The Octopus Hides Among the Rocks
Children are eight-armed little octopuses swimming along the ocean floor, hiding under, inside or behind the rocks when the shark comes. It builds spatial concepts and floor-level movement.
How to play
- Sitting in a circle, the teacher tells the story of Eight-Arms the octopus who lives on the ocean floor; we wave our arms and legs like tentacles (2 min).
- The little octopuses swim along the ocean floor in different ways: crawling on their tummies, scooting on their bottoms, and on hands and knees waving their arms (3 min).
- We build rocks with propped-up mats and low tables covered with sheets; when the drum beats loudly, "Here comes the shark!", and each octopus hides under, inside or behind a rock (4 min).
- The octopus squirts ink so no one can see it: while hiding it blows "fff" and makes itself tiny; the teacher-shark swims by looking and calls out any tentacle it spots: "I see a foot behind the blue rock!" (3 min).
- The shark swims away: the octopuses come out, give a friend an eight-armed hug, and lie on the sand waving their tentacles very slowly (3 min).
Rules
- We hide carefully, without pushing another octopus.
- Everyone fits under a rock if we curl up small.
- When the shark leaves, we come out slowly.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, the teacher says where to hide ("Everyone under!") and there are just a few big rocks.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, each octopus picks a hiding spot and then says if it was under, inside or behind.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, the teacher asks for specific spots ("behind the red rock") and each octopus also hides one tentacle somewhere different.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: a child in a wheelchair hides behind a sheet held up by a classmate and swims by moving the arms.
- Autism: don't require going into enclosed spaces; the child can hide behind the rock, and give a heads-up before the loud drum.
- Hearing impairment: signal the shark by flicking the lights or putting a fin (hand) on top of your head.
Learning goals
- Understand and use under, inside, behind and in front.
- Move by crawling, scooting and on hands and knees.
- Make quick decisions about where to go.
Equipment for a class of 25
- Mats: 6
- Large sheets: 4
- Hand drum: 1
Teacher tip
Set up the rocks before class and check that the tables don't wobble. At first everyone heads to the same rock, so build several similar rocks spread around the room.
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