We've divided this page into 3 types of resource, all carefully selected from our Philosophy Circles Resource Pack.
Thinkers' Games: Physical activities to kick off discussions. Everyone shows their thinking at once by committing to moving themselves, or some stuff, and then justifying their choices. Excellent for first time P4C'ers (adults and children!)
Spot and Stripe: 1 minute videos in which we start a debate, and hand it over to the children to argue out!
Session Plans: 30 minute sessions to embed P4C into your curriculum. Each plan follows the Philosophy Circles method to get maximum thinking with minimum teacher-effort!
Thinkers' Games
In or out?
What ingredients are needed for...
This game asks children to analyse concepts into their constituent parts or contributing factors. You can provide the ingredients, or have players decide on their own. Download here.
“Ready... Ding ding!”
A very simple but highly effective warm-up game that gets the whole group arguing in an animated way instantly from a cold start. Named by guinea-pigs in Year 5 at Lawn Primary, Northfleet. Download here.
Enjoyed using these with your classes?
These are taken from Jason's mini-book Thinkers' Games - available for £2.50 from our Shop.
Spot and Stripe
Spot and Stripe love to argue about juicy questions, and they invite pupils to carry on the discussions!
To use with your pupils, simply press play. When it finishes, get the children to stand on the side of the character they agree with, and continue the argument with someone from the other side. Ask for some to give their ideas to the class, and see if anyone changes their minds.
The full set of 100 videos, and further support on how to use them, are included in our Primary Resource Pack.
Curriculum-Based Session Plans
Each of our session plans follow the Philosophy Circles method: Get Moving, reach a Y-Question, and Take a Back Seat.
The plans below come from our Philosophy Circles Primary Curriculum Pack - where you'll find over 150 plans for every subject in the curriculum.
English
Poetry
A light-hearted puzzle poem that invites discussion about meaning and understanding.
Science
What makes a successful species?
A dialogue between a shrew, crocodile and dinosaur about who has been the most successful. Excellent for any topic on evolution!
PSHE
The Panopticon
The stimulus looks at issues of surveillance and safety through a discussion of school CCTV!
Geography
The Water Catcher
A village relies on water for its fish, but upstream, the farmers need it for their land. Who can lay claim to the water?
History
Horrible Histories
An imagined dialogue between Horrible Histories actors, raising the relationship between comedy and historical tragedy.
RE
Sharing the Harvest
Harvest Festivals have been celebrated since ancient times, and provide an accessible way to tackle questions about charity, obligation and sharing.