[{"_1":2,"_196":-5,"_197":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4},"pages/Activity.page",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"origin","http://mizzen.org","dehydratedState",{"_9":10,"_11":12},"mutations",[],"queries",[13,42],{"_14":15,"_16":17,"_36":37,"_40":41},"dehydratedAt",1756465614597,"state",{"_18":-5,"_19":20,"_21":22,"_23":-5,"_24":25,"_26":25,"_27":25,"_28":-5,"_29":-5,"_30":31,"_32":33,"_34":35},"data","dataUpdateCount",1,"dataUpdatedAt",1756465614578,"error","errorUpdateCount",0,"errorUpdatedAt","fetchFailureCount","fetchFailureReason","fetchMeta","isInvalidated",false,"status","success","fetchStatus","idle","queryKey",[38,39],"activity-collections","featured","queryHash","[\"activity-collections\",\"featured\"]",{"_14":15,"_16":43,"_36":192,"_40":195},{"_18":44,"_19":20,"_21":15,"_23":-5,"_24":25,"_26":25,"_27":25,"_28":-5,"_29":-5,"_30":31,"_32":33,"_34":35},{"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_32":53,"_54":55,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":25,"_75":76,"_77":78,"_89":90,"_120":121,"_122":123,"_132":133,"_140":141,"_164":191,"_69":46},"id","ec71efbc-6c99-458d-a462-ed333f543101","createdAt","2025-07-28T19:34:51.550Z","updatedAt","2025-08-13T21:05:56.301Z","title","Telephone","PUBLISHED","partner",{"_45":56,"_47":57,"_49":58,"_59":60,"_61":-5,"_62":-5,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":31,"_68":-5,"_69":56},"f3c582e9-3453-48bf-a918-5399d6672576","2025-07-28T19:03:42.435Z","2025-08-18T23:55:36.044Z","name","Mizzen Education, Inc.","contact","profilePhoto","logo","13f7c227-1e7b-4390-a552-412ae92cca5e","visible",true,"deleted","slug","slugOrId","overview","The old-fashioned telephone game is a fun way for children to improve their listening skills. In this activity, children will play telephone and then add a few fun variations.","duration",45,"gradeFrom","gradeTo",2,"tags",[79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88],"listening","communication","team building","teamwork","speaking","collaboration","cooperation","games","social emotional learning","active listening","heroImage",{"_45":91,"_47":92,"_49":92,"_59":93,"_94":-5,"_32":95,"_96":97,"_98":31,"_99":100,"_101":100,"_102":103,"_104":93,"_105":106,"_107":108,"_109":110,"_111":93,"_112":95,"_113":100,"_114":-5,"_115":-5,"_116":117,"_118":119},"7cd1e56f-26a4-4364-9166-5809a9c25f66","2025-08-05T17:56:27.420Z","hero-image-ck7spakky3vvq0713a3xvubdj","note","ACTIVE","type","FILE","isAttachment","fileUuid","0c38365d-ab41-4db7-9b2f-0bc17dc7c100","fileS3Key","fileS3Bucket","mizzen-platform-asset-uploads-production","fileName","fileExtension","jpeg","fileMimeType","image/jpeg","fileSize",181378,"legacyFileKey","fileAutoThumbnailStatus","fileAutoThumbnailUuid","linkUrl","thumbnailUuid","fileUrl","https://ucarecdn.com/0c38365d-ab41-4db7-9b2f-0bc17dc7c100/","thumbnailUrl","https://ucarecdn.com/0c38365d-ab41-4db7-9b2f-0bc17dc7c100/-/resize/1000x/","template","DEFAULT","categories",[124,128],{"_45":125,"_59":126,"_69":127},"9ec1bb13-8639-41fd-ad54-f07fb851824d","Belonging and Community","belonging",{"_45":129,"_59":130,"_69":131},"baf84e54-cbad-4323-8a5a-7fd740e42fa0","Stories and Perspectives","storytelling","learningStandards",[134],{"_45":135,"_47":136,"_49":136,"_59":137,"_138":139},"55b2ff53-9253-4254-9989-e3fca5ca5925","2025-07-28T19:03:40.573Z","Common Core (ELA)","description","","collections",[142],{"_45":143,"_47":144,"_49":144,"_145":146,"_166":167,"_188":-5,"_189":46,"_190":168},"720c680c-7a9b-42fa-814d-5291b17f9e9b","2025-07-28T21:53:08.619Z","activity",{"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_32":53,"_54":56,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":25,"_75":76,"_77":147,"_148":149,"_150":151,"_152":153,"_154":139,"_155":139,"_156":157,"_158":139,"_159":139,"_160":161,"_89":91,"_120":121,"_122":162,"_132":163,"_164":165,"_69":46},[79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88],"learningObjective","

Work on listening and communication skills.
Play the game of telephone, as well as some variations.
Work together as a team.

","materials","

For the whole group:

A picture book about playing the telephone game such as Telephone by Mac Barnett or Pass It On! by Marylyn Sadler
Team Telephone Phrases handout (see the included PDF)

","preparation","

Read through and familiarize yourself with the entire activity.

Choose a picture book to read about the telephone game. Read through and familiarize yourself with the picture book. Or think of how to explain the game of telephone to your students.

Print out a copy of the Team Telephone Phrases handout. (See the included PDF.)

","worksheets","multimedia","steps","

Have the children gather on the floor around you and read to them a picture book about playing telephone, such as Telephone by Mac Barnett or Pass It On! by Marylyn Sadler. (Alternatively, you can just explain the game to students.)
Tell the children that today they are going to be playing the game of telephone. Have them raise their hands if they have played before. Explain that you are going to begin with the old-fashioned game of telephone and then move on to some fun variations.
Have the children sit in a circle. Choose a child to come up with a phrase (or provide a phrase) to send down the telephone line. Have that child turn to 1 side and whisper the phrase to the next child. That child whispers a phrase to the next child and so on until the phrase has gone all the way around the circle.
At the end, have the last child say the phrase that they heard. The first child will then reveal the original phrase, and you will see how the phrase changed. Play the game a few times, each time choosing a different child to start.
Tell the children that the first variation they will play is called charades telephone. Have the children get into a straight line facing the back of the room.
Tell the person at the end of the line to come up with a series of a few movements. For example, hop, turn around, pat their head, and lift their right foot. When they have come up with their moves, have them tap the shoulder of the child in front of them. Have just that person turn around to watch the series of moves.
Then have the second child turn back around and tap the shoulder of the next child and show that child the series of movements. Continue down the line until everyone has acted out the series of movements they think they saw.
Tell the last child to show everyone the movements they saw. Then compare them to the original movements. Play a few rounds of this game, choosing a new person to start and mixing up the order of the line each time.
Tell the children that they are now going to be playing the last variation of telephone. Split the children into 2 separate teams. Tell them that this variation is called team telephone. Explain that the 2 teams will be competing against each other to have the most correctly repeated phrases.
Have the children in each team line up facing you. Give the first child in the line of each team the same phrase from the Team Telephone Phrases handout. Have them pass the phrase on just like a typical game of telephone until it gets to the end of the line.
Ask the last child in line to repeat the phrase they heard. Then reveal the original phrase. Award a point to the team that you felt was the closest to the original phrase.
Based on the time you have left, decide how many points you are going to play to. The first team to reach that number wins! (Alternatively, when time runs out, the team with the most points wins.)
To wrap up the activity, have a short discussion using the following questions:
- Was passing along the message or movement in the game easy or hard? Why?
- Why do you think things sometimes got changed before the end of the line?
- What are some things you think we can learn from the game of telephone?
- Which variation of the game was your favorite? Why?
- Can you think of another variation we could use to play the game of telephone?

","examples","versions","variations","

If you want to play a longer game of team telephone when you have run out of phrases, have children write out and submit phrases to be used before continuing on with the game.

",[125,129],[135],"facilitationTips",[],"collection",{"_45":168,"_47":144,"_49":169,"_96":170,"_51":171,"_32":172,"_54":56,"_173":174,"_72":175,"_74":25,"_75":176,"_177":-5,"_89":178,"_186":31,"_39":31,"_77":-5,"_187":-5,"_68":-5,"_120":121,"_69":168},"bb998317-198e-4120-8157-b8aab289105a","2025-08-05T18:16:25.663Z","MODULE","Making Language Arts Fun","ARCHIVED","introduction","Students go through a fun variety of writing, reading, and speaking activities that strengthen language arts skills.",450,3,"updatedBy",{"_45":179,"_47":180,"_49":180,"_59":181,"_94":-5,"_32":95,"_96":97,"_98":31,"_99":182,"_101":182,"_102":103,"_104":181,"_105":106,"_107":108,"_109":183,"_111":181,"_112":95,"_113":182,"_114":-5,"_115":-5,"_116":184,"_118":185},"36ee31b8-7960-4d98-bd2c-abc551ac92e7","2025-08-05T18:16:25.545Z","hero-image-ck9n35e79azsd0713wpym68l7","b0fec0af-eaf8-4708-a515-ed7dcd2d4879",2366480,"https://ucarecdn.com/b0fec0af-eaf8-4708-a515-ed7dcd2d4879/","https://ucarecdn.com/b0fec0af-eaf8-4708-a515-ed7dcd2d4879/-/resize/1000x/","hideListing","exploreOrder","order","activityId","collectionId",[],[193,46,194],"activities","preview","[\"activities\",\"ec71efbc-6c99-458d-a462-ed333f543101\",\"preview\"]","actionData","errors"]

Telephone

Telephone

Telephone

Overview