How Lucky Can You Be?

Playing games that rely on luck evens the playing field and allows students of all abilities to experience success, even over those who are likely to be stronger, bigger, and more skilled when playing skills based games.

By playing games such as “Whano Whano”, “Snap, Clap, Plate”, and “Paper, Scissors, Rock” there is an element of luck and therefore more enjoyment from all participants. All students enter the playing field on an even level. Anyone has the chance to come out on top and win the faceoff!

While the games named above require fast observation and recognition, listening, and reaction times, there is still an element of chance in them. “Paper, Scissors, Rock,” relies purely on the luck of the draw of the hand action, especially when players are likely to face off against a number of opponents on their way round to the ‘point’ line.

During recent learning rotations, the Te Mihi team have been playing these games in mixed groups, with students from year 4 to year 6 facing off against each other. They have had to deal with success and failure and accept the outcome and so developing resilience and grit has been a major factor in students' learning. It is a case of ‘anyone can win’ and luck plays a big part. 

It is fantastic to see students of all abilities enjoying running, challenging others, and experiencing success during this time. Because students compete against different players during these games, they all get to challenge someone new each time it’s their go and their luck could go either way.

The laughter, encouragement, and enthusiasm from all students ensure that games like these are successful team building times with positive outcomes and are great ‘go to’ games for mixed group interactions.