Hobbies And Interests
Nature Reenacted
Ask kids to put themselves in the mindset of other living things with this modification of charades. Fill a bag or hat with slips of paper bearing the names of different animals, plants or other natural features. Have each student draw a card and attempt to act out the role while the rest of the group guesses. For older children, make the game more complex by sending four or five kids in front of the group at once. As they act out their roles, encourage them to pick up on the roles of others and interact with them in a realistic way. This game can demonstrate the interconnectedness of ecosystems while generating silly situations.
Scavenger Hunts
Sending kids on a quest evokes a competitive spirit and encourages them to explore the outdoors. Put the students in groups of four or five and give them a list of clues such as "Find something green" or "Find something that smells sweet." Clues for older kids could say, "Find an organism growing on another organism" or "Find evidence that an animal has left behind." For large or difficult-to-gather objects, ask students to simply make a note or a sketch as evidence and remind them that anything they collect must be returned to nature. You can also put a conservation spin on this scavenger hunt by rewarding extra points for any litter collected and properly disposed of.
Cloud Interpretations
For a more relaxing downtime activity, have students lie in a circle on their backs and observe the clouds. The first student must find a shape in the clouds starting with "a" and point it out to the other students. Encourage them to be descriptive, and even to make up a story around their cloud interpretation. The next student finds a "b" word, and the game continues around the circle. This game engages the students' imaginations and demonstrates nature's limitless beauty and complexity.
Endangered Species: Who Am I?
Select animals from the endangered species list in your state and describe them with a series of increasingly descriptive clues. The loggerhead sea turtle's description might begin with "I am an amphibian," "I am an ocean dweller" or "I have a shell" and go on to describe markings and colors or even scientific names. Give the students a chance to raise their hands and guess the animal after each new clue. The first correct guesser gets a certain number of points based on how many clues have been given.