Feeding Time at the Zoo
The zoo animals are napping, and when the zookeeper announces a food, everyone turns into the animal that eats it and heads to its feeding area: bananas for monkeys, honey for bears, carrots for kangaroos and flies for frogs. It works on reacting to a signal and switching how we move.
How to play
- The teacher marks four feeding areas with colored cones and shows which animal eats at each one and how it moves: monkey with dangling arms, bear on hands and feet, kangaroo with two-foot jumps and frog with crouched hops (3 min).
- Nap time at the zoo: everyone lies down around the playground; the drum sounds, the teacher calls a food, and everyone goes to that area as the animal that eats it and pretends to eat (3 min).
- Full game: the teacher mixes all four foods, and between meals the animals go back to nap anywhere they like (4 min).
- A child becomes the zookeeper with the drum and calls the food; several kids take turns (3 min).
- The animals with full tummies lie down, rub their bellies and fall asleep (1 min).
Rules
- I listen for the food and turn into the animal that eats it.
- I go to the feeding area without bumping other animals.
- There's room for everyone at the feeding area.
- When I finish eating, I go back to my nap.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, only two feeding areas (bananas and honey), and the teacher moves along with the animals.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, all four feeding areas with the teacher as zookeeper.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, add fish for seals (sliding on a mat) and double meals (“bananas, then honey”) that they must remember.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: goes to the feeding area in their own way, doing the animal motion with their arms.
- Hearing loss: the zookeeper shows a picture card of the food while calling it.
- Visual impairment: place the feeding areas next to landmarks the child knows (the water fountain, the door) and pair them with a buddy.
Learning goals
- Respond to a signal with the right way of moving.
- Switch quickly from one way of moving to another.
- Find their way in the space to the right feeding area.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Colored cones: 16
- Hand drum: 1
Teacher tip
Make big feeding areas (a ring of cones) so 25 kids don't pile up in one hoop. Kids often all just run the same way; pause and ask “Is that how a bear walks?” before carrying on.
PatioLab has "Feeding Time at the Zoo" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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