It's Raining! Shelter Under the Table

Children stroll through a pretend meadow and, when the drum makes rain, they hurry on hands and knees to shelter under a table, fitting in as many as needed. It works on getting down and into low spaces quickly and with control, and on sharing the shelter.

How to play

1. Space the tables out, remove the chairs and show how to go in: on hands and knees, head low (2 min).
2. Sunshine: stroll through the meadow, sniff the flowers and flutter the scarves like butterflies (2 min).
3. Rain (drum roll): go to a table, crawl underneath and curl up until the sun comes out (3 min).
4. Thunderstorm (loud beats): only half the tables count, and we must make room for all our friends (3 min).
5. Rainbow: come out slowly and dance with the scarves (1 min).
6. Night falls: lie down next to a table and rest (1 min).

Rules

• I go under the table on hands and knees, never standing.
• There's always room: if a friend comes, I scoot over.
• When I come out, I make sure my head is clear before I stand up.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: their shelter is beside a table, with a cloth held over them by two classmates.
• Autism: they have their own table where they can always shelter alone if they need to.
• Hearing impairment: rain is shown with wiggling fingers moving down; the thunderstorm, by flicking the lights.

Learning goals

• Get down into low spaces with control.
• React to sound signals.
• Share a small space with others.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Tables: 6
• Hand drum: 1
• Scarves: 25

Teacher tip

Remove all the chairs and use corner guards on the tables if you have them. The usual mistake is standing up before being fully out, so practice the exit before playing.

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