Let's Kiss...

So, I had this ingenious idea to do a Valentine's lesson with the Valentine's candy "Sweethearts" (you know, the little hearts with the Valentine's messages on them). I made about 40 big "Sweethearts" out of different colored paper and wrote messages on them. The idea was to divide the students into two groups and have the students search through the "Sweethearts" to find the "Sweetheart" message I would yell out. As I was going through the "Sweethearts," checking that the students understood the meaning, I slowly realized that the students were getting embarassed (audience: 40 13 and 14-year-old girls and boys)! In my mind, this was going to be a goofy, silly activity, but as I made the students repeat phrases like "hug me," "love me," "marry me," and "kiss me," I realized they didn't really think it was goofy, or silly. Thankfully, once we started to play the game the students weren't embarassed when I'd yell out a phrase like, "I love you," because they were concerned about finding the right "Sweetheart" to get points for their team. Lesson learned: Put yourself in the mind of someone going through puberty before playing a game using a variety of funny love phrases!!!