Lunch bunch is one of those things I’m missing while in the virtual setting! It’s a great time to get to know kids I don’t work with as often and see kids make connections with peers. After a few weeks if distance learning, I’ve found some ways to create that connection time in the virtual setting. Keep reading to find some easy to use virtual lunch bunch activities.
Virtual Lunch Bunch Activities
Virtual Stories
During the beginning of lunch bunch, I like to read a story so that students are encouraged to actually eat their lunch! Some of my favorite virtual storybook resources are listed below:
Vooks
Vooks is such a fun resource because all of the stories are animated! There are books on friendship, bravery, kindness, and so much more. There are even some silly stories if you’re not looking for something specifically counseling related. Stories can easily be screen shared on Zoom or whatever virtual platform you’re using.
Kindle Unlimited
By far one of my favorite tools for virtual counseling lessons is Kindle Unlimited! There are so many books included in the program that are perfect for counseling. Using either the Kindle Cloud Reader on my laptop browser or the Kindle app on my iPad, I can easily share my screen to read books virtually to students. Because they are ebooks, students are better able to see the images, and while we’re on Zoom, they can see the book and my face!
Storyline Online
Storyline Online is another great option for sharing stories, and all of these are read by celebrities. You’ll find titles like Catching the Moon and A Bad Case of the Stripes.
Virtual Games
After our story and after the students have had time to eat their lunch, I like to do a fun, low pressure game. These are a few of my favorites:
Categories
In this game, I give students a category, like ocean creatures, and a letter. Then, they have one minute to cooperatively come up with as many ocean creatures that begin with that letter in one minute. I like these because they are short rounds and the students are working together rather than competitively. They call out their answers and I type them so they are visible on our shared screen.
Would You Rather
This is always a fun and silly game for kids to play to get to know each other or just have fun together! Pose a question to just one student or to the whole group and let everyone chime in and explain their answer.
Roll and Respond
For a more directive game, a roll and respond is always a hit. In the virtual learning setting, use an online tool like digital dice to roll the dice and give students a question prompt.
Find Something That…
For a more active game, I call out something like, “Find something that’s green,” and students grab something from their environment that’s green and bring it back to the screen to share. We can also do things like, “Find something that’s special to you,” if all students are at home. However, many of my students are learning from grandparents’ homes, local YMCA, or from their parents’ offices, so this isn’t always as inclusive.
For a fun twist, try, “Find something that could be used as a plate,” or “Find something that could be used for artwork” to get students thinking creatively!
Charades
Charades is a big hit in any setting! To do this digitally on Zoom, you can send a chat message privately to just one participant to give them something to act out. Sending it privately in the chat will ensure that the other participants don’t see the prompt, and then they can guess what their peer is acting out.
What are your other favorite virtual lunch bunch activities? Leave them in the comments below so we can all give them a try!
Silly Stories
My students love mad libs, so I made a couple of silly stories that we could do together virtually! I share my screen, they fill in the blanks, and then I reveal the silly story. This definitely keeps us giggling while we’re on zoom together!
Keep Reading:
Cool Tools for Virtual Learning
Hi,
I bought and downloaded the Lunch Bunch Games but it says I need to request access instead of make a copy.
Help!
Deanna
Give it another try. I think too many people were trying to access at once.
Love these ideas! I’ve been letting them free chat or play would you rather, but it’s time to mix it up, so thanks for these great ideas.
Quick question, when I share my kindle cloud reader via google meet it “strobes/blinks”. Any techies out there have any ideas?
Sharing Kindle Cloud on an HP via Google…
thanks!
I’m not sure – I don’t use google meet. It works perfectly in zoom though!
these are great! Thank you so much! How many kids do you typically have in your lunch bunch groups?
With the Vooks, are you able to share the stories with other staff members, or only if they have the membership? For example, sending a story to the morning show to be shown to the school?
They would need their own accounts. Andi. Have 3-4 students at a time.
These are awesome! Regarding the Silly Stories game, how do the student type their answers virtually?
Thank you for sharing! I love your find something that…, roll and respond, and silly story ideas. I cannot wait to try these with my class. I teach first grade and my students enjoy would you rather questions and they also love to play name that song.