The Giant's Garden: Winter to Spring
Inspired by Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant, children go from frozen plants to a garden waking up in spring. It works on gradually activating the body and showing movement qualities (stiff, loose, light).
How to play
- The teacher tells how a giant shut his garden and it was always winter there. Children are frozen trees and flowers, curled up and shivering (1 min).
- Snow arrives (soft drum taps) and the north wind blows: we move stiffly and coldly without leaving our spot (1 min).
- The giant opens the gate: the village children come in and spring arrives. We wake up bit by bit: fingers, arms, body, and open our flowers with the scarf (2 min).
- It's spring: we stroll around the garden making the scarf fly like butterflies and birds (1 min).
- The teacher switches between “Winter!” and “Spring!” a few times and we all finish in full bloom (1 min).
Rules
- In winter we stay in our spot.
- In spring the scarf flies, but never touches anyone's face.
- When we hear “Winter!”, we freeze right away.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, just winter and spring, with the teacher doing everything up front.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, add the north wind and wake up one body part at a time.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, each child chooses which garden plant or animal they are and shows it in spring.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: everything can be done sitting, with arms, trunk and scarf.
- Autism: preview with two pictures (snowy tree, blooming tree) shown at each change.
- Visual impairment: narrate the changes and let the child feel the scarf before starting.
Learning goals
- Warm up the body gradually.
- Show cold, stiffness and lightness through movement.
- Get to know a classic public-domain story.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Colorful scarves: 25
- Hand drum: 1
Teacher tip
Use a very different voice for winter (low, slow) and spring (bright): it guides them more than the words. There's no need to tell the sad ending of the story.
PatioLab has "The Giant's Garden: Winter to Spring" and 8714 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More warm-ups for Elementary
«Ahora que Vamos Despacio»: The Silly-Fibs Stroll
We stroll very slowly singing the traditional Spanish song «Ahora que vamos despacio» («Now that we're going slowly, let's tell some fibs»), and on each «tralará» we…
«El Cocherito Leré»: The Hopping Carriage
We're carriages trotting around the yard, and on every «leré» in the traditional Spanish song «El cocherito leré» («the little coachman») we jump with feet together.
«Sal de Ahí, Chivita»: The Get-Out-Little-Goat Chain
The little goat won't leave the field, so in this traditional Spanish cumulative song we call the wolf, the dog, the stick, the fire, the water and the ox.
A Bandage Where I'm Tagged
A few children tag holding a scarf; anyone tagged puts on a “bandage” by placing a hand exactly where they were touched and keeps running that way, and after a second…
A Walk Through the Pole Forest
We stand plastic poles upright in cones with holes and the playground becomes a forest of tall trees.
Achoo, Into Your Elbow!
Children move around like animals and when the teacher goes “Ah… ah… achoo!”, they stop and hide their face in their elbow as if sneezing or coughing.