Ice Treasures - Activity Instructions

Preparation

Fill a number of recycled bowls or ice cream containers almost to the top with water and place an interesting natural material (seed pod, flower, etc) in the centre. Place the bowl/ice cream container into the freezer and allow to freeze until solid.

Tune In

With the group, tune into the different emotions Cassia felt throughout the book ‘Cassia and the Fire Dragons’. Use the following questions as prompts

How did Cassia feel when she was in the cave, missing out on the game? (She felt sad that she was missing out on the game because she was different to the other dragons and couldn’t join in on their game.)
How did Cassia feel when she realised she could use her special talent to stop the water? (She was happy and proud that her special talent could stop the water from going down the mountain.)
If Cassia was just like the other dragons and could only breathe fire, what might have happened? (The water might have flowed down the mountain and destroyed all of the dragons’ nests.)
Have a discussion about unique abilities and how when working in a team, it might be the thing that makes you different that benefits the team the most.

All of our bodies are unique and therefore, we can all do different things. We are good at some things, that other people find easy, and find some things tricky that other people find easy. When working in a team, it is a balance of all of these different abilities that help us achieve our goals.

Find Out

Discuss different roles people might play when working within a team.

Leaders: Teams often have a leader who helps everyone else stay on track and do their job
Ideas and strategies: Creative people often come up with different ideas and plans that can help their team.
Strength and skill: Sometimes, teams need people who have special skills or strength that help them achieve their goals. These might be skills that they have practised for a long time, or maybe their bodies allow them to be extra strong.
Team morale: Some people’s special skill is the way they can make their teammates feel. They encourage and cheer their teammates to keep them trying their very best, even when they feel like giving up.

Take Action

Separate the group into groups of four or five. This can be done at random, strategically selected or left up to the children to decide based on the dynamics of the group.

Give each group one of the frozen bowls/containers. Each group’s aim is to retrieve their natural material (seed pod, flower, etc.) from the ice as quickly as possible. Observe the different roles each child naturally takes on and remind them that their unique abilities are contributing to the team's efforts.

Some children will take on the role of leadership, ensuring each child is being heard and playing a role in the experience. Some will think of different strategies, and some will be the ones who put the strategies into action.

When the teams have succeeded, ask the children to reflect on the way they individually contributed to their teams' efforts.

Ice Treasures

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