How to Keep a Room of Pre-schoolers and First-graders Occupied Here in Guatemala

Here are some ideas. They all seem to work well when used for very short periods of time before switching to another activity.

1. Ask them how they are, what they're doing, what their favorite foods are. When they start staring at you with blank looks on their faces, move on.

2. Revise hygiene. The second go around was met with pretty emphatic no's by many of the kids, so this only lasted a few minutes.

3. Sing a song. The Itsy Bitsy Spider works well, especially with keeping the kids occupied trying to figure out the hand movements. Also Con Un Cepillo. They might not quite get the movements and all, but at least you're wearing them down little by little.

4. Start talking in English. They will laugh for a few moments at how silly you sound, and then get bored again.

5. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes also worked pretty well. Slowing up and speeding down was a winner with the kids.

6. Ask about all of the parts of the body. They love it when you tell them to touch their pompis (butts).

7. Make a train and go in circles around the room. Caution with having them walk backwards-the domino effect is likely to take place and take out a few kids and desks along the way.

8. Eventually demand that the teacher come back and take control over her class again, then move along with the scheduled activity.

Any more ideas are welcome for activities to do during classroom visits while waiting for a teacher to show up.

I love my job. The kids cheered me up after a rough week.

Expect a post in the next day or so about elections!