Giants and Elves Trick Commands
A classic attention game: on giants, everyone stretches up on tiptoes with arms high, and on elves, they crouch down small. The teacher slips in trick commands and adds giant or tiny body parts to play with posture and size, much like Simon Says with a twist.
How to play
- Arrange students in a big circle, standing an arm's length apart. The teacher stands in the middle with a hand drum (1 min).
- Basic round: giants, everyone on tiptoes with arms way up; elves, crouched with hands on knees. The teacher switches faster and faster (3 min).
- Add tricks: the teacher says gi-gi-giraffes, elbows or fake giants, and nobody moves. Anyone who moves claps once and keeps playing (3 min).
- Giant and tiny body parts: giant arms with tiny legs, meaning crouched with arms up; giant legs with tiny arms, on tiptoes with arms tucked in (4 min).
- In groups of five, one student is the leader who gives commands to the group. Switch leaders every minute (3 min).
- To finish, giants travel around the space with huge steps and elves with tiny steps on command (1 min).
Rules
- No one is out; anyone who slips claps once and keeps going.
- When crouching, keep feet flat so you don't tip backward.
- Stay an arm's length from classmates.
- Trick commands aren't used over and over to catch one person.
Variations
Easier
Only giants and elves commands, at a slow pace with the teacher modeling.
Standard
Regular and trick commands at a changing pace.
Harder
Combine giant and tiny body parts, add left and right sides and traveling.
Adaptations
- For a student in a wheelchair, make giants by stretching arms and trunk and elves by shrugging shoulders and tucking the head toward the knees.
- For students who are deaf or hard of hearing, raise or lower the hand drum with each command as a visual cue.
- For students who need more intensity, turn the elf into a squat that jumps up into a giant.
Learning goals
- Hold opposite postures of stretching tall and curling small.
- Stay focused and respond only to the correct signal.
- Combine different positions in the upper and lower body.
Equipment for a class of 25
- hand drum: 1
Teacher tip
To keep the energy up, change the pace unpredictably and celebrate the surprised faces when kids fall for a trick.
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