The right school lunchtime club can contribute to students thriving personally, socially, and academically. They provide a space for students with shared interests to come together. This fosters a sense of belonging and helps students connect with peers they might not interact with during regular classes.
Students often take on leadership roles within lunchtime clubs too; organising events, leading discussions, or mentoring students in the years below them. So, instead of spending lunchtimes on devices , they’re engaged in productive and meaningful activities that can spark and nurture new personal interests and encourages them to voluntarily keep learning outside of the classroom.
Here are some school lunchtime club ideas that can help students gain practical skills, cultivate critical thinking, and expand their knowledge beyond traditional subjects.
Bike maintenance club
Get disengaged kids back on track with a lunchtime bike maintenance club that covers everything from basic bike maintenance to safety and bike handling skills. Hit up local Facebook groups for unwanted bike donations to practise on and invite local bike shops to come in and hold workshops on specific topics.
A school lunchtime bike club for kids is a fantastic way to promote physical activity, outdoor exploration, and camaraderie among students. They can go for bike rides around school grounds or nearby areas with organised routes, games, and challenges to keep the kids engaged and excited. It’s a great opportunity for kids to learn about bike safety, develop their cycling skills, and make new friends while enjoying the fresh air. Plus, it’s an excellent break from the school routine and encourages a healthy and active lifestyle.
Theatre sports (improvisation)
This is a great interactive activity where students can participate in improvisational theatre games and exercises in a relaxed, playful and creative environment. Theatresports can helps students to improve communication, quick thinking, storytelling, role-playing and teamwork, as well as acting skills. It’s a fantastic way for kids to learn to better express themselves, stimulate their imagination.
Mosaic
A Mosaic club involves teaching students how to create colourful and intricate artworks using small pieces of tiles, glass, or other materials. Kids could work together to design and create larger mosaic pieces, or focus on individual projects. It’s an easy to arrange and easy to enjoy activity that promotes creativity, teamwork, fine motor skills and artistic development.
School kitchen garden
This is an excellent way to of engaging children in hands-on learning about gardening, food, and the environment. Students can participate in planting, cultivating, and harvesting fruits, vegetables, and herbs in a garden on the school premises. By doing so, they get to learn about the different stages of plant growth, the importance of soil health, and the role of pollinators in the garden’s ecosystem. After planting seeds, watering them and caring for plants as they grow, they can also enjoy the satisfaction of harvesting this produce and then learning more about healthy eating habits, sustainability, and the benefits of locally sourced food.
Board games
Board games bring people together and in a school lunchtime club setting they can encourage social interaction, teamwork, friendly competition, and the development of strategy skills. Stick with the classics like Monopoly, Scrabble, Jenga and Connect Four, or branch out to fast card games like Uno, Sushi Go, Spotto, Llama and many more. They’re quick to learn and offer plenty of excitement in a short amount of time.
The club could be organised with a rotating schedule of games, so kids can try out different options each time.
Construction club
Possibly the simplest and lowest cost lunchtime club to set up – all you need is glue, tape, scissors and cardboard box donations. This club involves giving students the opportunity to get creative and build various structures using cardboard boxes, tubes, and other recyclable materials. They work collaboratively or individually to design and construct imaginative projects, like forts, castles, robots, or even mini cities. This kind of club encourages teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity while allowing kids to explore their engineering and artistic skills in an informal setting.
Yarn craft
This can encompass craft activities from finger-knitting and loom bracelets to granny squares for community quilts. Imagine teaching students how to make friendships while teaching them how to make friendship bracelets. Other items on the list could be keychains, pom-pom animals, and simple knitting projects. Kids can then share their creations, learn new techniques, and work on bigger projects together. All while fostering creativity, developing fine motor skills, and building confidence through crafting.
David Attenborough club
Well, the man is a hero, so it’s no wonder that a lovely teacher reported setting up a very zen space to simply watch and enjoy his documentaries. This would no doubt inspire young minds about the wonders of the natural world, various ecosystems, wildlife, and environmental topics in an engaging and age-appropriate manner.
After watching the documentaries, club members could have discussions about the featured animals, plants, and ecosystems. They could also take part in interactive activities, such as drawing their favourite animals, sharing interesting facts they’ve learned, or planning environmental projects about new causes they’re motivated to spread the word about.
LEGO book club
Why not combine two of the most popular school lunchtime clubs out there to set up a LEGO book club. It’s a creative and engaging way to combine reading and building activities as kids can gather in a designated area with their own LEGO sets, read, discuss, and then build scenes, characters and settings from the story. This club could help to instil a deep love for reading while sharpening fine motor skills through the LEGO construction. Plus, it provides a social and collaborative environment where kids can share their interpretations of the story through their LEGO creations.
Freestyle art club
Prepare a room with blank canvases and themed workstations filled with various bought, donated and repurposed or recycled art supplies and see what magic students can come up with.
The emphasis is on imagination, experimentation, and having fun, rather than following any rules. Students can be invited to create their own unique masterpieces, or simply doodle and draw whatever comes to mind. An informal and relaxed environment will allow them to let their creativity flow, with the occasional theme or prompt to mix things up a bit. Invite guest artists to share their techniques and stories with the group and watch their confidence in their own artistic abilities flourish.
Origami club
I’ve heard stories of teachers having to do most of the folding at the beginning of a new origami club set-up, but persevere and eventually students will be empowered to explore different levels of complexity – from simple animals and shapes to more intricate designs.
The club could provide origami paper and instructions, and encouraging children to develop their fine motor, patience, and problem-solving abilities.
Pokémon Club
This can be as simple as a safe space for kids to trade cards in peace. Print off colouring in sheets, find-a-words, chatterboxes and more to keep things interesting and check out ‘cube critters’ where a Pokémon in the shape of a cube net is cut, folded and pasted to make it into a cube.
TikTok dance club
Students can audition, practice, and then perform trending TikTok dance sequences. They could even from troupes to compete against each other, or reach out to other schools locally or globally to have virtual or in person TikTok dance-offs.
Lunchtime school clubs may take a bit of prep for a teacher, but, for a student, they offer the chance to significantly reduce stress in the school environment. These clubs have the potential to be a great addition to school culture, adding to the vibrancy and diversity of the school environment by fostering a sense of community, collaboration, and mutual respect among students.
