This morning, the children played a game of Bang Pop. Bang Pop is a fun drama game we like to play sometimes before the bell rings in the morning. It is played by selecting one person to stand in the middle while the rest of the children make a circle around them, spreading out. The person in the middle points at someone in the circle of their choosing and says "bang", and that person quickly ducks down. The two people either side of the person who ducks down then must very quickly point at each other and say the word "pop". Whoever points and says pop fastest wins that round, and the other person is out and must sit down. The person who had to duck down returns standing in the circle. This continues until there is two people left in the circle. To determine the winner, the last two people have a showdown. They stand back to back in the middle of the circle. The middle person then chooses a special number. The last two people will take one step away from each other for every number the middle person says, until they hear the special number. When the special number is said, the children spin around and point and say bang as fast as they can; the fastest being the winner.
This activity was completely child initiated and directed. A senior student explained the rules to everyone who wanted to play and volunteered to be the middle person so they could assist anyone who was confused. The children quickly picked up how to play and were excited to play along. It was a great opportunity for the children to build resilience and work on their reflexes in a safe and supported environment.
Bang Pop is a fast moving game, and was the perfect choice to play before the bell rings in the morning. It encourages children to focus and warm up their brains ready to learn.
