Embedded Files
Silent Sit
Silent Sit
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: Any
Supplies: none
Instruction: Have kids sit in a circle with their backs facing the inside circle and shut their eyes. Give them 30 seconds to identify how many different noises they can hear. When times up have them tell everyone what noises they heard and what they think it was. To add on to this activity you can have them sit for 30 more seconds and see if they can see what all the noises they heard were coming from.
Match Box
Match Box
Type: Restful/ No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: Any
Supplies: Small containers for each camper or pair of campers
Instruction: Each camper (or pair) gets a small container. The camper/pair must then try and place as many different things in their container as possible in a set amount of time. Once time is up each camper/pair will show what they have in their container. This is a great game to play on hike day!
Nature Walk Bingo
Nature Walk Bingo
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: Any
Supplies: Paper and coloring materials
Instruction: This is a good one for the little ones (3-4 years old). Each group has to collect certain items for their “bingo sheet”. Categories could be something green, blue, white etc. Something made of wood. Something square shaped. Something furry. Get creative and just use stuff that is around the area you are using. After each team has filled their bingo sheet, go and look at what each team has collected. You can make these bingo sheets beforehand with art supplies.
Smell
Smell
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: Any
Supplies: 5 or more containers and 5 or more fragrant items
Instruction: Prepare at least five film canister sized jars (or any other container) with smelly stuff inside them. Use items like a fragrant plant, sunscreen, hot cocoa, orange peel, etc. Use as many items from nature as you can! Ask the campers to close their eyes. Walk around with the first substance, holding it under each camper’s nose. During this time make sure the campers do not speak. After each scent has gone around, ask for raised hands, trying to guess which each one was. Have students wet their nose and walk around with the canisters again. This time, the campers should experience an increase in their ability to smell the objects because wet nasal passages capture the scent.
Huckle Buckle Beanstalk
Huckle Buckle Beanstalk
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: 2 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Pick a smallish object. Hide it in plain sight, where nothing has to be moved to find it. The kids look for it, and when they find it, instead of picking it up or pointing to it, they sit down off to the side (away from the object) and say, "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk!" By leaving it there, everyone gets a chance to find it. If they need help finding it, you can play the hotter/colder game. The first one to find it gets to hide it the next time. Make the object and its hiding place as hard or easy as you think is appropriate for your group. Encourage the campers to do their best to not give away the location of the object when they find it.
Bat and Moth
Bat and Moth
Type: Active/Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: Blindfolds (optional)
Instruction: While talking to your campers about nocturnal animals, ask them if they know how bats find their food during the night. Explain the theory of echolocation. Bats send out a screech and it bounces off their prey, and the amount of time it takes to come determines its location. This is an adaptation bats have to better enable them to survive.
Activity: Have the campers make a big circle. Get two volunteers; one is the bat and the other a moth. Blindfold the bat. Everyone else in the circle is the bat’s habitat (trees). The bat begins in the middle of the circle and the moth is moving around within the circle. If the bat bumps into the trees the trees say “Tree!”. The bat walks around inside of the big circle and is trying to find the moth (who is also walking). The bat claps and the moth must clap back. Every time the bat claps, both the bat and moth have to stop. They continue moving after the clap. The game ends when the bat tags the moth. Try to let everyone in the group have a chance as the bat or the moth. Adjust game as necessary to make it easier or harder.
History of an Item
History of an Item
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: Any
Supplies: None
Instruction: Have each camper look for a natural object. They must come up with a story of where the object came from and what it is used for. Kids can partner up to create teamwork with coming up with an elaborate story. The instructors should participate to encourage the campers as well!
Electricity
Electricity
Type: Active/Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: 6 or more
Supplies: 1 ball or other object to grab
Instruction: Divide the group into two teams. Have each team’s members sit one behind the other facing forward, holding hands with the person in front and behind them. The two teams are next to each other, with a ball in between the very last two people. The first person in each line will be the only person that can have their eyes open, and they will watch the coin flipper flip the quarter. When the quarter lands on HEADS, the first person in line is to squeeze the next person’s hand. This will cause a chain reaction and each person should squeeze the next person’s hand after they feel their first hand being squeezed. The last person in line will then retrieve the ball is the winner for that round. After a winner is declared, the person from the end on the winning team will go to the beginning of their line.
The idea is to be the first team to have the person who started at the front, return to the front. If you don’t have or want to use a coin, you can start your thumb in a neutral position and then quickly point it up or down. Pointing your thumb up tells the campers in front to begin squeezing hands. Point your thumbs down is a no go and you can trick teams into false starts.
Barn Yard
Barn Yard
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: Blindfolds (optional)
Instruction: Give each person an animal sound to make. Don’t let other people hear what you are giving them. The group spreads out, closes their eyes and starts making the sounds loudly. They must find other members of their animal group before they can open up their eyes. This is also a nice way to break up the group into smaller groups. Make sure the area that the kids are walking around in is safe of holes and other hazards. Use blindfolds if kids are having trouble keeping their eyes closed. Make the game more challenging by adding in more animal sounds (making sure each animal has at least another to pair with).
Who Is It?
Who Is It?
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: 4 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Have all the kids stand up. You secretly think of one of the children. The kids then ask any Yes or No questions, for instance, "Do they have brown hair?” If the answer is "No," then all in that category (for instance, all campers with brown hair) sit down. All the kids can ask questions, even if they're sitting down. Give each camper an opportunity to ask a question and play until the kids have figured out who you have secretly picked. After you have played one round, give the other campers a chance to lead this activity.
Deer Ears
Deer Ears
Type: Restful/No Contact
Age: Pre K-1st grade
Group size: 2 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Think of a good story. Have your campers face you. Explain that you are going to tell them a story while walking backwards away from them. And as soon as they cannot understand what you are saying, they must raise their hand. Mark the spot of where you are, when everyone has raised their hand. Go back and have them close their eyes and cup their ears and tell the story again while walking away from them. The spot should be further from the group then the first spot. To make sure that the campers heard you, have them recite the story back to you.
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: Any
Supplies: none
Instruction: Circle up your campers and ask them what the five senses of the body are (hear, touch, see, taste, smell.) Explain that they will be using some of their senses to go on a scavenger hunt and identify different objects. For the scavenger hunt, campers will have 30-60 seconds (adjust as needed) per round to find an item that fits your description. Share with the campers that its totally okay if the items they find do not exactly fit the description you gave. encourage them to be creative and do their best! Remind campers to only grab items that are in easy reach and easy to carry. Also remind them to practice LNT! They can point to the object they found without disturbing it if need be. Set boundaries for the activity by walking around an area or pointing out landmarks that indicate the barrier. Begin the Scavenger Hunt! After each round, have campers share the item that they found and why they chose it. Play for 15 min or longer depending on camper interest. Adjust the energy and difficulty of the scavenger hunt each round as needed. You can use this as a restful activity or amp it up and make it a fast paced running activity!
Example items: Something that starts with the letter C, Something red, Something fuzzy, Three different kinds of leaves, Three different colored leaves, Something hard, Something soft, Something that makes a noise, Something that smells, Something that can fit in your hand, Something bigger than your hand, Something circular, Something you could use to build an outdoor shelter, Something that smells, Something you can eat (but don't eat it!), etc. You can even have the campers come up with additional categories on their own for one another!
Owl Eye
Owl Eye
Type: Restful/ No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: Any
Supplies: None
Instruction: Select a camper to be the ‘mouse’. The remaining campers will be the ‘Owls’. Spend ~30 seconds for everyone (‘the owls’) to observe and memorize the current appearance of the mouse. Tell the owls to close their eyes (no peeking!) or have the mouse walk a short distance away and be partially hidden (make sure you can still keep an eye on them). The mouse will change one thing about their appearance (e.g. tying their hair back, taking off a sock, rolling up their sleeves, tucking in their shirt, etc.). While the mouse is altering their appearance, the owl’s countdown from 15. If you find this is too short a time for your campers, adjust it. When the mouse returns, have owls take turns guessing what the mouse changed. Switch mice and repeat so every camper has a chance to be the 'mouse'. If campers are super engaged, cycle through the rotation a couple more times. Encourage the mice to make each round more challenging than the last (ex: Start with the mice just changing one thing about their appearance, then the next rotation, have the mice change multiple things about their appearance at once.
Blind Walk
Blind Walk
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 2 or more
Supplies: Blindfolds (optional)
Instruction: Divide the group into pairs with one member of each pair blindfolded. The seeing partner leads the blind partner on a walk. The walk should be challenging, including such obstacles as climbing over tables, crawling under chairs, walking up or down hills, etc. Challenge the campers to guide their partners using only their words. Give each pair a minute to prepare before they begin. Share any safety concerns with campers before you begin. Have the campers go for a specific amount of time before they switch.
Camouflage
Camouflage
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 2 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Make sure you are in an area free of hazards (poison ivy, thorns, etc.) and that there are enough places to hide. One camper is chosen to be the spotter and has to stand in one place, shuts their eyes and counts to 30 while the rest of the group hides. The campers who are hiding must hide in a place where they can see the spotter. When the spotter opens their eyes, they have to scan the area and try to find the rest of the group without moving. They can circle in place to view around them. If the spotter sees a hiding camper, they must call out who it is that they see, or at least the item of clothing that they see (ex: yellow shirt). When a camper has been found, they must stand up and hang out by the spotter. Once the spotter has found all that they can find in that round, they will close their eyes again and counts to 15. During this countdown, those who were not found and are still hiding must find a new hiding spot that is closer to the spotter than they were before. After 15 seconds, the spotter opens their eyes and begins looking again. This continues for 3 rounds. If not all the campers are found after 3 rounds, the spotter will close their eyes and begin counting to 15 again. The camper who is hiding and can run up and touch the spotter first will be the winner! The winner becomes the new spotter.
Optional: After each round, you can have the spotter hold up a number on one hand so the remaining hiding campers can see it. After the 3 rounds, the first camper to tag the spotter must be able to recite the 3 numbers that were held up after each round, if they can’t (demonstrating that they weren’t hiding in a place where they could see the spotter), then the next camper who tagged the spotter has a chance to recite the correct 3 numbers and win!
Sardines
Sardines
Type: Active/Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 6 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction:Gather everyone together and explain the rules and boundaries of the game. Be sure to keep everyone safe and ensure no one wanders into areas that they aren’t supposed to be in. When everyone understands the rules and boundaries, ask for a volunteer to be the first person to hide. Give the person a set amount of time (e.g. a few minutes) to hide, while everyone else closes their eyes or sits in a neutral spot away from the playing area. When time is up, everyone splits up and tries to find the hidden person. When someone finds the hidden person, the game is not over! The person who found the hidden person quietly hides alongside them. Over time, several people will be hidden together, resembling a bunch of sardines.
The last person to find the hidden party loses that round. They then are the next person to hide. Alternatively, you can reward the first person to find the hidden person by allowing that person to hide if they want to.There are other variations to this game, such as playing it in pairs. This adds a little more teamwork to the game.
Animal Charades
Animal Charades
Type: Active/No Contact
Age: Any
Group size: 3 or more
Supplies: None
Instruction: Select one camper to act first. Everyone else countdown from 10 while the acting camper thinks of an animal to act like. Camper acts out their chosen animal (no sounds or words!). Other campers guess what the animal is. Whoever guesses correctly is the next one to act. Continue as long as campers are engaged and time permits. Feel free to switch up the category of thing the campers are acting out (ex: adventure sports, movies, food, etc.)
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