Hot or Cold With Drum and Cards
Children search for a hidden stuffed animal, guided at the same time by a drum that speeds up as they get closer and a red or blue card that means hot or cold. It builds spatial orientation and helping each other, with clues that reach everyone.
How to play
- Teach the clues: fast drum and red card mean "hot"; slow drum and blue card mean "cold" (1 min).
- Everyone searches: the teacher hides the stuffed animal and the whole group looks for it following the clues (2 min).
- A pair of searchers covers their eyes while the group hides the toy; then they search holding hands, following the clues (4 min).
- One child plays the drum and another holds up the card, switching roles each round (3 min).
- Last hide: the group hides it and the teacher searches, getting it wrong a lot to make everyone laugh (2 min).
Rules
- The drum and the card say the same thing at the same time.
- I don't say where it is with words.
- Searchers hold hands.
- We hide the toy where everyone can reach it.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, everyone searches at once and the toy is hidden in plain sight, just under a cloth.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, pairs search while the others give clues.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, add "warm" (medium drum and yellow card) and searchers travel a chosen way: crawling, sideways.
Adaptations
- Blind or low vision: the drum is the child's clue; they search holding a buddy's hand, and the toy is hidden at a height they can touch.
- Deaf or hard of hearing: the card is their clue, held up by someone who always stays in their line of sight.
- Limited mobility: hide the toy at wheelchair height and let the search pair go at the child's pace.
Learning goals
- Find their way around a space by following clues.
- Interpret sound and visual signals.
- Help a classmate reach the goal.
Equipment for a class of 25
- large stuffed animal: 1
- drum: 1
- red card: 1
- blue card: 1
Teacher tip
Practice "hot" and "cold" drumming on your own first: speeding up gradually is harder than it sounds. The classic mistake is the group yelling "There!": agree on a zip-your-lips gesture.
PatioLab has "Hot or Cold With Drum and Cards" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
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