Leading Nature Discovery with Active Games

Renell Roebuck ~ Summit Metro Parks

Carly Martin ~ Cleveland Metroparks

Let’s think about the process of blending nature-learning with fun and activity

Audience Concept

SpaceExisting activities

Props

FUN and DISCOVERY!

Think about your audience

• How many in how much time?

• Ages – motor skill level

• Or mixed ages

• Group size

• School vs. voluntary participation programs

• How to involve or busy the adults

Bring in your concepts

• Break them down – where are you trying to lead them?

• Linking the nature concept with a nature phenomenon that is relevant to the audience

• migration

• metamorphosis

• predator - prey relations

• taxonomy

• fecundity

• animal behavior

Think about your space

• Classrooms, indoors

• Gymnasium

• School yard

• Grassy field

• Forest

• Terrain

• Open vs. cluttered

Keep in mind activities you already know

• TAG / sharks and minnows

• relay races

• an obstacle course

• parachute play

• Duck-duck-goose

• Thumb wrestling

• Rock, paper, scissors

• Role play

Props to keep on hand

• Hula hoops

• Cones

• Bandanas

• Clothes line

• Ping pong balls, or bag of collectables

• Tub or bucket

• Parachute

• Crawl-through tubes

Now it’s time to put them togetherMonarch Migration Course

•Audience = Families, voluntary event, 1000+

•Concepts = Monarch life cycle and challenges of migration

• Space = indoor and outdoor, boardwalk over marsh, paved walkway

•Activity base = role play, singing, obstacle course

•Props = extensive

Caterpillars are big, with aposematic coloration and they eat leaves. Be a caterpillar.

It’s time to enter your chrysalis and wait. How long? As long as it takes to sing your ABC’s.

Hatch out and Migrate! It’s a long way from Ohio to Mexico. There are obstacles in your way.

First you have to pass by the birds that are known to eat monarchs

Rain and Wind will push you off-course

Watch for traffic! Get out of the way!

Relative mileage was marked along the route with signs

At the end: A tent with Mexican hot cocoa and Mexican lullabies

Frog Giggly-Wiggly Game

•Audience = school and camp, group size: 10+

•Concepts = frog metamorphosis

• Space = indoor or outdoor, about anywhere

•Activity base = rock, paper, scissors, and role play

•Props = none

Review the frog metamorphosis cycle. Starting with eggs, players can act as the egg mass by squatting low and saying “giggle-wiggly” while shaking their bodies. Then, players can move up to the tadpole stage by standing straight up with arms tight at their sides, swaying side to side and saying, “wiggle-wiggle”. As the tadpole sprouts legs, players extend arms out and make a fish-face sucking sound. Players then transform into frogs by hopping and saying, “peep-peep” or mimicking what local frogs say. As a fun game extension, add on a final phase of transforming your frog into a prince or princess with the classic screw-in-a-lightbulbwave.The players transform from stage to stage in the game by playing rock-paper-scissors. Each player should be doing the motions and sounds for their stage, everyone starting as eggs. Two players in the same stage approach each other and play a round of rock-paper-scissors. The player that wins moves to the next stage while the player that loses moves back a stage. The game repeats itself until no more matches can be made or as time allows

Opossum Game

•Audience = School or camp, group size: 15+

•Concepts = opossum life strategies, predator – prey, adaptations

• Space = outdoor yard or gym, plenty of running room

•Activity base = role play, tag

•Props = 3 hula hoops, 2 bandanas, 3 cones

Explain defensive strategies of opossums and how they translate to game play. Opossums can play dead= fall to your knees anywhere, put your tongue out and count to 10. Opossums hiss to frighten predators= cones are hissing zones, you can be safe on a cone for the length of one hiss. Opossums can hide in a den; hula hoops are dens. 2 opossums can fit in a den at a time. If a third enters, first 2 are ejected. Starting end of field is home and is safe for opossums. Opposite end of field is feeding zone and is safe. If an opossum is tagged by a coyote, they go to the decomposition zone until the next round. Coyotes (2-3 kids) are marked with a bandana. Coyotes chase and tag opossums. No tackling. No puppy guarding. Opossums can use any combination or frequency of strategies for going from home to food and back, twice to survive a game.

Spider Game

•Audience = school or camp, 1st grade or older, group size: 15+

•Concepts = predator-prey, spider hunting strategies

• Space = outdoor yard / lawn

•Activity base = tag and parachute play

•Props = ID wrist bands, cones, parachute

Divide your group of children into 3 groups with identifying wrist tags. One third flies, one third jumping spiders, one third orb weaver spiders. Mark about half of the playing field (in the center) with cones. The jumping spiders can run free in here, ambush hunting. They thumb wrestle any fly they tag. If they win, they trade wrist bands and roles. Flies can also run under the parachute, operated by orb weaving spiders. If the parachute comes down to trap a fly, the fly trades roles with one of the spiders. Flies need to run from end, crossing through the spider zones. They can choose to run through the area occupied by jumping spiders or go under the parachute web operated by orb weaving spiders. Adults should help with the parachute operation so that none of the flies is injured by rough play.

Chipmunk Game

• Audience = young children (3-7 years), small – large group

• Concepts = behavior, predator avoidance, communication, food gathering

• Space = indoor or outdoor, space to run / move, trees or tables a bonus

• Activity base = running and gathering

• Props = ping pong balls, tub, hawk wings, bear head

All of the children are chipmunks. Spread a collection of objects into the playing field. 100-200 ping pong balls will work well. The chipmunks should run around the field and collect the balls, carrying them to and depositing them into a bucket or kiddie pool. There should be enough balls to collect to take 5+ minutes)Explain that chipmunks communicate danger to each other by making either a “chip-chip” call for ground predators or a “chuck-chuck” call for predators in the air. Have an adult run through the group of chipmunks either as a ground predator (a plush fox or similar) or as an areal predator (a plush hawk or similar). The children should respond by either chipping or chucking and either hiding under something for an areal predator or pretending to climb a tree for a ground predator. When the predator is gone, they can resume collection. No chipmunks should be harmed in the play of this game.

Park Rangers

•Audience = kids, schools or camps, 15+

•Concepts = taxonomy, animal characteristics

• Space = large running space, yard or gym

•Activity base = tag

•Props = bandanas, identification cards

· Choose a couple of kids to be the park ranger· Explain that it’s the park ranger’s job to keep an eye on all the animals in the park and they only want certain animals to come through the park at a time.· Give the rest of the kids an animal card and tell them not to show it to anyone.· Give them a chance to look over their cards then have the park ranger yell out who they want to cross the park.· Animals who have fur; animals who can fly; animals who have scales; etc...· If the answer is yes for their animal they try and run across the park without getting tagged by the park rangers.· If they get tagged they become trees in the park. They can pivot on one foot and try and tag the animals as they go by turning them into more trees.· Once all the animals have left one side of the park to get to the other side turn the direction of play and have them try cross the park again with the park ranger’s permission.· Play until there are only one or two animals left. They can be your next park rangers.

Duck, Duck, Pond (grass)

•Audience = young children (3-6)

•Concepts = animal diet or habitat

• Space = just a little moving room

•Activity base = duck, duck, goose game

•Props = none

This game is played just like Duck-Duck-Goose. Except that the children should choose a wild animal (instead of duck) and what it eats (instead of goose). They then go around the circle saying, “duck, duck, duck… grass!”. Or, if you’d like to talk about habitats, you can play the similar, “duck, duck, pond”. No animals should be repeated. Other examples are, “owl-owl… mouse” or “chipmunk-chipmunk… hole in the ground”. The children may need help thinking of which animal to use as their turn or making sure they have the right combination of animal and food or home.

Turtle Races

• Audience = Event, children, some adults, 3 per 2 minutes

• Concepts = turtle life routine

• Space = paved runway (100 feet +)

• Activity base = obstacle course

• Props = scooters, turtle shell costumes, digging pit with food props, beach towels, sidewalk chalk, cones and flagging

Turtle Races

Earth / Worm / Robin

•Audience = school or camp kids, group size: 10+

•Concepts = decomposition, nutrient recycling

• Space = indoor or outdoor, running space

•Activity base = rock, paper, scissors, and tag

•Props = 8 cones

· Divide the group in half and have the two teams line up at the center lines facing each other.· Show them the symbols of the game (it’s like rock, paper, scissors only you use your body to make the symbols)· Symbols:

· Earth(place arms in a circle over your head)· Worm (place arms to side and wiggle like a worm)· Robin (open and close your arms like a robins beak)

· Earth decomposes robin; robin eats worm; worm makes earth.· Each team will then go half way back to their safety line and choose a first and second choice of the symbols. Then they return to the center lines.· At the center lines the instructor counts to three or says “Earth, Worm, Robin” at which time the teams show their first choice symbol. The team whose symbol beats the other then chases (instructor should point in the direction to run) that team back to their safety line. If someone gets tagged they go to the other team for the next round. · If the teams chose the same symbol then recount down and have them try the second symbol.· Repeat for several rounds.

Really Big Reptile Game

•Audience = Any one, 1-8 people at a time

•Concepts = reptile fecundity (life-success and reproduction based on survival)

• Space = 400 square feet of flat and open

•Activity base = stand-on board game

•Props = printed map with reptile path, dice, balls and buckets for scoring

Helpful tips• Repeat after me: rules

• Fastest kids in the class make for the funnest taggers in tag games

• Have kids who are tagged go to the “decomposition” area. Allow them to re-enter game in next round

• When possible use native and wild animals, plants and concepts

• Minimize rules

• Have a plan for what to do with adult “helpers”

• Explain the honor system to rule tattlers

Contact us with questions, success stories or feedback

Renell Roebuck, CIGrroebuck@summitmetroparks.org330-487-0493, ext. 102

Summit Metro ParksLiberty Park Nature Center975 Treaty Line RoadAkron, OH 44313

Carly Martin, CIG, CIPcam@clevelandmetroparks.com440-473-3370

Cleveland MetroparksNorth Chagrin Nature Center3037 SOM Center RoadWilloughby Hills, OH 44094