The Ostrich Who Hides Its Head

Children are ostriches taking long strides across the savanna and reacting to story cues: hiding from the wind, drinking at the water hole, or peeking over the tall grass. It practices reacting to cues and warms up the body.

How to play

1. The teacher explains that ostriches with super-long legs live on the savanna: we practice the ostrich walk with high knees and little wings (arms) back (1 min).
2. The ostriches stride across the savanna, then jog gently without bumping (1 min).
3. When the teacher says "Sandstorm!", they squat down and hide their heads between their knees; at "All clear!" they stand up and keep going (2 min).
4. Add cues: "Water hole!" they slowly lower their neck to drink; "Tall grass!" they rise onto tiptoes and look far away with a hand over their eyes (1 min).
5. The ostriches gather together and head off to sleep with slow strides and a deep breath (1 min).

Rules

• We take big steps and look where we're going.
• When we hear the cue, we do what it says.
• We hide right where we are, without throwing ourselves on the floor.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: children in wheelchairs stride with their arms and hide their head by leaning toward their knees.
• Hearing impairment: pair each cue with a set gesture (arms over head for the storm, hand over eyes for the grass).
• Less skill: if squatting is hard, they can hide their head while kneeling.

Learning goals

• React quickly to simple cues.
• Change step length and body height.
• Warm up the body gradually.

Teacher tip

Practice each cue once standing still before playing. The common mistake is dropping to the floor too fast, so ask them to go down "like an elevator."

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