Engaging Brain Break: How to Play ‘Lie To Me’ and Enhance Storytelling Skills

Do you ever wonder what to do as a teacher with those last five or ten minutes of class? Do you wonder what to do on those days when your kids need a brain break in the middle of class? IF you want to get the attention of your class, tell them you are going to let them lie to you!

How To Play “Lie To Me”

You have two choices on how you want to spend this time. You can use it as a review of your material with the whole class at one time. Alternatively, you can have two to three people come to the front of the room. I normally started with just 2-3 people up front.

1. Give them a relationship. You could tell them that they are best friends. Or they are siblings. Or there might be two parents and a child. It just depends. If you are doing a review of your history lesson, they could be two people from history. They might be George and Martha Washington. If it’s for science, they could be a y chromosome and an x chromosome or two different planets.
2. Explain that you will ask them a question about something they did. They have to work together to work out their answers. One player starts and they have to build on their story. This is a great technique if you are teaching story writing also. For example: Two of them could be siblings. You could ask, “Why did I wake up with a mustache drawn on my face?” Since I teach middle school, I always got laughter if I had two boys up front, and I asked one of them, “Why are you wearing my wedding dress?” Shockingly, they came up with a story quickly. I couldn’t believe how they thought of great answers on the spot.
3. When their story starts dying down a little, you could have the audience raise their hands to ask questions. If you are teaching about hyperbole or tall tales, this is a great way to introduce it.
4. It’s important to emphasize that they work together to craft their story. It shouldn’t be a he said/she said deal. Their story should be collaborated.

5. At this point, I break the kids into group of 3 or 4. This way, everyone can do it at once. They can do it at their tables or spread throughout the room. You can let them come up with their own questions. One person asks the questions and the rest of the group acts it out. Then they switch. You might turn it into a competition. Have two groups present on the same question to see who came up with the best explanation. It would get boring if you did more than that, though.

Why Do This?

You are working on a lot of skills for this quick brain break or ending activity. You are teaching collaboration, storytelling, creativity, improv, and questioning skills. It can also be a review of your content. If you bring the kids to the front, they will also learn to be more at ease in front of others.

What Are Some Examples of Questions?

1. Why is the principal doing ballet in the library?
2. Why is there a hole in the window?
3. Why did Saturn just crash into Earth?
4. Why are your eyes glued shut?
5. Why did everyone’s eyes in this class just turn to green?
6. Why did you just cross the Sahara Desert?
7. Why is the school marching band in front of our house?
8. How did a penguin get into our classroom?
9. Why did George Washington wake up with cherries hanging from his ears?
10. How did all of these plants lose their chlorophyll?

This Will Work For Any Age

It doesn’t matter if you teach elementary, middle or high school, students will enjoy this activity. I think it’s important to always tell them what skills they are working on before you have them participate. It lets them know what to focus on and it gives them “the why” of the activity.

If You Are Looking For Other Brain Break Games:

Check out my other posts that are helpful:

1. “10 Second Objects”
2. “Snap, Clap, Face, Steal”
3. “Snake Oil Competition”