Do kind things
It is ironic. If you do something nice for someone, they are happy. But you'll be happier, too.
One very easy (and fun) activity is Compliments.(10 minutes for happiness). Students, in small groups, give each partner a true complement. Then they remember the complements. So each statement happens 4 times: Person A thinks of it, then says it. Partner B hears it, then remembers. It's a drill that doesn't feel like a drill. HERE is the PowerPoint to go with it.
NEW You're beautiful. These are 2 versions of the same activity. There is a powerpoint of people reacting to (a) first version: someone saying, "You're beautiful, (name)" (b) Someone giving a compliment + name. I use these to help students learn each other's names. Based on a student activity from the Chicago High School for the Arts and something from BoredPanda.com.
Newly revised: Random Acts of Kindness newspaper article is a simplified version of a story from the Japan Times. It introduces the idea of doing kind things for strangers. It is a good way to introduce the topic.
Random Acts of Kindness is something Curtis Kelly and I do. You can read some of the things that our students did and wrote about. Then your students think about what they can do. And, hopefully, they'll do them!
Here is a short activity on the same topic where students think about what they can do. (10 minutes for happiness)
Here is a bit wacky but great fun. Choco Ninja And here's the PowerPoint I use to introduce it. (there is one slide in Japanese. It means, "What time is it". Just delete the slide if your students aren't Japanese.
And here's a song by Brian Cullen that mentions it.
One very easy (and fun) activity is Compliments.(10 minutes for happiness). Students, in small groups, give each partner a true complement. Then they remember the complements. So each statement happens 4 times: Person A thinks of it, then says it. Partner B hears it, then remembers. It's a drill that doesn't feel like a drill. HERE is the PowerPoint to go with it.
NEW You're beautiful. These are 2 versions of the same activity. There is a powerpoint of people reacting to (a) first version: someone saying, "You're beautiful, (name)" (b) Someone giving a compliment + name. I use these to help students learn each other's names. Based on a student activity from the Chicago High School for the Arts and something from BoredPanda.com.
Newly revised: Random Acts of Kindness newspaper article is a simplified version of a story from the Japan Times. It introduces the idea of doing kind things for strangers. It is a good way to introduce the topic.
Random Acts of Kindness is something Curtis Kelly and I do. You can read some of the things that our students did and wrote about. Then your students think about what they can do. And, hopefully, they'll do them!
Here is a short activity on the same topic where students think about what they can do. (10 minutes for happiness)
Here is a bit wacky but great fun. Choco Ninja And here's the PowerPoint I use to introduce it. (there is one slide in Japanese. It means, "What time is it". Just delete the slide if your students aren't Japanese.
And here's a song by Brian Cullen that mentions it.