Activity Plan 3-4: Duck, Duck, ... Who???

Play a traditional game with a dramatic twist!

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Ready-to-Use Teaching Ideas:Activity: Dramatic Play

Materials:

• masking tape
• chalk

Objective: Children will express themselves creatively while engaged in a movement game.

To Prepare: Make the outline of a circle using masking tape, or, if you choose to do this activity outside, draw a circle on the playground with a piece of chalk.

Warm-Up: Ask children to think of and talk about different kinds of animals and to take turns pantomiming how each animal moves. Encourage children also to demonstrate the sounds the animals make!

ACTIVITY

1. Invite children to sit in a circle and play a new version of Duck, Duck, Goose. Explain that one child will be a duck, walking around the outside of the circle and quacking while gently tapping each child's head and calling out "Duck" with each tap.

2. When that child comes to someone she wants to have chase her, she taps the child's head, but this time she calls out the name of any animal other than a duck or goose.

3. The "new animal" then has to get up and chase the duck, using the appropriate movements and sounds. The new animal tries to tag the duck before the duck reaches the new animal's spot in the circle. If the duck is tagged before reaching the empty spot, she must sit in the middle of the circle for one round of play.

4. Either way, the new animal now walks around the circle, still using the appropriate movements and echoing the appropriate sounds - calling out his animal name until he chooses a new child for the chase by naming yet another animal.

Remember: Children might need your guidance during the game to ensure that everyone gets a turn being a chaser and a chooser.

Tip: Before you begin the actual physical game, you might want to make a chart together that lists the names of animals and the sounds they make. As children are playing, you can refer to the list for ideas.

Spin-Off: Play an animal pantomime guessing game. Place cards with pictures of different kinds of animals in a bag. Children can take turns closing their eyes and drawing out a card. After they look at the card, they pantomime the movements of that animal while others try to guess what animal it is.

This activity originally appeared in the January, 1999 issue of Early Childhood Today.

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