Nature’s My Friend
Players are taken on a short hike during which each person collects something from the natural environment (nothing may be broken or picked from any living thing.) The item has to be either lying on the ground or resting on another object (e.g. stump or log). Everyone keeps his object hidden from all other players.
Following the hike, each person is given the opportunity to build a small home for his ‘friend’. He is also asked to give his friend a name, and to think of one way in which he could take care of his friend, if it was still out in its natural environment.
When all in the group is ready, everyone tours the small homes that have been created, and meets each special friend. E.g. “This is my friend Twiggy. He is a small branch that I found lying on the ground. I’ve built him a house from soft leaves and moss that I found on the ground. If he was still on a tree, I could take care of him by protecting him from the wind. I could build a fence so the wind wouldn’t snap him off from his tree. I could also make sure he doesn’t catch diseases -I could check for termites and insects that might harm him.” The friends that are made are refreshing to everyone.
Otter Steals Fish
Set up a circle boundary around 6-8 metres in diameter (we often use the children’s backpacks but a long rope on the ground, or other objects would work fine)
Remind the heron that they are to guard their fish but they are not allowed to touch the fish whilst the game is in play. They can stop an otter stealing their fish by tagging the otter (gentle but clear tags)
Remind the otters that the aim of the game for them is to get in, grab the fish and get out of the circle with it without being tagged by the heron.
Consequences – these can change depending what variation you play. The simplest is that if an otter is tagged, they go to the boundary and count to 10 before trying again.
If an otter successfully steals the fish, they can become the next heron
Run Rabbit
Source: Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature
How to Play: create a few rabbit burrows with bandanas, sticks, or hula hoops.
Ask for one or two volunteers to be “it”/the wolves. Have the children jump into their burrows
When the Wolves say, “Run rabbit run!”, the kids try to run to another burrow. If the Wolves tag them before they get there, then kids need to sit down where they were tagged. The children become Trees and can use their arms to tag other rabbits (or they can be wolves).
The Wolves repeat step 2 until all but two people have been tagged. These two people are the winners and will become the Wolves in the next game of Run Rabbit Run.
Cougar Stalks Deer
Source: Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature
The object of the game is for the cougars to sneak up on the deer without being “seen”.
When deer are grazing (looking for food), they take a few bites of grass or other food, then perk up their heads, scanning their surroundings for threats. They see movement really well, and have excellent hearing. Cougars therefore have to be stealthy to hunt deer. They’ll crouch down low, and sneak up to the deer when their heads are down. When deer look up to scan for threats, the cougar will freeze, not making any noise, and try to be as still as possible so that the deer doesn’t see them. If all goes well for the cougar, they’ll be able to sneak close enough to the deer to pounce!
How to Play: One person plays the “Deer” – Everyone else is a “Cougar”
The Deer and Cougars start the game as far apart as possible within the playing area.
Choose an object or an action to be the “reset”. It can be anything from a piece of furniture, to a rock or tree, to a “high five” from somebody. The “reset” works best when it is far away from the Deer.
The Deer is grazing–they pretend to be looking for/eating food, not paying attention to their surroundings. Every once in a while, they stop grazing to scan their surroundings for threats, especially if they hear something or sense movement nearby.
The Cougars are stalking the Deer–when the deer is grazing, they try to sneak closer and closer. When the deer looks up to scan for threats, the Cougars should freeze. If the Deer sees any movement from the Cougars, or hears any noises while scanning for threats, they get to point at those Cougars that moved/made noise. Those Cougars have to go touch the “reset” object or do the “reset” action immediately before stalking the Deer again.
How does it end? When either one Cougar or all the Cougars successfully tag (or get within 6 ft of) the Deer. Before the game starts, you can decide how your game will end.
Sleeping Fawn
This is a perfect game to play in the afternoon when energy is dipping.
In this game children are sleeping fawns. Fawns must stay still but keep their faces shown while they pretend their deer mom is away.
An adult plays the coyote, who sniffs around the field or forest looking for its prey. Remember fawns don’t have a scent! Stillness is the secret and allows kids to sink into nature—a nice change from popular pursuit games.
The coyote tries to get the fawns to move without touching them or speaking words. Coyote behaviour like yelping, jumping and playing or being silly is encouraged!
When the fawn moves, it’s “caught” and out of the game.
Source: Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature by Jon Young, Ellen Haas, and Evan McGown.
Get Lost
Leave backpacks in a place that has a reasonable landmark.
Wander aimlessly away from the backpacks. Some children may be concerned about their stuff and you can reassure them by giving them the landmark and encouraging them to look back on it. The more adventurous children will likely run ahead and get disoriented. A rare child will be both aware and adventurous and you may need to front-load that one to not spoil the game.
When you feel you have wandered sufficiently far ask the group which way is back. Have them point, talk to each other, and agree. This is an opportunity for your anxious children to shine because they will definitely know how to get back. If consensus cannot be made split the leaders and one goes with each group or travel in between them keeping both groups in sight. Remind them of our rule to stay together as a pack.
Nutty Squirrel
Instructions >
Talbots Game
You will need: many bandanas and loose parts
How to Play: Find 6-8 items that are easily found within your area. Place them spread apart on a bandana and have the students each get a bandana for themselves. Cover your items with a second bandana and allow the children to look for 10 seconds. Let them know how many items there are and see how many they can remember correctly and find.
If they want 5 more seconds to have another look have them complete a simple challenge. Bear walk across the grass for example.
Tree Tag
Like tag but with a safe zone.
Call out ‘you’re only safe if you’re touching a….’ and choose a type of tree. You can name the tree or call out a unique feature. Yellow bark, waxy needles, red leaves, orange berries etc. Use names for older children who likely have had the opportunity to learn the names and use descriptions for younger students.
Once you’ve given them a chance to find the tree then you chase them.
Firekeeper
Described in Coyote’s Guide to Connecting With Nature. Used everywhere!
One person (firekeeper) sits in the center of a circle of people. That person has an object such as a rock in front of him or her. Another person coordinates people as they take turns sneaking into the middle of the circle to pick up the rock and bring it to the edge of the circle. The firekeeper can point to people if he/she hears them sneaking up and the person needs to go back and sit down when caught. Hints: This activity is similar to the game Deer Ears. In Deer Ears, everyone sneaks up at once and tries to touch or take an item from the deer. This game works best if you give the firekeeper a limited number of times to point (the number of people in the circle plus 5 usually works well). This game is best played in an area with crackly substrate such as sticks to make it harder to sneak up.
Fox-Rabbit-Leaf
Age Group: 6 and over
Ideal Numbers: 15 – 50
Equipment Required: Scarves or pieces of cloth; pencil and paper, watch
Amount of Time: 15 mins+
Reason for playing: starting point to discuss ‘balances’ in nature
How to Play:
Players are divided into 3 roughly even groups – one group are foxes, one rabbits, and one are the leaves. The foxes stand to form a circle. The rabbits each have a scarf or piece of cloth to tuck in their belt or waistband for their ‘tail’ – they stand inside the circle.
The leaves stand outside the circle – they cannot move. Decide in advance on a length of time for each ’round’ and how many rounds you will play (perhaps 6 rounds of 2-3 minutes each). At a given signal, the round commences. The rabbits must try to get past the foxes to ‘tag’ the leaves – they can catch as many leaves as they are able. The foxes try to catch the rabbits by pulling their tails; the rabbits are safe when they are in a crouching position, but they cannot move or tig a leaf when they are in a crouching position, but they cannot move or tig a leaf when they are crouching.
The foxes can only catch one rabbit in any round. When their time is up, call the end of that round. Any rabbit caught by the foxes become foxes as well. If the fox fails to catch a rabbit within any round it ‘dies’ and becomes a leaf. If the rabbit fails to get food, it also becomes a leaf. When the rabbit gets food, the food joins them as a rabbit.
Special Notes: At the end of each round, note how many there are in each group. When the game is over, discuss how the numbers varied – if there are too many rabbits there isn’t enough food, so some of the rabbits die; it is also easier for the foxes to get rabbits, so the number of foxes temporarily increases. However, if there are too many foxes, they can’t all get rabbits, so some die – therefore it becomes easier for the rabbits to get food, and their numbers increase!
Who Am I?
Materials: Scotch Tape & Animal cards with no names on the back
Children guess which animal is on their forehead by asking “yes/no” questions to a partner, or be GIVEN clues by their classmates.
Encourage the student to guess between each clue.
Examples: Am I an animal? Do I fly? Do I live in the forest? Can I swim?
Remind children NOT to say the name on the card before the student guesses correctly
Tips: If students are having trouble guessing their card, you can offer more clues that the students have not already offered.
If students guess their card easily, quiz the class about the item. “Where would we usually see this animal? Do you know what it would normally eat? Has anyone ever seen this animal before? Why is this an important part of our local ecosystem?
Time: 30 mins
Numbers: 15-20
Equipment: at least one blindfold
Location: Anywhere
Stand the children in a circle. Talk about how bats see their food (echolocation). What do bats eat? Often moths. Choose someone to be a bat (I usually choose the one who knew that bats use echolocation) and another child to be the moth. The first two should be sensible children so that the others get an idea of how it works. Blindfold the bat, but not the moth. The bat goes around saying ‘bat!’. Every time the bats says this the moth must reply ‘moth!’. Thus a sort of echolocation can be done. The bat must tag the moth, to eat it. The others in the circle must gently guide the players back into the circle if they hit the edges, and not let them run out. This is both a very good model of the process and an enjoyable game. However, it will take a little effort to make sure it works safely. Possible problems: The bat must keep saying ‘bat’ or it becomes blind man’s buff. Some children can’t cope with saying ‘bat’ at the same time as hunting in the dark. Might be worth practicing without the blindfold. The moth must always reply immediately, and loudly. Cheats get eaten! If it drags on and the bat is obviously not going to get the moth, everyone takes a step in to restrict the area. If the circle is too big or too widely spaced, the bat can escape, and the players can get up enough speed to do some damage! Best to keep the circle small and very closely spaced. To make sure everyone has a go in the time allotted, you can have more than one moth or more than one bat, or both. Choose your ‘opponents’ carefully to make sure that one will not squash the other!
Age group: 6 upwards
Location; Inside or outside.
Ideal numbers: 15-20
Equipment required: ball of string
Amount of time: 10 mins
Reason for playing: to show how the natural world is interlinked, discussion of food-webs.
How to Play: All stand in a circle. One person start of with the ball of string – they choose to be an animal or plant (in the wild or on a farm etc) for example a greenfly. Somebody across the circle is asked to think of something which the greenfly is connected to/eats or is eaten by – for example a ladybird. The greenfly keeps hold of the end of the string, and throws the ball across the circle to the ladybird. The ladybird has to find someone else in the circle who can make a connection to them – possibly a blue tit. They keep hold of the string, and throw the ball – so that gradually a ‘web’ is created linking everybody in the circle. Keep the string taut, people may have to pull back slightly on it Then explain that something has happened to affect one of the players in the circle – it may be that somebody has decided to chop down a particular tree, spray the greenfly or take some other ‘action’. The player affected is asked to ‘die’ sitting down or falling and pulling one the string. Ask the players if any of them felt that ‘tug’ on the string – two other players should have done. See how they will be affected by what has happened – these players ‘die’, and so more feel the tug. Continue until all the circle has felt the string ‘tug’. Some living things on a farm – apple tree, strawberries, bee, clover, cow, farmer, sheep, kale, greenfly, ladybird, wheat, oats. Another way of doing this – go to a natural area and choose species from there. You can use things such as sunshine, air, soil and water – these will be linked to almost everything
Additional Nature Games:
