Lemonade, What's Your Trade?

Two teams face each other: one secretly picks a job, walks up with the traditional call-and-response, and acts it out; when the other team guesses it, they chase the actors back home. Students work on expressive movement, reaction time, and running.

How to play

1. Mark two home lines with cones 50 ft apart and split the class into two teams of 12-13 in different colored pinnies (2 min).
2. Team A quietly picks a job (baker, painter, firefighter...) and walks to 6 ft from Team B saying "Here we come!"; Team B asks "What's your trade?" (1 min).
3. Team A acts it out silently while Team B calls out guesses. On the right answer, Team A runs home and Team B chases; tagged players switch pinnies and join Team B (1 min per round).
4. Switch roles every round and play about 12 rounds (14 min).
5. Finish by counting players on each team and naming the best-acted jobs (1 min).

Rules

• Chasers leave only after the correct job is named; an early start gives one player back.
• Actors may not talk or make sounds.
• Tag with an open hand on the back, no pushing or grabbing clothes.
• Safety: keep home lines at least 10 ft from walls and fences.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student is the lead guesser and starts 10 ft closer to home when escaping.
• Shy students or students with autism: they act beside a trusted partner, using picture cards of jobs.
• Lower fitness: the student chases or escapes from a halfway line.

Learning goals

• Show jobs clearly with the whole body, in sync with the group.
• React to a verbal cue by switching from acting to running.
• Follow the call-and-response and rules of a traditional street game.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 8
• pinnies: 26

Teacher tip

Practice five jobs together first to give younger students ideas. Watch for early starts; they cause most arguments.

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