The Scarecrow Comes to Life
Children are stiff scarecrows in the garden that wake up one body part at a time, until they walk on floppy straw legs and shoo away the birds. They build awareness of each body part and practice going from stiff to loose.
How to play
- Still scarecrows: straight legs, arms out wide and serious faces while the wind blows (1 min).
- The teacher names one part and only that part wakes up: the head nods yes and no, the shoulders go up and down, the hands wave (1 min).
- The straw legs wake up: we walk wobbly and floppy around the garden (1 min).
- Here come the birds! We flap our arms, jump and say “Shoo, shoo!” to scare them off (1 min).
- We hear the farmer: we hurry back to our spot and freeze again with arms out wide (1 min).
Rules
- I only move the part the teacher says.
- On straw legs I walk wobbly without falling on anyone.
- I shoo the birds without touching my friends.
- When the farmer comes, I freeze.
Variations
Easier
For 3-year-olds, the teacher gently taps the part that wakes up and everyone does it together.
Standard
For 4-year-olds, parts are named without touching, plus the bird-shooing game.
Harder
For 5-year-olds, wake up parts on just one side (“only the arm with the bracelet”) and combine two at once.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: wakes up head, shoulders and arms, and shoos the birds by waving arms from their spot.
- Visual impairment: the teacher names each part and gives it a gentle tap so the child knows which one.
- Autism: let them know ahead that the farmer comes at the end so the sudden freeze isn't a surprise.
Learning goals
- Identify and move body parts one at a time.
- Go from a stiff body to a loose one.
- Get moving with walking and jumping.
Teacher tip
Mark each scarecrow spot ahead of time (a tile, a chalk mark) so they have somewhere to return to. Kids often wake up the whole body at once; exaggerate the one part and keep the rest of you totally still.
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