The Herd Leaves No One Behind

The whole class is a herd of animals moving together across the savanna; when a baby gets tired and sits down, the herd comes back, gathers around and helps it up. Kids warm up by running as a group and practice helping a friend.

How to play

1. We're a herd of elephants: we all walk together, close to each other, behind the teacher, who is the big elephant (1 min).
2. The herd jogs gently; nobody passes the big elephant and we check that nobody is far away (1 min).
3. The teacher taps a child and says “Tired baby!”: the child sits, the herd comes back, circles around, holds hands and helps them up with an “Up you go!” (1 min).
4. Now we're galloping horses and we help other tired babies (1 min).
5. Two tired babies at once: the herd splits into two groups to help both (1 min).
6. The herd reaches the lake, bends down to drink and breathes slowly (1 min).

Rules

• The herd stays together: nobody runs off alone.
• If a baby sits down, we all go help.
• We hold hands gently, no hard pulling.
• The big elephant leads.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: when they're the baby, the herd circles around and does an arm wave instead of lifting them up.
• Autism: let them know before it's their turn to be the baby and let them choose hand-holding or just being circled.
• Hearing impairment: “Tired baby” is shown with an agreed sign, like touching the forehead and sitting down.

Learning goals

• Run as a group, matching the pace.
• Offer help to a classmate who needs it.
• Warm up with different ways of moving.

Teacher tip

Pick a confident, giggly child as the first baby so the others see it's a fun role. Remind them we help up by holding hands, never by pulling arms.

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