You can either play this game as a class or divide up into small groups of 6 or 7 students. (If you do this, each group needs a die. If dice are hard to scrounge up, you can also do this activity by flipping coins.)

Explain that each time the dice lands on a 1, 2, or 3 (or heads if you’re flipping a coin), it’s a good thing, and they are to cheer or clap, hoot and holler like someone scored a touchdown pass. Every time it lands on a 4, 5, or 6 (or tales), that’s a bad thing. They are to say “Oh-no!,” or whimper, or feign crying. If you’d like, you can also have kids keep a log of their rolls by recording a smiley face for a positive roll and a frowny face for a negative one, in sequential order on a blank piece of paper. (Have kids take turns rolling, flipping, or recording.)

What’s the point in all this silliness? An important message about life, actually. After 5 minutes or so (or about 30 rolls) stop and ask the kids if they noticed anything about how the dice fell. If you have attentive youngsters, one of the things they’ll have noticed is that often times they got several “good” rolls in a row, and other times they got several “bad” rolls in a row.

Explain that life is also like this. Sometimes it seems like they have one bad thing after another happen to them, and sometimes the good things also come in spurts. Then invite them to tell you stories about times when they’ve noticed this pattern in their own lives, and what they can learn or take away from this that might help them live better or cope with difficult situations.