5 very interesting warming up activities for different levels

1. Estrella Andrea Salazar Cárcamo
Universidad del Biobío

2. Name: Family Fingers Play
Primary school
1.- Ask the children to stand up and shake their hands. This is to
loosen up their fingers for a finger play.
2.- Tell them you are going to teach them a finger play about families.
3.-Read out the first line of the finger play and demonstrate the
accompanying actions. Then introduce the following lines until you
are satisfied that the children are saying the chant correctly and doing
the hand actions.
“(1) Show the index fingers first and then the middle fingers. Use
both hands. Hold the other fingers with the thumb. (2) Show the ring
fingers on both hands. (3) Show the little fingers. Now, all the fingers
are showing except the thumbs. (4) Close hands into a fist and wiggle
both thumbs. (5) Put both hand over your ears”
4.- Finally perform the complete finger play together.
Chant
“(1) Mother and father standing tall. (2) Brother is big (3)and sister is
small (4) Where is the baby? Where is the baby? (5) Wah! Wah! Wah!
(6)I hear him/her call!

3. Name: Household items
Primary and high school
1.- Tell the children you are going to read out the name of
some household items. They have to write some of these
words but not all of them.
2.- Read out the list of words, giving the children the
number of the words they have to write with enough time to
do it as you read.
3.- Make sure they understand you don’t want them to write
all the words in the list, but only the ones you have
indicated at the beginning (“Write the second word)
4.- Each time, the task gets more difficult. This is a good
time for you as a teacher to identify the children’s strengths
and weaknesses in listening and spelling.
Example:
• “Write the third word: Clock, TV, chair”
• “Write the second and fifth word: phone, cupboard, mat,
lamp, bath”
• “Write the eight and tenth word: mat, garden, TV,
bookcase, clock, bed, door, table, camera, box”

4. Name: My Free Time
Primary and high school
1.- Divide the class into groups from 7 to 10 students. Each
group has to choose 5 free time activities.
2.- The first group that participates must choose a
representative who is going to perform the mimes of 5
activities of a different group to his or her own group.
3.- After the mimes he or she says: What am I doing? And the
other members have to guess and try to mention the 5
activities in order and taking care or their pronunciation.
4.- The winner group can obtain some extra credit.
Example:
-What am I doing?
• You are: watching TV, playing computer games, riding your
bike, reading a book and swimming in a pool.

5. Name: My mum’s cellphone
High school level
1.- Some children will be familiar with text messaging and
the short cuts that cellphone users often use. For the
others, explain them that, to save money, people shorten
their text messages and use symbols instead of whole words.
2.- Refer the class to the example text message on the board.
Ask them to solve the puzzle and read out the text message
and write it in full.
3.- Write new messages on the board.
4.- Ask the children, in pairs, to solve one of the puzzles as
fast as they can to read write it out in front of the class.
Example:
Text Message (puzzle):
• Can u come 4 T?
• R u watching TV? Can u C me on TV?

6. Name: My mathematic class
Secondary level
1.- Divide the class into pairs and ask the children to read
the word problem. They probably not know all the
vocabulary, but they should get the gist of the text.
2.- Then ask them, in pairs, to translate this word problem
into a number problem. Encourage the pair to talk together
as they solve the problem.
3.- Call on the children to share the answers.
4.- The pairs that got everything right can get some extra
credit for another activity.
Example:
“Every day, William plays marbles with his friends. On
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday William won
five marbles each day. On Friday he lost eight marbles. How
many marbles has William now?”
• (4x5) – 8 = 12