How Many Kids Can Hug This Tree?

Children look for trees with different-sized trunks and find out how many friends need to hold hands to hug each one together. It builds cooperation, a sense of size and a connection with nature.

How to play

1. Look at three trees, one thin, one medium and one thick, and guess: 'How many kids will it take to hug this one?' (2 min).
2. Each child hugs the thin tree alone, then in pairs (2 min).
3. At the medium tree, add children one by one, holding hands around the trunk until the hug closes, and count how many (3 min).
4. At the thick tree, same thing: 'One more! Who's next?' until the circle around the trunk closes (3 min).
5. With the hug closed, rest an ear against the bark, listen and say 'Thank you, tree' (2 min).

Rules

• We hug gently and don't pull off bark or branches.
• We hold hands without pulling.
• We wait to be called before joining the hug.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: a child in a wheelchair joins the hug by holding friends' hands from the path next to the trunk.
• Visual impairment: feel each tree's bark and notice with the arms whether it's thin or thick.
• Autism: the child can just touch the trunk with a hand if they don't want to hold hands, and join at the end.

Learning goals

• Cooperate to reach a shared goal.
• Compare trunk sizes using their own bodies.
• Value and care for the park's trees.

Teacher tip

Pick trees with no thorns or sticky sap and clean ground around them. Closing the hug is a big deal for them: celebrate every time, even if it only takes three kids.

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