Nature Games

Summer vacation is just around the corner! As you plan your last few weeks (or days!) of school keep these fun nature-based games in mind for students. Track and field days would be a fun way to incorporate one of these fun, active, outdoor animal games!

Critter Crawl

Students compete as teams in a relay race. The first student in each line moves like the assigned animal to advance to each station. Each student completes the course. For older students, add a free station where each student can choose an animal movement.

Station 1 – slither like a snake

Station 2 – hop like a bunny

Station 3 – fly like a bird (flap arms)

Station 4 – walk like an elephant (legs straight, arms straight – extended in front)

Station 5 – gallop like a horse

Thumper in the Thicket

Arrange hula hoops across the playing area. Divide students into two groups: rabbits and foxes. Rabbits start on one side of the playing field and the foxes on the opposite side. At a signal the rabbits hop to the safe place (hula hoop) before getting tagged by a fox; there can only be two rabbits per safe place. If tagged by a fox, they become a fox. At the end of each round a safe place (hula hoop) is removed. Continue removing safe places until one remains.

Deer Tag

Select 2-4 students to be hunters. The remaining students are deer in a forest. Hunters are positioned across the play area. Deer start at one end of the “forest” and try to get to the other side without being tagged by a hunter. As deer are tagged, they become hunters. As an extra challenge, include restrictions on how the hunters can tag the deer (e.g. right hand only, one hand behind their back, hopping on one foot).

For older students, partition the play area in fourths or halves. Limit the number of hunters allowed in each area.

Wildlife Charades

Give each student a slip of paper and ask him/her to write down a name of an animal they see in their backyard or on the playground. Put the slips of paper into a hat. One at a time, each student pulls a slip of paper from the hat. He/she must act out how that animal moves, looks, or acts in nature, while the other students try to guess what kind of animal it is. There can be no sounds, only actions. For younger students, cut out pictures of wildlife commonly found it Iowa and have the kids pull out a picture and imitate that animal. This could also be a group activity. Students could work as teams and together act out the animal while the other team guesses what kind of animal it is.

Leap Frog

Mark off two parallel lines (using chalk, masking tape, or rope) two to three feet apart to create a stream. For large groups, create several streams to keep all students active. Students line up on both sides of the stream, facing each other (towards the middle). Outside of the lines are the “banks of the stream” and the middle is “in the stream.” The leader will call out one of two commands: “in the stream” or “on the bank.” Students must leap like frogs according to the command. If a player follows the wrong command, they must sit out. The leader can repeat the command “in the stream” while players are in the stream and if any student moves, they are out of the game. To add further challenge, the leader can give false commands like the “in the lake” or “in the ocean.” Students should only move to the commands “in the stream” or “on the bank.”

One Fish, Two Fish

Designate 2 students as ducks. The remaining students are fish. Fish are scattered throughout the pond. When the music begins the fish “swim” around the pond. The ducks waddle around trying to tag the fish. If a fish is tagged he/she becomes a duck and tries to tag the fish. When the music stops all fish must freeze. The ducks continue to waddle around trying to tag the frozen fish. If a frozen fish moves while the music is stopped, he/she becomes a duck. When the music starts again, fish begin to swim. Continue until 2 fish remain. You can repeat the game with the last 2 fish becoming the new ducks.

Pheasant Hunt

Students form a line alternately facing in opposite directions in a squatting position. The first student in line is the "pheasant" and may run around the line in either direction. The last student is the "fox." The fox must run around the line in the same direction he/she starts, trying to catch the “pheasant.” The "fox" can step into line behind a player, tap his/her shoulder, and change places with him/her. When the "pheasant" is caught, the "fox" becomes the "pheasant" and the tagged "pheasant" gets in line opposite from the "fox" starting end. A new "fox" starts the chase anew.

The Hungry Caterpillar

Scatter small balls or cones across the play area. Divide students into small groups. Each group is a hungry caterpillar searching for food. The first student in each group is the caterpillar’s head and the remaining students are the body. The last student carries a ball bag. Caterpillars must travel around the play area in single file, holding onto the student in front of them. Each caterpillar must collect as much food (balls) as possible within the time limit (30 sec - 120 sec). Only the head of the caterpillar can guide the body and only the head can pick up the food (one at a time) and pass it back through the body. The food must be passed to each student down the line (as in relay) to where it is collected in the caterpillar's stomach (ball bag). To increase difficulty, designate a specific method in which the food must be passed (e.g., using left hand only, passing to the rear over the head, under the legs).

Metamorphosis Relay

Students are butterflies racing through their various life stages. Divide students into two teams. Students begin the race in a curled up position to represent an egg.

Station 1 – the caterpillar: students wiggle through a maze, searching for food

Station 2 – the chrysalis: students climb into a burlap sack and race to the next station

Station 3 – the adult caterpillar: students grab a colorful scarf and “flies” to the finish line

How Many Coyotes Can Live in this Forest?

Students are coyotes collecting food to survive. For a group of 25 – 30 coyotes, spread 25 each of 4 colors (green, blue, yellow, red) of rubber bands throughout the playing area. Each color of rubber band represents a different food in the coyote’s diet (green – plants; blue – cottontail rabbits; yellow – mice; red – deer). Place a plastic bag at the start line for each student. Students must gallop through the play area, pick up one colored rubber band, gallop back to the start line, put the rubber band in their plastic bag, and gallop back to collect more food. Students can pick up only one rubber band at a time. Continue until all the rubber bands have been collected. Have each student count how many of each color rubber band they collected in their bags. In order to survive, each coyote needs to have 7 green rubber bands, 7 blue rubber bands, 6 yellow rubber bands, and 2 red rubber bands.

Protect Your Harvest

Place 4 hula hoops in each corner of the playing area (make sure there is room around each side of the hula hoops for the students to move around them in a safe manner). Choose 4 students to be squirrels. Place a bucket in the middle with four bean bags. Each squirrel grabs a bean bag from the bucket and places it inside one of the hula hoops. Squirrels must stand outside the hula hoop and guard their nut (bean bag). The rest of the class moves around the hula hoops, trying to steal the nuts. Squirrels try to tag the thieves and stop them from stealing their nut. If a thief is tagged, he/she must move to the next hula hoop. If a thief successfully steals the bean bag without being tagged, he/she becomes the new squirrel. The old squirrel joins the rest of the class and tries to steal the nuts.

Nature Boogie

Students work in small groups. Show students pictures of plants and animals commonly found in Iowa. As a group, students chose plants and animals and create a series of dance movements (e.g., horse trot, dog shake, bunny hop, frog leap, cat pounce, snake slither, grapevine). Groups perform their dance for the class. For older students, encourage groups to incorporate music into the dance routines.