Activities for Elementary School-Aged Students

They put what in a Cigarette?!

There's a lot more than tobacco in cigarettes, spit tobacco and secondhand smoke. There are plenty of chemicals that can also be found in everyday household products.  For this activity, you will create a display that tells others about these ingredients and exposes the truth.

Estimated preparation time: 3-4 weeks
Cost: $10 - $20

• Download this individual activity sheet

Ugly Faces

This would be a great activity for older youth to do with younger youth. For instance, fifth graders could work with first graders. Or, high school or middle school students could take a trip to the elementary school and do this activity with younger youth.

• Take pictures of participants making ugly facial expressions. You can either do this in advance or with a Polaroid camera on the day of the event. If done in advance, make sure to print them prior to the day of the event. Don’t forget to ask your teachers to participate!
  

• Place the photographs on a piece of paper and, below the photograph, complete the phrase “I know that smoking can…” with a side effect of smoking.
  

Display all of the photographs in a high-traffic location, such as a school hallway or cafeteria.

Age Group: All ages, but it might be more popular with elementary school students.
Number of Participants: As many as possible!
Resources: Paper, a camera, markers, tape, and a way to print off the photographs.
Cost: $10 - $50

Pledge/Graffiti/Memorial Wall

Choose from one of the three or combine them all together. Create a wall as a memorial to lost loved ones from tobacco, create graffiti expressing your thoughts towards big tobacco, or create a pledge wall for people to pledge to quit tobacco and support those who are trying to quit. Read more to learn more about each possibility.

Estimated preparation time: 2-3 weeks
Cost: $20-$30

• Download this individual activity sheet

Breathe Easy Track Meet

Organize a track meet to show how cigarettes can affect people's ability to perform well as athletes.
Age Group: Elementary or middle school. You can also ask a local high school or
college track team to help out at the event.

Number of Participants: 15 or more
Preparation Time: A half-day activity, one week to plan
Resources: Straws, baton or paper towel roll to decorate, paint or markers, measuring
stick
Cost: Under $20

• Download

Kick Butts Day Skits

Create entertainment while at the same time providing important information about tobacco with these KBD Skits.

Age group: All Ages
Number of participants: Enough to make at least a few small groups
Time: 2-3 Weeks
Resources: Paper, scissors and markers can be used to make quick small props otherwise use your imaginations.
Cost: No more than $15
Day of the Event:

• Have participants split up into small groups.

• Once in the small groups each group should use what they know about tobacco to create a skit. Consider handing out some of the fact-sheets that TFK provides at www.tobaccofreekids.org so the participants have accurate information.

• Have groups take turns presenting their skits. Allow some time for questions and discussion after each skit.

• Consider handing out prizes for the best, most creative, or funniest skits.

Poster Contest

• Advertise the contest a few weeks prior to Kick Butts Day

• On KBD all participants should bring in their poster submission. You could hang all the posters in a hallway, around the gym or around the cafeteria.

• Have a panel of judges, of the student body vote for their favorite posters.

• Ask local businesses to donate prizes.

• Announce the winners and deliver the prizes at the end of the day.

Puppet Show

• Be creative and produce a puppet show that is related to tobacco issues

• You can make it funny, sad or scary

• Present the show to your peers or younger students

• You may want to make it into a competition and have many groups create different puppet shows, judges can then decide on a winner at the end of the day.

Tobacco Facts Scavenger Hunt or Trivia Game

Get everyone in your community familiar with tobacco facts with this fun activity. Use information you find on TFK’s website or in the front pages of the KBD Guide to give you ideas and information.

Age Group: Any age.
Number of Participants: Anywhere from a few people to a large group
Time: 2-3 Weeks
Resources: Depending on your choice of event you may need poster board, a table, a game board, markers or items to give away as prizes.
Cost: $10-$30
Day of the Event:

• Set up your game. Your game could be similar to Jeopardy or perhaps Trivial Pursuit. Or maybe you decided to make a scavenger hunt and give people tobacco related clues for the things they needed to find.
• For a Jeopardy game create a large board with different categories and point values. Write your questions (remember in Jeopardy the question is really the answer) on the back of the point values. A participant will then pick a category and point value and have to answer the question on the back of the card.
• For a Trivial Pursuit game use the trivial Pursuit game board, but make your own tobacco related questions. Play with teams or as individuals.
• Or for a scavenger hunt find ways to relate the tobacco facts you have found with items the participants can find. Give a time limit and the first person back with the most items wins.
• At the end of the event distribute prizes and awards.

Activities

• Activities for College-Aged Students
• Activities for High School-Aged Students
• Activities for Middle School-Aged Students
• Activities for Elementary School-Aged Students
• Quick and Easy Activities
• Additional Activities Not in the Guide