The Activity Bank

The GIVE Activity Bank is a resource bank of short activities or skill-based tasks that already include supports and accommodations to meet a range of students’ needs. These activities can be easily added to your lesson—with small adjustments for your unique students and classroom—to make it more inclusive.

These activities have been submitted as is by New York City Teaching Artists from New Victory Theater, ArtsConnection, and Community-Word Project.

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  • Moving Object Stop Motion

    Ages: Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Visual Arts, Theater, Media Arts

    In this playful skill-building activity, students collaborate to create a short animation of an object moving across a surface on its own. This is a great acti…

  • Names and Weather Patterns

    Ages: Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8)
    Art Forms: Literary Arts, Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theater, Visual Arts

    This warm-up activity supports learning everyone’s names and pronouns,  bringing imagination into the room, becoming observant of the world around us, and lear…

  • Paint Your Space Warm-Up

    Ages: Early Childhood (PK-2), Upper Elementary (3-5)
    Art Forms: Dance

    This warm-up activity uses a guided improvisational structure. It can also be used to introduce the term "kinesphere" to older students.

  • Partner Mirroring

    Ages: Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8)
    Art Forms: Theater, Dance

    This activity builds the skills of observation and sustained concentration while promoting empathy. It supports collaboration by pairing students with a partne…

  • Pass a Clap

    Ages: Early Childhood (PK-2), Upper Elementary (3-5)
    Art Forms: Music

    An introduction activity to build student focus and the class ensemble. It can also be used to introduce other musical concepts like rhythm and notes.

  • Pass the Love

    Ages: Early Childhood (PK-2), Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Music, Media Arts, Literary Arts, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts

    A closing ritual to reflect on the lesson, and to take a moment together as a whole class ensemble.

  • Perimeters, Bisections, and Centers

    Ages: Middle School (6-8), High School (9-12)
    Art Forms: Dance

    This activity is an introduction to taped floor dance, which comes from blind dance tradition, and introduces the idea of using a taped cross on the floor as a…

  • Personal Crests

    Ages: Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle School (6-8)
    Art Forms: Visual Arts, Media Arts

    This visual arts activity encourages students to explore identity, promotes community building, and introduces the concept of symbolism.