• Blink Blink!
Ask the Class to blink if they know the name of a famous Artist
Advantages – Quick, easy, full participation guaranteed
Disadvantages – May not be considered educationally sound
• Lego Name
Give each member of the class Lego bricks. Each brick should have a letter on it, and the letters should make up the name of an Author. Pupils have to stick the Lego together in the right order to form the Author's name. The child with the tallest tower is the one with the longest Author's name, and is therefore the winner, probably.
Advantages – Everyone loves Lego
Disadvantages – Possible choking hazard
• Skittles
Put the faces of 10 famous world leaders on 10 skittles. Line the skittles up on a windowsill. Stand your class along the opposite wall with a tennis ball each. The teacher should shout out the name of one of the world leaders. The first to knock down the correct skittle wins
Advantages - Good exercise, and differentiation can be easily introduced by giving Special Needs children a basketball rather than tennis ball
Disadvantages - all the schools tennis balls are on the roof of the Maths block.
• It's a Knockout!
Each child takes the name of a famous scientist. The pupils then have a series of fights in a cup knockout style. The winning pupil announces the name of their scientist, thus putting to bed the long running argument of who the hardest scientist of all time is.
Advantages – Educationally sound
Disadvantages – First Aid Kit and Ambulance on stand-by required
• Pin the Tail on the Donkey
Very similar to the old parlour game of the same name, except that instead of a donkey, it's a businesses organisation chart, instead of a tail, its job roles within the business and instead of ‘pinning' its writing about.
Advantages – Can last a couple of lessons
Disadvantages – Not strictly speaking a starter activity
• Take-Over!
Each pupil pretends to be a business. They then pair up and show each other how much money they have on them. The one with the most money ‘takes over' the poorer business and takes their money. Successful businesses go through to the next round whereas bankrupt businesses become derelict and lie on the floor. The game continues until only one child remains with all the money. They are declared to have monopoly status and are therefore the winner.
Advantages – Develops numeracy skills.
Disadvantages – Could legally be interpreted as theft.
• Cheese
Pupils in a food technology lesson are invited to try different cheeses from around the world and say whether they like them. Those not liking the majority of tasty cheeses are sent to the other end of the room and declared to be people who generally don't like cheese. Pupils who liked the majority of tasty cheeses are invited to stand at the other end of the room and declared to be people who generally do like cheese.
Advantages – A good way of getting rid of cheese you don't want
Disadvantages – On the whole could be seen as being a pointless activity.
• The Game of Art
Pupils shake a six to start and move their sculpture round the board. If they land on a purple square they have to move to the nearest pink one unless it is occupied by another player. If this is the case, they move to a brown square and have to shake a 4 before they can move again. Shouting De Vinci at any point leads to no advantage being gained, and should therefore not be encouraged. Some squares are bright orange, but it is unclear why. Players on a black square move to the colour they feel will be the new black before they move on to the next black square as the new black always turns out to be black. Magenta coloured squares carry a penalty of moving back three squares if occupied, or 4 if it is unoccupied. 'New Studio' cards allowing pupils to move locations should be introduced after 4 minutes 17 seconds. The first child to reach the end could be the winner.
Advantages – The board would probably look very pretty and interest pupils who learn best through colour and pretty things
Disadvantages – the rules may seem somewhat confusing to some pupils and pointless to others. Colour blind children may suffer ridicule and bullying
• The Register!
Pupils take it in turns to answer ‘Yes' as the teacher reads out their names in alphabetical order.
Advantages – A tried and trusted starter practised in schools world-wide
Disadvantages – Requires Bromcom to be up and running, and Grange Hill has Bromcom which is interesting, but not necessarily a disadvantage.
• Pleased to Meet You!
Each pupil assumes the role of a famous Artist. Pupils then mingle and converse with other pupils while remaining in character at all times. The teacher simply sits back and marvels at what famous artists from different ages would talk about.
Advantages – Could be developed in to a dinner party and linked to ‘Cheese'
Disadvantages – Needs highly developed and intellectually gifted pupils
• Three Blind Mice!
The science teacher releases 3 blind mice from a box while pupils see how they run
Advantages – Links well to a plenary activity involving a carving knife
Disadvantages – Politically incorrect
• Have you got a video?
Pupils watch a badly made science programme from the mid 1970's on a TV with questionable volume control.
Advantages – No preparation required by class teacher
Disadvantages – More of a cover lesson than a starter.
• Sit Down!
Pupils are invited into the room, asked to remove their coats and sit down before the teacher introduces the main task for the lesson. Pupils work for 55 minutes on the set task before packing up and waiting to be dismissed.
Advantages – Always worked well in the olden days
Disadvantages – not en vogue with current Ofsted thinking.
• Pritt Stick Stick
The teacher introduces a task that would involve cutting something out and sticking it on paper. The exact nature of this task is not important, as it will be ignored anyway. Once the Pritt stick is handed out, pupils take off the cap and throw it up to the ceiling. The winner is the first child to make the Pritt Stick stick to the ceiling without falling down. The loser is the one child who follows your instructions to the letter and completes the set task within half the time expected and asks what they should do next. This child could be sent to work on a jigsaw in the corner of the room for punishment.
Advantages – Kids love it, and no matter how many times they play it, they will not grow tired of it
Disadvantages – May not always contribute to higher educational standards being achieved.
