Introduction
"Get in touch with... your hobbies" is an engaging and interactive teaching activity designed to enhance sensory perception, communication skills, and creativity among students. Students get to feel what they are touching and act out a motion connected to what they feel. That way they can practice new and old vocabulary. By stimulating tactile exploration and encouraging expressive communication, this activity provides an inclusive enjoyable learning experience for students of different ages and backgrounds.
Target group and Time
The activity is suitable for students of various age groups, ranging from elementary to middle school. The activity can be adapted to fit different themes or subjects, making it suitable for use in various educational settings. The duration of the activity can be adjusted depending on the specific learning objectives and the time available, typically ranging from 15 to 30 minutes.
Learning objectives
The main learning objectives of the activity are to enhance sensory perception and include creativity and imagination in the process. Everyone can express themselves however they feel comfortable to. This activity can also help with learning vocabulary by combining movements with the different terms.
Instructions to set up the activity
To set up the activity, prepare a box (I used a moving box) with two holes in the front and a slit in the back where you sit. The size of the holes should be large enough for the students hand to fit through comfortably. I glued fabric behind the holes in the front so the students were not able to see what is inside the box.
For the external design you can be as creative a you want. Remember, the more creative you are, the more engaging the activity becomes.
Choose a theme or subject for the activity. In this example, we will focus on hobbies.
Gather a variety of objects related to the chosen theme. For the hobbies theme, you could include items such as a soccer ball, a violin, a paintbrush, a book, a video game controller, etc.
Place your items in a bag and put them in the box one after another.
Letting it run
To conduct the activity, set up your box with your bag right behind it.
In the beginning I introduced the students with the pun in the activity’s name. This is a great way to introduce new vocabulary (“Get in touch” as in feel and “Get in touch with somebody” as in contacting them).
Before you start the activity, talk your students through the rules.
- One student goes up to the box and feels what is inside.
- When the student feels ready, they turn to the group and act out what they think they felt inside. For example a soccer ball could be represented by a kicking motion.
- Let the children raise hands and let your student in the front choose somebody to give an answer.
- If the answer is right, they get to come to the front and feel what’s inside the box next.
- Take out the old item and put a new one in.
Let the activity run as long as you’d like.
