Printable session plan · Schools and Learning Environments
A practical, time-bounded plan for university orientation leaders in a first-week student event. Use it to rehearse one clear activity without improvising the room, camera, or participation rules.
The practical question is how to give new students a shared challenge before conversations begin when large groups arrive without existing relationships and often cluster with people they already know.
This is a run-of-show companion to the broader University Orientation Games use-case guide. Its purpose is narrower: help the operator or host run one thoughtful session with a defined start, a clear option to pause, and a prepared fallback.
Motion control gives the screen a different role: instead of asking students to watch, it responds to their movement. The teacher can choose a contained format and rotate roles around one device.
01
Mark and test the operating footprint. Use a supervised activity mark clear of registration, society tables, bags, refreshments, accessible routes, and the main welcome stage. WhackAMole is first only where its compact-to-medium standing footprint fits the orientation floor plan.
02
Rehearse the exact opening moment. At the first-week student event, an orientation host starts with WhackAMole because large groups arrive without existing relationships and often cluster with people they already know. One familiar reach-to-hit round gives new students something shared to watch before introductions begin.
03
Assign and rehearse the operator sequence. The orientation host checks the camera mark, explains WhackAMole in one sentence, invites one voluntary turn, resets the result, and offers Reaction only during a scheduled challenge with enough clear floor and queue space.
04
Brief privacy and contingency choices before opening. Keep camera play separate from enrolment, attendance, student records, and society sign-ups. Explain the webcam interaction before play and make watching or walking past as normal as participating. If registration or welcome programming needs the space, close the station or use a host-led no-camera introduction prompt; otherwise move from WhackAMole to Reaction without expanding the marked footprint.
Decision standard: The format can give new students a shared challenge before conversations begin without interfering with the main purpose of a first-week student event.
Choose the opening round for the actual energy of a first-week student event, not for an abstract idea of intensity. If the first option feels wrong, keep the goal and change the control style.
arm reaches and whole-body leaning
Whack A Mole is included for University Orientation Games because it uses arm reaches and whole-body leaning in compact-to-medium standing space with moderate movement.
Play fit: first-time players who benefit from a familiar reach-to-hit rule For university orientation games, plan for compact-to-medium standing space with moderate movement.
whole-body movement toward visual targets
Reaction is included for University Orientation Games because it uses whole-body movement toward visual targets in medium clear space with moderate movement.
Play fit: fast-reset score challenges and hosted rotations For university orientation games, plan for medium clear space with moderate movement.
full-body pose matching
Awkward Pose Studio is included for University Orientation Games because it uses full-body pose matching in medium standing space with light-to-moderate movement.
Play fit: social rounds where the attempt is entertaining for players and spectators For university orientation games, plan for medium standing space with light-to-moderate movement.
Later choices: LaserEyes. For University orientation leaders in the first-week student event, offer LaserEyes first to anyone choosing a lower-movement or seated role: its head-position aiming uses seated or standing space with low movement. Also provide spectator, scorekeeper, and no-camera roles.
Use a supervised activity mark clear of registration, society tables, bags, refreshments, accessible routes, and the main welcome stage. WhackAMole is first only where its compact-to-medium standing footprint fits the orientation floor plan. Test camera framing and backlight from that exact zone before the first WhackAMole turn.
For University orientation leaders in the first-week student event, offer LaserEyes first to anyone choosing a lower-movement or seated role: its head-position aiming uses seated or standing space with low movement. Also provide spectator, scorekeeper, and no-camera roles. Keep camera play separate from enrolment, attendance, student records, and society sign-ups. Explain the webcam interaction before play and make watching or walking past as normal as participating. Everyone has the right to opt out, choose an observer role, or stop the activity without having to explain or justify that choice.
If registration or welcome programming needs the space, close the station or use a host-led no-camera introduction prompt; otherwise move from WhackAMole to Reaction without expanding the marked footprint.
The useful evidence in a first-week student event is operational: can people see the cue, understand the turn, and stop without disruption? Treat the activity as active play, not as a substitute for clinical or educational judgment.
Use the WHO Guidelines as general movement context for a first-week student event, while letting local safeguarding and accessibility practice set the boundary for this session. WHO Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
What to observe here: The format can give new students a shared challenge before conversations begin without interfering with the main purpose of a first-week student event.
At the first-week student event, an orientation host starts with WhackAMole because large groups arrive without existing relationships and often cluster with people they already know. One familiar reach-to-hit round gives new students something shared to watch before introductions begin.
Use a supervised activity mark clear of registration, society tables, bags, refreshments, accessible routes, and the main welcome stage. WhackAMole is first only where its compact-to-medium standing footprint fits the orientation floor plan. Test camera framing and backlight from that exact zone before the first WhackAMole turn.
If registration or welcome programming needs the space, close the station or use a host-led no-camera introduction prompt; otherwise move from WhackAMole to Reaction without expanding the marked footprint.