If playing in a smaller area, opt to use wadded up paper balls (prepare ahead of time or have your students help you as they enter class). Play the following game in a gym or mark out a playing area with tape. You will need two equal areas divided by a center line. Line up the balls on the center line. Divide your students into two opposing teams and have them go back to their respective end lines. Tell them that their team is their “family,” and that their goal is to keep their “house” as clean as possible (i.e., get as many balls into the opposing team’s area in the allotted time). Family members may not cross into the other family’s house. To start, blow a whistle or shout, “GO!” Give the families 3 minutes to toss as many balls as possible into the opposing family’s house. The family with the “cleanest house” (fewest balls in their house) wins.
Watching you try to clean your “house” as fast as possible was fun! Who wants to come clean my house?!
On a scale of one to 10, how messy is your room? Hold up your hands and show a number. 10 is extremely messy, 1 is super clean.
- What areas of your house do you prefer to be clean? What rooms could you care less about how they look? Why is there a difference? (Level of importance, what my parents prefer, how often we use it, etc.)
- What areas of the house are you responsible for keeping clean?
- How do you feel when you walk into a clean space? How do you feel when you walk into a dirty, cluttered space? (Calm/relaxed/free/ready for the next thing/I don’t really notice. Edgy/stressed/it doesn’t bother me.)
- How does a person’s clean or messy room reflect his/her priorities or character? (A person with a clean home may be an organized person who takes care of what they own. They may be welcoming and enjoy people coming over to visit. A person who has a super clean home may care too much about what other people think. A messy room might mean the person is lazy, irresponsible, busy or feeling down.)
Share the following video about some students who are being taught to put a high importance on keeping things clean [1:55]:
Japanese Students Clean Classrooms To Learn Life Skills
- Do you like this idea of being responsible to keep your school clean? Why or why not? (Answers will vary; some may say that they wouldn’t like it while others might think taking a break from school work would be fun.)
- What would you say if your teachers made you clean your school? (Answers will vary.)
- How do the Japanese students feel about their school? (Students indicated that they are happy when their school is clean.)
- What do their actions communicate about their priorities? (Accept all reasonable answers.)
In today’s lesson, we’ll hear how one man spearheaded a huge cleaning project as soon as he became king.
