No Speaking!
Body language
by Rebecca Parkinson
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider that we can communicate with others by what we do, as well as by what we say.
Preparation and materials
- Have available some slips of paper on which you have written various words or phrases for some children to act out. Examples could include the words ‘goodbye’, ‘stop’, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I’m cross’ and ‘go away’.
- You will also need some separate slips of paper on which you have written actions for two children to act out. Examples could include ‘having an argument’, ‘being best friends’, ‘I don’t like you’ and ‘I’ll look after you’.
- Optional: you may wish to allow some volunteers to demonstrate their own gestures for the other children to guess.
Assembly
- Ask the children whether they can tell you what a gesture is.
Listen to a range of responses.
Explain that the dictionary defines a gesture as a movement of part of the body to express an idea or meaning. - Explain to the children that you would like some of them to act out some gestures that have been written on some slips of paper.
Show a volunteer one of the slips of paper that describe a gesture.
Ask the other children to guess what is being acted. Repeat until all of the gestures have been guessed correctly. - Now explain that you need some pairs of children for the next few actions because they are going to be demonstrating some situations between two people. You want those watching to explain what the situation is.
Show a pair of children one of the slips of paper that describes an action for two children to act out.
Ask the other children to guess what is being acted. Repeat until all of the situations have been guessed correctly. - Ask the children how they knew that two children were having an argument or that two others were showing that they were good friends, even though the children were using no words.
Draw out the fact that the way in which we position our bodies and the look that we have on our faces make a big difference to how others see us. - Ask all of the children to pull various faces: happy, sad, angry, bored and so on.
Discuss with them how they would feel if someone looked at them angrily, turned their back on them while they were talking or pulled a horrible face.
Listen to a range of responses. - Ask the children to make a special effort today to make gestures to one another that are helpful and encouraging rather than hurtful and unkind.
Time for reflection
Explain that the way in which we use our bodies to convey a message is called body language. Sometimes, our body language can be more powerful than our words. If we give someone a nasty look, or turn our back on someone during a conversation, it can have a huge negative impact.
Ask the children to close their eyes and think about gestures that people have made to them and how these have made them feel. Remember that these can be positive gestures too!
Pause to allow time for thought.
Ask the children to share some positive experiences of body language. Examples might include someone beckoning them over to play, or someone smiling at them kindly when they were feeling sad.
Encourage the children to think about what gestures they could make today that would make other people feel good about themselves.
Prayer
Dear God,
Please help us today to use our bodies in ways that make other people feel good.
Help us not to be rude or hurtful, but to show love and concern for each other.
Amen.
Song/music
‘You’ve got a friend in me’ from the film Toy Story, available at: https://youtu.be/DNZUKm0ApEM (2.08 minutes long)
