Imagine the Difference: circle time activities

Circle time games and activities provide another opportunity for children to:

• identify what is unique about themselves as individuals
• understand that everyone is different and that we are all special in unique ways
• appreciate that difference is a positive thing
• understand that difference is part of living in a diverse world

Rounds

Here are some sentence starters to share with the children:

• Something I do well is…
• Something I am getting better at is…
• I am proud that…
• I am different to… because I…
• If I want to, I can…

Imagine the difference

Go around the circle starting with the following lines:

• Imagine the difference in our class/school if…
• Imagine the difference at home if…
• Imagine the difference in our world if…

Alternatively, with older children, you could ask them to finish the sentence on a piece of paper which they then put in a box in the middle of the circle. Everyone then takes a random paper from the box and reads out the comment.

Working with someone different

These activities will enable the children to work in a small group with classmates they wouldn't normally work with.

• Pass round a bag containing differently coloured cubes. Ask the children to close their eyes and pick out a cube. When you say 'eyes open' they have to find everyone else with the same coloured cube and make a group as quickly as possible.
• Call out a number between two and six and tell the children to form a group of that size as quickly as possible. They must form the group before you count to ten. This means there will be no time to wait around for special friends. Now ask the children to work in their group to make a snapshot or 'freeze frame' around the following ideas:
• Most of you support one football team; but someone supports a different team
• One of you wants to go out; but the others want to stay in
• One of you is a cat; the others are dogs
• One of you is a cat; the others are mice
• One of you speaks one language; the others speak another
• One of you is new to the school

Celebrating our uniqueness

Younger children will enjoy taking their turn at being the 'top banana' — the special person of that day. Encourage the children to appreciate the lucky 'top banana'. Join in with modelling appreciative comments about their skills and qualities — which can be recorded — before allowing them to choose a friend to do something different in 15 minutes of free time.

Older children could take a turn through a 'car wash'. Everyone in the class makes a car wash tunnel by standing in two lines and joining hands. The child who is receiving the honour walks through the tunnel while people call out good wishes and positive comments. Once they've been washed — or wished — they can do something different with a friend in a special choosing time session.