Wright Family Vacation

  • Grades K-6

  • Balls

Development Goal

To develop listening skills, patience, and team work

Before You Start

  • Have the class stand in a circle (within arm’s reach of the person next to them).
  • Provide each participant with an object (tennis ball, etc).
  • Stand on a chair, desk, and be loud

Set Up

Can be played outside, in a gym or in a classroom. Have an open space where all of the participants can stand or sit in a circle.

How to Play

  • Instruct the players that you will read a story.
  • Whenever they hear the word “left”, everyone must pass their object left.
  • Whenever they hear “right,” pass their object to the person to their right.
  • To see if they are alert you can start by saying something like “Let’s get right down to it,” or “Oops, I left my glasses at home.”  If the students do not pass their object when you say right and left, remind them they have to do it anytime they hear one of the words.
  • The story goes:
    One day the Wright family decided to take a vacation. The first thing they had to decide was who would be left at home since there was not enough room in the Wright family car for all of them. Mr. Wright decided Aunt Linda Wright would be the one left at home. Of, this made Aunt Linda Wright so mad that she left the house immediately yelling, “It will be a Wright cold day before I return.”The Wright family now bundled up the children, Tommy Wright, Susan Wright, Timmy Wright and Shelly Wright and got into the car and left. Unfortunately, as they turned out of the driveway someone had left a trashcan in the street so they had to turn right around and stop the car. Hey told Tommy Wright to get out of the car and move the trashcan so they could get going. Tommy took so long they almost left him in the street. Once the Wright family got on the road, Mother Wright wondered if she had left the stove on. Father Wright told her not to worry he had checked the stove and she had not left it on. As they turned right at the corner, everyone started to think about other things that they might have left undone.No need to worry now, they were off on a right fine vacation. When they arrived at the gas station, Father Wright put gas in the car and then discovered that he had left his wallet at home. So Timmy Wright ran home to get the money that was left behind. After Timmy had left, Susan Wright started to feel sick. She left the car saying she had to throw up. This of course got Mother Wrights attention and she left the car I a hurry. Shelly Wright wanted to watch Susan get sick, so she left the car too. Father Wright was left with Tommy Wright who was playing a game in the back seat.With all this going on Father Wright decided that this was not the right time to take a vacation, so he gathered up all of the family and left the gas station as quickly as he could. When he arrived home, he turned left into the driveway and said “I wish the Wright family had never left the house today!”(You can vary your speed with how fast you read it and it’s a great way to get teachers involved and it really doesn’t get old).