Here Comes the Wave!

Children walk toward the shore, a rope on the ground where the teacher waits, and when the teacher shouts “Here comes the wave!” they run back to the dry sand while the wave chases them. It practices reacting to a signal and running toward and away.

How to play

1. The teacher lays the rope down as the shoreline and explains: on the sand we stay dry; the teacher is the wave who lives in the sea (1 min).
2. Children walk toward the shore doing beach things: picking up shells, building sandcastles, dipping their toes (1 min).
3. When they hear “Here comes the wave!” everyone runs to the sand and the wave chases a little; anyone who gets wet shakes off like a puppy and keeps playing (2 min).
4. The teacher tricks them: “Here comes the... seagull!” and nobody runs, they just flap their wings (1 min).
5. Low tide: the wave falls asleep and everyone strolls along the pretend shore breathing the sea air (1 min).

Rules

• I only run when I hear “wave.”
• On the dry sand I'm safe.
• If the wave gets me wet, I shake it off and play again.
• I run looking forward, not backward.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the child stops a bit farther from the shore to have the same escape distance, and the wave gives a head start.
• Hearing impairment: the wave signal is lifting the rope in ripples, which is easy to see.
• Autism: preview with a wave card and a seagull card and practice the signal before starting.

Learning goals

• React quickly to a sound cue.
• Run and stop within a marked area.
• Tell the key word apart from trick words.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Long rope: 1

Teacher tip

Leave at least 30 feet between the shore and the dry sand so kids don't pile up at the line. Children tend to look back as they run: remind them “You hear the wave, you don't watch it.”

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