I thought I’d share a game I made up years ago. It is called the Please and Thank you game. This game can be used with a single child, small group or at transition time (circle) with all the children. On occasion, I have witnessed small groups of children playing this game together without a teacher. This is a great way to support some of the lessons of Grace and Courtesy (table manners) and can be played by anyone, anywhere.
Discuss the rules of the game first:
- The correct answers are “Yes please” or “No thank you.”
- The child must look you in the eyes when they say it.
- The child must say “Thank you” if they are given something from the imaginary tray or
bowl.
- All of the children must wait until everyone has been asked and served before they eat
the imaginary food. Because of this rule, I usually serve the oldest children first
working my way to the youngest.
Adult: “On my (imaginary) tray I have some chocolate covered bumble bees with thorn bush sprinkles (the grosser the better). Would you like a chocolate covered bumble bee with thorn bush sprinkles?” (This is said to the first child in the group).
Child : “Yes please.” (to which the adult answers "You're welcome.") or “No, thank you”. If the child says “Yes” the adult places an item in the child’s hands. If the child says “No” just smile and move on to the next child.
Once the children have all been "served", the teacher says, "You may all now eat.”
With great gusto and a little silliness join the children as they devour the “food”.
6 comments:
This is a cute idea. I did something like
it with my kids growing up and they never
tire of it. With a small child you can use
a ball or other object and hand it to them
saying "Thank You!" and then they seem to
imitate this as they receive the object.
When they hand the ball back you say "Thank
you" again. This seems to be a very delightful
game for little ones.
Kathy
Great idea! Thanks, Kathy.
Wooohooo! I love this, especially the total silliness of it all! My students are in major silly mode right now (I'm flooded with 4-yr olds), so it will be perfect!
Yep! Nothing like a tray full of slimy, sloppy, spider's feet to get a child's attention!
I tried this with my lot a couple of weeks ago and they love it! we play it at odd times during the day, and they play it amongst themselves. The food gets really disgusting but their manners are impeccable!! I has transfered to the rest of the time too! There has been a lot less prompting needed!
That's great! Thanks for letting me know.
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