The Families' Giant Goose Game

We draw a giant goose-game board in a spiral on the ground and families are the game pieces: they roll a big die, hop square by square and do a movement challenge on special squares. Landing on a goose, they jump ahead to the next goose saying the traditional Spanish line "de oca a oca y tiro porque me toca" (from goose to goose, and I roll again). It's a classic board game turned into an active game, with no winners: we finish when everyone arrives.

How to play

1. A grandparent explains how the goose game works and its traditional line; the chalk board is already drawn (2 min).
2. Split the families into two groups, each with its own die, and child-and-grown-up pairs line up at the start (1 min).
3. Taking turns, the child rolls the die, counts aloud with their grown-up, and they hop together with feet together as many squares as the dots (5 min).
4. Special squares: bridge (crawl under the grown-up's arms), well (spin around three times), maze (walk backward two squares) (4 min).
5. Families who reach the finish stay and cheer with claps, helping count for those still playing (4 min).
6. Once everyone has arrived, walk the whole spiral hand in hand, slowly (2 min).

Rules

• Roll the die and count with your grown-up.
• Hop square by square without skipping any.
• Land on a goose? Say the rhyme and jump to the next one.
• Nobody wins here: we wait for all the families to arrive.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: move along a board of big squares in a wheelchair or walking; challenges are adapted to the arms (clap, twirl hands).
• Visual impairment: the die has raised dots (large stickers or buttons glued on) and squares are outlined with raised tape.
• Autism: walk through a drawing of the board beforehand, and let them know how many turns until theirs.

Learning goals

• Take turns and follow the rules of a structured game.
• Hop with feet together and count squares.
• Learn a traditional board game shared across generations.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Large sheets of paper or sidewalk chalk: 20
• Large foam die: 2
• Goose pictures: 5

Teacher tip

Draw the board before families arrive, with squares about the size of a grown-up's foot. With two boards or two dice the waits are short; if there's a lot of waiting, those waiting do the square's challenge at the same time.

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