IDEA! Daily Intentions....

This activity can be done in all year groups at any time. Maybe there have been friendship issues in class or maybe you just want to introduce the concept of setting a daily intention, something to think about throughout the day.

I decided to try this in the first term as my class had been split four ways before coming to me, so lots of new friendships were to be made. We had a blether about new friends and what kind of things we could do in class. Of course this can be adapted to suit any situation and can look however you like. Ours was pretty basic - post its and a cardboard suitcase :) You can use 'special paper' and a nice jar etc or whatever the children fancy using.

We chatted about how the intentions would work, we would pick one each day and try to focus on that throughout the day. I normally pinned it on the board and would refer to it a couple of times throughout the day. The children were really considerate of the intention they wanted to put in the box for their classmates. We had lots of different ideas such as 'Let's share today', 'Let's make a new friend today' and 'Let's try and be kind today'. It takes five seconds for someone to choose an intention each morning and tell the others. It's lovely to hear the stories they come back with and surprisingly it isn't children looking for validation and a pat on the head but children telling me about how someone new invited them to play at break time or someone shared their fancy sparkly pens with them. They shared their experience of receiving kindness from another.

My class love this and if I forget to choose someone in the morning, they are VERY quick to remind me about it :) Try setting daily intentions with your class and do let me know how it goes, I'd love to hear what you think!