Use sentence stems, such as: “This rope is like our friendship because…”. For beginner groups, choose symbols that are extremely clear and concrete.

• Challenge: Students do not see, or have difficulty seeing, the connection between the object and the concept.
  Tip: Use sentence stems, such as: “This rope is like our friendship because…”. For beginner groups, choose symbols that are extremely clear and concrete.
• Challenge: Students treat the object as a toy and lose focus. At this age, children love touching physical things. When the teacher passes an object around, students often just play with it instead of focusing on the hidden meaning.
  Tip: Use a “mystery box”  to grab their attention. Before talking about the abstract idea, give them a dedicated 1-2 minutes of “discovery time.” During this time, they can touch it, look at it, and describe its physical details. Only move on to the symbolic meaning after this step.
• Challenge: The abstract idea is too hard to understand for 6-7 year old beginners. They find it hard to connect physical details to social ideas.
  Tip: Tailor the difficulty level. For 6-7 year olds, the teacher must model the connection very explicitly. Use pre-written sentence stems, such as: “This object reminds me of…”. For 9-10 year old experts, you can let them choose their own symbolic objects and frame the connection themselves.
• Challenge: Too much noise when moving around. This activity requires open space. Students have to push desks away and move around the room. With young kids, this can easily become loud and chaotic.
  Tip: Use clear markers on the floor (like coloured tape or small cones) so students know exactly where to stand. Use a timer to keep things moving. You can also use an agreed clear sound signal (like ringing a bell or clapping your hands) when you need everyone to stop and listen.
• Challenge: The commitment is quickly forgotten after the lesson. At the end of the activity, every child makes a small commitment (e.g., “I will say hello to someone from another class”). However, 6-10 year olds tend to forget this instantly during break time or the next lesson.
  Tip: Close the activity with a visual and physical ritual to cement the memory. Create a “Connection Reminder” display together. Students can write or draw their commitments on sticky notes or reflection stickers  and put them on the board. This can serve as a retrieval cue for the teacher in a later lesson

Design tips

• Choose objects whose features cleanly map to the concept; avoid mixed or culturally ambiguous metaphors.
• Keep the learning activity brief and dynamic: Aim for 5–10 minutes to spark interest without losing momentum.
• Combine talk and action: Pair reflection with a simple physical token/gesture to aid encoding.
• Reuse the symbol later as a retrieval cue (e.g., display the object when revisiting the topic).
• Avoid overloading with too many metaphors in one session—keep the symbol focused.
• Be sensitive to cultural meanings of objects; vet examples in context.