The Ant Line Carries Pinecones Home

After watching a real line of ants, children become ants who gather pinecones and big leaves from the ground and carry them single file to their hoop 'anthill.' It works on coordination while carrying, observation and cooperation.

How to play

1. Look for ants in the park, crouch down without touching them and watch how they walk in a line carrying food (2 min).
2. The teacher sets two hoops side by side as the anthill and explains: 'We're ants. We walk in a line and carry food home' (1 min).
3. In a line behind the teacher, go find big pinecones and leaves; each ant picks one up and walks back in line to drop it in the anthill (4 min).
4. Now carry the food in different ways: on your head, on your back crawling on all fours, between two ants in a basket (4 min).
5. Sort the anthill: pinecones in one hoop, leaves in the other, and count how much food we stored (2 min).
6. Give the food back to the park by scattering it and wave goodbye to the real ants (1 min).

Rules

• Real ants don't get stepped on or touched.
• We walk in a line with no passing.
• We only pick up pinecones and big leaves from the ground, never from the trees.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: a child in a wheelchair carries the basket on their lap and collects food from the line, or is the queen who sorts the anthill.
• Hearing loss: the line follows a lead ant who holds up a basket to start and to stop.
• Lower skill level: carry only big pinecones with both hands.

Learning goals

• Carry objects in different ways without dropping them.
• Move in a line keeping their place.
• Watch local animals without harming them.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Hoops: 2
• Baskets: 3

Teacher tip

Walk the area first and remove any broken pinecones or small bits that could end up in a mouth; use only big, whole pinecones. Don't route the line over a real anthill.

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