GAMES LOG


For this activity, I worked with a group of fifth-grade children.  The group consisted of 6 students, 3 boys and 3 girls.  The kids were chosen randomly.  We met for 30 minutes, which allowed us to play a game and process it after.
Game:  THE TRAIN

Purpose:    The purpose of this activity is to show students that working together facilitates the accomplishment of a task. 

Description:  Two marks are made in the floor with tape (color is preferable).  The two lines are parallel at 30 cm.  The students are then asked to make a line between those marks, standing one behind the other.  The counselor then gives them a series of commands  that they have to follow without stepping outside those marks.  Whoever stands outside looses . The time limit for each action is 30 seconds.

Commands: 

  • Stand in order of height, from the tallest to the shortest
  • Stand in order of birthday, from earlier to latest
  • Stand in order of "number of siblings", from fewer to more
Then, the same tasks are given, but this time, if someone steps outside the group, the whole group looses.  This option is essential to help the group understand the importance of working as a team.
Observations
     The students enjoyed the activity.  At the beginning they were trying to move to their place even if they had to push some of the other students.  Two students were pushed outside the group and lost.  After, when we started again, the idea that the whole group would loose changed the dynamics.  Students started giving each other a hand to help them get to their place and non of them stepped outside the marks. 
Process Questions
     At the end of the activity we all sat down on the floor.  I asked them what they thought of the activity and they said that it was funny.  I asked if someone could tell me what happened in the activities.  They commented that at the beginning they wanted to win, so they hurried up to stand in their place.  I then asked the two students who lost the first time, how they felt when they lost?  They said that they were angry because they were pushed and that the others only thought about themselves.  The other students responded that they wanted to win and that there was no rule that said that they could not push them.  I commented on that stating that sometimes when we are concerned about our work and our success we forget about the others and sometimes we even do things that can harm our classmates.  An example a girl gave me was "when in class someone is not understanding an assignment we don't take time to help them and we are only working in our paper because we want the teacher to see that we finished first".  We processed this by saying what options do we have in those situations.  They said that they could help the other student with their work and that if they take time to help them they can all finish on time.

     At this point, I commented on the second part of the activity.  I said:  "this is similar to what happened on the second part of the game.  What happened there?".  The commented that they helped each other because the whole group needed to win.  Using facilitative responses I processed this information.  We commented on how they felt and what they did differently and what the outcome was.  The students were able to see that when they work together and help each other, they all win, they all can do well in class.
Games is an excellent option in Play Therapy since children have a fun and active way of learning about different types of skills.  The activities canbe adapted to different age groups and this allows us to reach many children.  It is a little bit hard to calm them down after the activity is over.  Some of them want to keep playing and it is somewhat difficult to keep the focus on the discussion.  Nevertheless, it gives them an opportunity to experience the skill, which helps in the learning process.