The Ants and the Grasshopper
A movement story based on the Ant and the Grasshopper fable: ants carry food to the anthill in many different ways while the grasshopper dances, and when winter comes everyone shares. Kids practice carrying objects, teamwork and kindness.
How to play
- Before class, scatter balls and beanbags around the gym (food) and set two open cardboard boxes in a corner (anthill).
- Circle (2 min): 'It's summer. The ants are saving food for winter, and the grasshopper just wants to sing.' Two kids are grasshoppers; the rest are ants.
- Carrying (5 min): ants bring food to the anthill one piece at a time, the way you call out: in a hand, on the head, under an arm, crawling and pushing it. The grasshoppers dance to the music.
- Two together (3 min): 'This food is huge!' In pairs, kids carry a ball held between their hands, or between their tummies, walking sideways. Every minute, two new grasshoppers.
- Winter comes (3 min): stop the music. Blow like the wind: everyone shivers and walks hunched up. The grasshoppers are cold and knock on the anthill.
- Sharing (2 min): the ants invite the grasshoppers in: everyone squeezes into the corner, sits close and you hand out pretend food to each child.
Rules
- One piece of food at a time.
- Walk, don't run, with the food.
- In pairs carrying with tummies, no hands on the ball.
- There's room for everyone in the anthill.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, skip partner carrying and just carry in a hand.
Standard
Solo carrying plus partner carrying.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, groups of three carry a big ball with no hands.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: carry food on the lap or be a grasshopper clapping the beat.
- Shy kids: can stay an ant with a friend instead of being a grasshopper.
- More skilled kids carry the beanbag on the head; less skilled kids carry it in a hand.
Learning goals
- Carry objects in different ways.
- Work with a partner to carry something together.
- Share with others at the end of the story.
Equipment for a class of 25
- soft balls: 10
- beanbags: 20
- cardboard boxes: 2
- music: 1
Teacher tip
Let everyone be a grasshopper at some point, even briefly. Drop the harsh moral: in this version the ants always share.
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