be a figurative text, ditties, fables; in the other, looking at illustrations, guessing riddles about fairy-tale characters. Not all children immediately join the game. Some of them first want to observe what is happening from the outside, and only later do they have a desire to participate in an entertaining spectacle themselves. Taking into account the individual characteristics of children, fairy tale therapy should be started with those who quickly respond to the invitation of an adult; at the same time, it is advisable to additionally motivate the rest of the guys to be included in the game. Their activity, the depth of emotional involvement directly depend on the degree of psychological comfort of the participants. Before fairy tale therapy, children get acquainted with a fairy tale. This is necessary to get a holistic impression of her text. In addition, when meeting with a fairy tale again, it will be easier for preschoolers to focus on the figurative vocabulary that characterizes the appearance of the hero, expressively display the emotional state of the character in facial expressions and movement. Much attention is paid to physical activity in fairy tale therapy classes. Fatigue after repeated performance of psycho-gymnastic studies leads to involuntary relaxation of the body and, consequently, the removal of emotional stress. Only a small part of the time the guys sit on the chairs: when telling a fairy tale to adults, fantasizing about the musical composition, the role of the audience in the game-dramatization of individual episodes of the fairy tale. In games, children are encouraged to make independent statements about the plot of a fairy tale, the actions of their peers, and their own experiences. Therefore, when, at the end of fairy tale therapy, discussions do not start on their own, an adult should ask the children about what games and exercises they liked, remembered, and what roles of fairy tale characters they would like to play again. If it is difficult for a child to formulate a coherent message from memory, he is invited to watch a video recording of individual fairy tale therapy games. Directory: sites -> ds115.centerstart.ru -> files Download 89.67 Kb. Share with your friends: |
115" Zhanna Evgenievna Krutchinskaya 
This method has three main objectives. 
Clarifying questions direct the attention of preschoolers to the content side of the word, understanding its semantic shades, clarifying the meaning. 
The dynamics and tempo of the musical composition make it easier to understand and display in action, facial expressions of a fairy-tale image. 
Older preschoolers are already able to more deeply comprehend the experiences of fairy-tale characters and reproduce the rhythm in which these feelings flow. 
It is necessary that every child could feel the attentive attitude of an adult. 
The opinion of children is taken into account. 
org 2023 learning to be friends and help - article - Corporation Russian textbook (Drofa-Ventana publishing house)
In this material, we have collected for you 10 psychological games and exercises aimed at improving relationships with others. Their implementation does not require additional props, and the rules are very easy to remember or modify so that the game does not bother the children even after a month.
1. Wizard game
Main target - form a trust relationship in the group.
Game progress : all the children stand in a circle, putting their hands on each other's shoulders. One of the children is chosen as a "wizard", the teacher blindfolds him and transfers him to another place in the circle. Now other children are already standing next to the child: touching their shoulders with his hands, the “wizard” must say who it is. The teacher asks the guys to keep quiet while guessing so that the “magic” does not dissipate.
2. Game "Get up, I'm looking at you!"
The main goal of is to develop mutual understanding between children.
Game progress : the teacher leads first to show the rules. Everyone sits in a row, the driver comes forward, looks around at all the children, and then stops looking at someone for 2-3 seconds. Whoever the host is now looking at should stand up and smile. All the children take turns leading to learn to understand and feel the gestures and articulation of others.
3. Game "Nature is sad"
The main goal of is to develop the ability to sympathize and help.
Game in progress.
Educator: Do you cry when you are offended?
Children: Yes, sometimes!
Educator: do you think nature can cry if someone offends her?
Children: probably!
Educator: it’s raining in the fall, did someone offend nature?
Further, the facilitator invites the children to discuss why nature can cry and how it could be offended.
For a change, you can choose not abstract phenomena, but trees or flowers. Children should offer various options: how to take pity on nature and help her. During the discussion, the facilitator asks if it is possible to feel sorry for his friend in the same way if he was offended. Children come to the conclusion that empathy and support is not difficult.
4. Game "Good Magical Beast"
The main goal of is to develop the ability to cooperate and work together.
Game progress : all children gather side by side, hold hands (or put their hands on their shoulders). The lead educator says that now they are together - a big magical animal. In order to really become one, one must observe silence, calm down and listen to each other's breathing. And now try to breathe the same way - as if we are all one.
5. Evil paw game
The main goal of is to develop self-control skills in children in situations of conflict.
Game progress .
Leading: a long time ago, a small, but very harmful and evil paw lived in the city. She pushed the children, took away toys and pinched them. But the good guys managed to re-educate her. Let's try it too!
Children take turns sitting on a chair in the center of the circle and showing the Evil Paw - they squeeze their hand tightly, finger it. Further, all the children are invited to discuss in what situations the paw could be evil, and whether their own hands have ever been so. At the end of the discussion, the children come to the conclusion that the Evil Paw must be driven away, because no one will be friends with such a paw.
At the command of the leader, all the children immediately depict Evil paws, tensing their muscles, twisting their fingers and moving them. And after the teacher’s words “The paw has become kind!”, The children relax their hand. The game can be played after all conflict situations in the group.
6. Game "Offended Bunny"
The main goal of is to develop the ability to sympathize and love others
Game progress : the leader (one of the children) sits in the center of the circle. He is an offended little bunny who did not have time to pick a delicious carrot / not the fastest in the forest / met an evil wolf. The reason can not be specified if the children themselves do not offer options.
All the guys take turns approaching the sad bunny and trying to comfort and feel sorry for him.
7. Small circle - big circle game
The main goal is to develop in children the ability to cooperate.
Game progress : the leader and the children form a large circle, holding hands. At the command of the teacher, it is necessary to make the largest circle without breaking hands. Then the smallest one. You can try: the longest, the highest (jumping), the lowest (sit down), the most smiling (smiling), the most cheerful (laughing).
The main thing is to learn how to do it all together and keep the circle intact.
8. Magic bubbles game
The main goal is to show children that love is magic.
Game progress : Bubble bottles are required for this activity. You can use one and pass it around. The facilitator turns on the music and invites the children to take a deep breath and exhale.
Educator: Now imagine that there is a lot of magic and love inside you! Breathe them into each bubble. Imagine what you love: mom, flowers, animals, friends, the whole world! Let our magic bubbles scatter in different directions, taking our magic with them!
9. Game "Sit down if you..."
Game progress : the host tells that all children and all people in the world are very different, but at the same time everyone is similar to each other. Then he turns on quiet background music and offers to check.
Host: Let's make sure it's true! Let those who love .
.. chocolate now stand up and take the place of another!
Children get up and move to the vacant seats.
The teacher offers different options: who loves Fixies, who likes to sleep during quiet hours, who helps mom, who always finishes lunch, who loves autumn, etc.
After several stages, the children are invited to conclude that they really have a lot in common in the group, and in order to get to know another person and make friends with him, you can ask him what he likes.
10. Funny Piano Game
Main target - develop the ability to cooperate, empathy skills and self-control
Game progress : all children sit on chairs in one line. Now they are not just guys, but the keys of a magic piano that sound like the voices of different animals. The teacher assigns each kid his own voice - cats, mice, frogs, dogs, high, low, la-la, a-a-a.
Next, the lead pianist moves along a row of children, lightly touching the shoulder or head of the child - pressing the keys.
