A good quick activity that can engage and galvanise children prior to recess and lunch breaks is a short but intensive quiz. One if the best ways to organise this is to call for hands up after the question. The first hand earns answering right. A mistake is not penalised it passes to the next hand and so on. Questions that come from teacher knowledge rather than being read, speed the pace of the quiz.

The complexity of questions would depend on the level of class and children. Questions can be about all manner of things. Some thoughts from an inexhaustible list might include the following:

Spelling words

Recall of stories being shared

General knowledge

Politicans in the assembly

Bus routes

Layout questions about the local shopping centre

Wheat, from seed planting to bread making

Plurals of birds, animals and so on

School history

What teachers teach where (visualised school mapping and location within the precinct)

Watch my face, what’s my mood

Maths, SOCE and other subject questions – quick revision.

The list goes on

Stimulating thought processes prior to a break or at home time can be stimulating and fun.