Circle Time Activities for Reception

Are You Looking at Me?

• For this activity, one member of the group is selected as the caller. The rest of the players sit in a circle with their heads down. When the caller says, "Ready, set, look," each player looks up at one specific person in the circle. If that person is looking at the same player, thus making eye contact, those two players are out. They can introduce themselves to one another if they don't know each other already. They leave the circle and the game continues. The final two people in the circle are the winners and can choose the next caller.

Don't Do What I Do

• For this activity, the players gather in a circle and one player begins. He says an action (such as "Clap your hands") but performs another action (such as dancing in place). The player to his right then performs the action the last player said, not the one he did. As he performs this action (in this case, clapping his hands), he says another action (such as "Stomp your feet"). The game continues at a rapid pace. When a player does the wrong action or can't think of a new action, he is out. Play continues until only one player is left.

What My Mom Likes

• For this game, one person is the leader and knows the secret to the game while everyone else is unaware. Each player in the circle makes a statement that follows this pattern: "My mom loves ______ but hates ______." The leader will say "True" or "False" to this statement as the players try to figure out what the pattern is. For example, the leader may choose to say "True" when the letter "T" is used in the first item but not in the second, when the first item is a drink and the second is food, or when the first item is hot and the second is cold. The first player to correctly guess the pattern wins and becomes the next leader.

Animal Noises

• First, choose one player to be "It" and one player to be the leader. All players sit in a circle except "It" and the leader, who stand in the middle. The leader blindfolds "It" and turns him around in a slow circle, changing directions several times. When the leader stops "It," "It" points to a person in the circle and says the name of an animal. That person must make the sound that animal makes. "It" then guesses who they have just pointed to. If he gets it wrong, play continues. If he gets it right, then that player becomes "It" and "It" joins the circle.