Photo courtesy scol22.
Here’s a simple game that children love to play! With a group of children in a large area, have one child stand, at least 10-20 feet back, facing the other children as they stand against a wall, fence, or other object that can serve as the “safe zone”. The children standing against the wall chant, “Dinosaur, dinosaur, what time is it?” The “dinosaur” replies with any “o’clock” time. The time serves as the number of steps forward the children take. So, if the “dinosaur” says, “5 o’clock”, the children take 5 steps forward. The children continue in this pattern until the “dinosaur” says, “Lunchtime!” At that point, the children run back to the safe zone with the “dinosaur” chasing after them. If the “dinosaur” touches one of the children, that child becomes the next “dinosaur”. (Reinforce to the children, that they only need to touch the child they catch, not push or tackle.)
Besides being a lot of fun, this game promotes health and physical development as the children run. Math skills are reinforced as the children realize that time is kept between 1 and 12 o’clock (you may want to have a clock handy to show them the numbers), and as they count their steps, using a one-to-one ratio. Social skills are supported as the children take turns, follow rules to a simple game, and work together with a group. This game can be adapted to meet other animal themes as the “Dinosaur” part of the chant can be changed to another predator type animal, such as “Alligator”, “Grizzly Bear”, or “Papa/Mama Shark”.
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