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Get Moving!

Sometimes kids just need to MOVE! They have crazies that they need to wiggle out. These educational games will help with that!

Bird and Mammal Yoga

Bird Yoga with Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance

Bird yoga is a great way to get kids moving and learning at the same time! While children move through poses like “American Bittern” and “Greater Prairie-Chicken”, instructor Carolyn Byers will share tidbits about the ecology and natural history of each species. Stretching, strength-building, and curiosity-creating.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/52s-ThiF_e4

Watch on Facebook (and comment, we’ll get back to you!): https://www.facebook.com/MadisonAudubon/videos/213517259885074/

Teachers: if you’re sharing this with kids using school Chromebooks you’ll need to give them access first!

Wildlife Yoga

Interested in Wildlife Yoga instead? Check out this lesson created by the folks from Snapshot Wisconsin (WDNR).

Wildlife Yoga Lesson Download

Owl Eyes

This tag-based game will let us see what it’s like to be a hunting owl. Great for kids in grades K-5, you’ll need space to run and at least two people.

First, make your owl goggles!

You can make them fancy or simple, but the important part is that they block your peripheral vision. The simplest way to make them is to take two empty toilet paper rolls (or cut a paper towel roll in half) and make binoculars with them. Cut about 1 inch off of the end of both of them, and use one of those smaller circles as a spacer between the “eyes”. Use hot glue or staples to hold them in place. Hold them up to your eyes like binoculars and find the point closest to your ears. Mark this point using a pencil. Use that pencil to poke one hole on each side where you marked, and use string or ribbon to tie them to your head! Now you’re ready to play.

The facts kids need to learn:

1. Owls have REALLY big eyes. This lets a lot of light into their eye, even when it’s nighttime.

2. Owl eyes are SO big that they can’t move their eyes in their head.

3. Everyone roll their eyes to the left. Now the right. Now pretend your teachers asked you to clean up an art project- give us your biggest eye rolls ever. Owls can’t do that! Instead of moving their eyes to look at something, what do owls do? They turn their head.

4. Owls can’t turn their head ALL of the way around. They can get about ¾ the way around (so, if they were looking straight ahead, they could turn to look over their right shoulder, behind them, and continue to look over their left shoulder!) By not turning their head all of the way around, they’re protecting their spinal chord and all of their nerves.

Introducing the game:

1. We’re going to learn what it feels like to have to turn our heads instead of our eyes.

2. This game is basically like sharks and minnows. Most of the kids are going to get to be mice. They’ll run from one side of the game to the other trying to avoid getting caught. [Set up boundaries now]

3. One person will get to be an owl. They’ll wear these Owl Goggles to make their vision a little bit more like an owl’s.

4. Remember, our owls will be gentle taggers. No pushing or grabbing.

5. If you get tagged, you’ll have to come to the [pick a place: tree, patio, etc] to get digested. You’ll get to play the next round.

6. We’ll switch owls, so everyone will get a turn.

   • If you’re just playing with one kid and one adult, make it more exciting by giving the mouse places to hide. Just be sure they won’t be dangerous if the owl bumps into them or trips over them.

There are many versions of this on the internet. SoWBA has been playing this adapted version for so long that we’re not quite sure where it has come from!

Owl Ears

In this no-running game kids will learn how to listen like an owl. Great for kids in grades K-5, you’ll need a small space to play (at least for feet square) and at least two people. You’ll also need something to use as a blindfold (bandanna, scarf) and a piece of paper.

The facts kids need to learn:

1. Owls have excellent hearing. Some owls can even listen to what’s happening under the snow, and catch mice THROUGH the snow! Wow!

2. A lot of owls have ears that aren’t level: if they were wearing sunglasses, they would be crooked! This means that sound reaches each ear at a slightly different time, and it helps the owls figure out exactly where the sound is coming from.

Introducing the game:

1. We’re going to learn what it’s like to listen like owls!

2. Everyone will stand in a circle. You’ll be trees in the forest. If you are playing with a small number of people, use something else to denote the circle: the edge of a rug, a blanket, or a rope on the floor all work well.

3. One person will be a mouse. You’ll walk or run along the outside of the circle. Remember, be sneaky! You’ll have a piece of paper to crinkle, and we’ll pretend that you’re rustling leaves as you move through the forest floor.

4. One person will be an owl. You’ll stand in the center of the circle and wear a blindfold. You’ll stand in one place, but you can spin in a circle if you need to. Use your ears to listen for the mouse. Point to where you think the mouse is- that’s how we’ll pretend you’re catching the mouse. If you point to EXACTLY where the mouse is, you catch it!

   • If the game is too easy, have the “trees” make nature sounds to hide the sound of the mouse.

   • If the game is too hard, have the mouse say “squeak” occasionally

There are many versions of this on the internet. SoWBA has been playing this adapted version for so long that we’re not quite sure where it has come from!

Migration Obstacle Course

This lesson is one piece of our larger Climate Change Curriculum.

Kids are introduced to the topic of migration and the impacts climate change will have on it. They learn how birds migrate, which birds migrate, and how they migrate. Energy is discussed, as well as the fine balance between having enough fat reserves to migrate and eating so much that the bird is unable to fly.

Great for all kids, but especially those in grades 2-8. You’ll need some space to spread out and run!

To play you’ll need things that you can find in your home: blankets or pillows, t-shirts, etc. Read over the suggested supplies and then swap things out for what you have on hand.

Download the full lesson description here!

A note on the Bird ID cards mentioned in the lesson description: if you want to use them, you can download and print them here. They’re not necessary though, and you can play without them!

Variation: Place a number of items representing food at the finish line and tell the kids to “migrate” across, grab their food and migrate back.  Discuss how vital the food item is, as they will not have the energy to survive/return (get through the obstacles) if they do not eat.  Each round, take away or place more “food” at the finish line, giving reasoning each time.  Ex. “There was a heatwave and your main food source is low.”  If they cannot find a food item, they are out for that round.  Try to keep the stakes/energy low so competitive kids don’t get too worked up if they don’t get a food item.  If they are out one round, they “hatch” at the starting line for the next round. 

SoWBA Lesson, Variation adapted from Migration Mania! By Peace Corps

Metamorphosis Obstacle Course

Great for kids K-5. You’ll need a space to run, and the course could be set up in a line or circle.  

Make your own obstacle course: cut up pieces of construction paper: green for algae/aquatic plants, black for flies. You don’t need construction paper: any paper will work as long as you can differentiate between the algae & flies. Try drawing flies onto half of he pieces! You’ll need something to mark the boundary of your pond (rope or pillows), something to be a “burrow” (two chairs back-to-back with a towel draped over them), and something that kids will need to weave through (pillows, backpacks, books).

Set it up:

1. Station one is the ‘pond’. Mark the boundary and scatter the algae pieces in the pond.

2. Station two is crawling out of the pond. Set up four cones/pillows/backpacks in a line perpendicular to the pond so that the kids can crawl between them.

3. Station three is the marsh. Scatter the insect pieces.

4. Station four is the tunnel. Set up two chairs across from each other and drape the towel over them.

As you explain the rules, go through the obstacle course as an example. Have the kids start at the edge of the pond, curled into a tight ball while squatting down on their heels. They’re pretending to be eggs!

How to play:

Step 1: TADPOLE

You are one of thousands of tadpoles that have hatched from frog eggs in the pond. Tadpoles start as herbivores. What does this mean? You eat algae and other plants. Do tadpoles have legs? No! They only have a tail. Stand on one leg (your tail) and hop through the pond, picking up three pieces of algae.

Step 2: YOUNG FROG

You have grown legs, developed lungs, and absorbed your tail. This is called metamorphosis. You can now crawl as a small frog. Crawl out of the pond by weaving through the four cones.

Step 3: ADULT FROG

You are out of the pond. Now that you are a frog, you are officially a carnivore. What do carnivores eat? You need to find three insects in the leaves. Remember, you need to hop!

Step 4: COLD BLOODED

Since you are an amphibian, you are cold blooded and therefore, if it’s hot out you become hot, if it’s cold out, you become cold. Right now, it’s summertime and you are HOT! Your skin needs to stay moist but it’s drying out. Burrow through the tunnel to cool off. Frogs dig their tunnels with their rear legs, so make sure you go backwards through the tunnel.

Step 5: LAY YOUR EGGS

After hibernating, it’s time to return to the pond and lay your own eggs. Unfortunately, while you were hibernating someone built a road between you and the pond so you will need to run as fast as you can to avoid getting hit by a car.

Have the kids go through the obstacle course once (one-at-a-time or together). Then time kids as they go through a few more times. Challenge them to beat their personal best times.

Deer Tag

Great for kids K-5. You’ll need a space to run. It’s possible to play with only two people, but best with 4 or more.

Select a local predator of deer and then discuss how different deer have different traits and abilities.  Tell the kids that they will all be deer but then select various kids to be old, mothers and babies, sick, young, etc.  Some can have Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and you can talk to the kids about how this affects deer. 

Then assign the rules for these deer.  Ex. old deer can’t run, they can only walk; mothers and babies have to run next to each other; deer with CWD run around in circles, etc.  The deer will then run around and try not to be tagged by the predator.  You can play having the deer run from one safe place to another (like sharks and minnows) or just having the deer run until they’re caught.

When all the deer are tagged talk to the kids about which deer were eaten first.  Compare that with which deer hunters tend to shoot; talk about what the effects of this might be.  Play multiple rounds, switching up roles.  The kids can suggest additional roles for deer (hungry and preoccupied with looking for food, injured, etc) and ways that they should move. . 

Originally Deer/Antelope Hunter by Peace Corps, with adaptations from SoWBA

Tree Tag

Great for kids K-5. You’ll need a space to run. It’s possible to play with only two people, but best with 4 or more.

For this game you’ll need to find open green space with fair number of trees.

Take kids on a nature hike, sharing the names of different trees they see along the way.  Set up the game in an open area where trees are within a safe distance.  Explain that kids will play tag (one kid is the “tagger” and the other kids try not to get tagged. Explain that the trees will be safe zones during this game: if a kid is touching a specific tree, they cannot be tagged. The safe zone will be whichever tree you shout out while they are playing.  If they run to the wrong species of tree, they are not safe and can be tagged.  You can either tell them when they are at the wrong tree or leave it to whoever is “it” that round to determine when their classmates have misidentified a tree.  Call out various trees so that kids have to move every few minutes. 

Make it harder: Kids who are tagged become “it” as well until only one person is left.

Created by Peace Corps with adaptations from SoWBA

Bat and Moth

Great for kids K-8. You’ll need a small space to move around in. This game is possible to play with only two people, but best with 4 or more.

Materials: Blindfold, optional shakers

Facts kids need to know:

1. Most bats use echolocation to experience their world. Watch this video to learn more (Younger Kids) (Older Kids)

2. Most bats use echolocation to hunt their food, and many bats eat insects like moths.

Playing the game:

If you’re playing with several people, form a circle. If there are only two people, you’ll just start by standing a few feet apart. Choose one person to start as the bat, blindfold them and lead them to the center of the circle.  Talk to the group about how bats use echolocation!  Choose one person to start as a moth: they’ll be the bat’s food source for this activity.  The bat will simulate echolocation by making a small sound or saying a word (ex. Bat, moth, beep, etc.) which the moths all have to repeat (like they’re playing Marco Polo).  

Using the responses as clues, the bat will try to tag moths.  The kids in the circle are tasked with making sure the bat and the moths don’t drift outside the boundary. If there are not enough people to form a circle, the moths must help keep the bat from bumping into things! If moths are tagged, they join the circle.  Moths must walk, if they run, they are automatically caught and join the circle.  This is important so the bat doesn’t run while blindfolded and hurt themselves.  The last moth to be tagged starts the next round as the bat.

Variation: Switch up the animals!  Instead of discussing echolocation, discuss how some predators rely on their hearing to catch prey.  Example: owl and vole or dolphin and fish

Variation using shakers: find two different tupperware containers and fill them with objects that will make different noises (beans, rice, coins). The bat shakes one, and the moth must shake the other in response.

Created by Peace Corps with adaptations from SoWBA

Predator / Prey Tag

Great for kids K-8. You’ll need space to run. This game is possible to play with only two people, but best with 3 or more.

Information kids need to know:

Predators are what we call animals that eat other animals. Prey animals are the ones who get eaten. Sometimes an animal can be both predator and prey: A bass is a predator when it eats smaller fish, but a prey animal when it gets eaten by an Osprey.

Playing the game:

Have the kids pick a native predator and discuss what they eat. Have kids pick one prey animal the predator will eat for this game. Pick who will be the predator to start, and everyone else will be prey animals. Kids will play tag with the predator trying to tag the prey. Predators will be gentle: no pushing or grabbing! When a kid is tagged, they become a predator too. The last kid/prey animal to be tagged starts the next round as the predator.  Have the kids pick new predator and prey species for each round.