Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Games Indoor Games Barnyard Fun Barnyard Jam Chicken Dance Circle Dance Color Call Farmer , What's On Your Mind? Fruit Basket Fruit, Vegetable, Grain Fruit and Vegetable Pairs (Mixer) Garden is Ready Guess My Name Have You Seen My Sheep? Milling to Music Moo Cow Moo The Name Game Observation Pumpkin Man Rope Activities Rutabaga Sand, Silt, Clay Scatter Square Dancing Tossed Salad Wood Fence, Stone Fence Barbed Wire Outdoor Games Bronco Tag Fruits and Veggies Garden Tag Goose and Gander Have You Seen My Sheep? Pumpkin Man Rope Activities Sand, Clay, Loam Scatter Square Dancing Barnyard Fun Preparation: Small cards with farm animal names in a bag. Teacher tells students about each farm animal. Each student draws a card. Students close their eyes, puts their "bumpers" up (open-faced hands extended), and walk around, making the noise of the animal they have drawn. Students locate and herd with other players who are making the same animal noise. Barnyard Jam Preparation: paper or plastic grocery sacks, one for each student Divide students into 6-8 barnyard groups, with 3 or 4 students in each group. Teach the following rhythms, and write them on the chalkboard: / / / / / / >>/ / rest rest / >>>>>>>> (count 1,2,3,4 as hands go up and down shaking) / >> / >> g. >> rest >> rest. Lead the students in making music (not noise) as a class to the different rhythms. Have them use the grocery bags or make animal noises in time to the rhythm. Bronco Tag All but two players pair up and scatter around the playing field, at least 40 square. Each pair becomes a bronco, with one player in front (the head), and the second in the back (the tail) with arms around the partner's waist. The other two players become the runner and the chaser. The chaser gives the runner a head start and then pursues him or her. If a tag is made, the two exchange roles. At any time, the runner may join a bronco by clasping the waist of the bronco's tail. The tail thus becomes the new head, and the old head is displaced and becomes the new runner. Broncos may buck and dodge to prevent the runner from joining them, but they may not push a runner away. Chicken Dance Preparation: Secure a recording of song "Chicken Dance." Start the song Chicken Dance song. Chorus - Finger claps. This is the little beak. Wing beats. These are the little wings. Shake Shake. This is the little tail. Verse - Group walks in rhythm in a circle. Circle Dance To bluegrass music or the song "Rocky Top," or "Dancing in the Street," teach the following moves: Face right; take eight steps; turn; take seven steps to the left. Beginning on your right foot, take four steps inside the circle. On the fourth step, turn and step back four steps. Pat pat, clap clap; partners clap clap; turn around. Color Call Students form a circle, with one player in the center. The student in the center throws a beanbag to a player on the rim, and calls out a color. The player who catches the beanbag responds by naming a fruit or vegetable of the color called, and then throws the beanbag back to the center player while calling a new color. Now the student in the center must name an appropriate fruit or vegetable. The game goes on in this manner, with colors repeated, if necessary. When a player on the rim fails to catch to beanbag or cannot name a fruit or veggie of the color called, he or she is eliminated. When the student in the center drops the beanbag or answers incorrectly, he or she leaves the game, and the questioner moves to the center. The game continues until one player remains—the winner. Farmer , What's On Your Mind? Preparation: Three empty corners of a room with little obstruction between each corner. Choose a farmer to sit with his or her back to the group.: Provide background information about tthree agricultural commodities in Oklahoma. (See Ag Facts.) Assign one of the three commodities to each of the three empty corners, and appoint one student to serve as the farmer. Have each student choose one of the three commodities. As the class spells the word "agriculture" aloud, have each student move to the corner representing the topic he or she has selected. Ask the farmer which commodity he/she is ready to take to market. The group that is chosen is out of the game. Select another farmer, and have the remaining students choose another commodity. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until only 1-3 students remains. Note: Sometimes two or three students figure out a strategy for staying in the game. If so, declare them all winners before the majority of the class gets antsy. Fruit Basket Students sit in a cicle with one player in the center. The center player assigns the name of a fruit to various circle players. The center player calls out “All apples change places with all pears,” or similar. While the two groups scramble to change places, he or she tries to get one of the seats. The center player may also call out the name of several kinds of fruits at once. “Fruit basket turn over” means all students must change seats. Fruits and Veggies Divide players into two equal lines, one called “Fruit” and the other called “Veggies.” Teams stand about five feet apart, facing each other on opposite sides of a center line. Behind each group of players and about 25 feet away, is a goal line. When the game leader calls out “Fruits!’ that group turns and runs toward its own goal line, with the Veggies in pursuit. Any Fruit tagged before crossing the line joins the other side. The action continues with the leader giving each side a fairly even number of chances to chase their oponents. Fruit, Vegetable, Grain Players sit in a circle, with one student (the caller) in the center. The caller points to any other student and says, “Fruit, Vegetable, Grain—Grain!” By the count of ten, the student must then name a grain (or fruit or vegetable) not previously mentioned. If successful, he or she sits in the center of the circle. If not, the same student remains in center, calling on a different student to name a specific food. Variation: Root, Leaf, Fruit, Stem—The student in the center calls out “Root,” “Leaf,” “Fruit or Stem.” By the count of ten, the student called upon must name a vegetable or fruit that meets the criteria called. Fruit and Vegetable Pairs (Mixer) Cut an assortment of fruits and vegetables in half, or cut pictures from magazines or the Oklahoma Fruits pattern page and cut them in half. Each player is given half the fruit or vegetable or picture. On signal, all scurry about to find their partners. Garden is Ready Write the names of a variety of garden vegetables on small pieces of paper, or cut out pictures from magazines or from the Oklahoma Vegetables pattern page. Hand out the names or pictures to students. Students sit in chairs scattered around a room. One player serves as the gardener. He or she stands and says: “The garden is ready to harvest.” Walking around the room, the gardener calls the name of a garden vegetable. Play music to accompany the movement. As players hear the names of their vegetables called, they get up and follow the gardener around the room. With each round, the gardener calls another vegetable and switches from walking to hopping, skipping, etc. The followers mimic the gardener ’s motions. When most of the vegetables have been called out of their seats, the gardener shouts: “Salad.” At this the players must find new seats. The last player to find a seat becomes the new gardener. Garden Tag One player is chosen as chaser. The chaser may tag any opponent who is not touching the ground with his or her hand (as if digging in the garden). A tagged player becomes the new chaser. Players usually do not stay in the stooped position too long, but if one does, the chaser may stand within three to four feet of that student and count to three. If the player does not move, he or she is considered tagged and becomes the new chaser during the next round of play. Goose and Gander All players but one are geese, forming a single line. Each goose places his or her hands on the waist of the goose in front of him or her.The other player is the gander. The object is for the gander to tag the last goose in line. To prevent this, the head goose moves around, swinging the line from side to side and using his or her arms to block the gander. The head goose may not hold the gander. When the gander finally succeeds in tagging the last goose, he or she then joins the line at the end, and the head goose becomes the new gander. Guess My Name Cut out pictures of fruits or vegetables from magazines or the Oklahoma Fruits and Oklahoma Vegetables pattern pages. Without letting the players see the pictures, pin one to each player's back. The players circulate around and ask each other questions to try to identify what fruit or vegetable they are representing. Any question may be asked except the direct one, “What am I?” The first player to guess his or her fruit or vegetable is the winner, but the game continues until all or most of the players have guessed what they are. Have You Seen My Sheep? Players stand in a circle, with one, the shepherd, standing outside the circle. The shepherd walks around the outside of the ring, stops anywhere, and taps a player on the shoulder. The shepherd asks, "Have you seen my sheep?" The shepherd describes the clothing of another player, and when the player being questioned recognizes the player described, he or she answers: "Your missing sheep is Johnny [or Jane or Mary]." On being indentified, the sheep bolts from the circle and races around the outside, pursued by the player who made the identification. If the sheep can get back in place before being tagged, he or she becomes the shepherd for the next round. If he or she is tagged, the pursuer is the new shepherd. Milling to Music Teacher says "mill, mill, mill, mill" while students mill around the room. When the teacher stops, students stop walking. Teacher tells students to point at something made of cotton, a beef by-products, something made of wool, etc. This is an opportunity for teachers to share interesting ag facts. Moo Cow Moo Preparation: Secure small stuffed (tossable) farm animal. Teach rhyme: Moo cow, moo cow, moo moo moo, Moo cow, moo cow, where are you? Teacher tells students how farmers care for their animals. Blindfold one seeker, and have another student hide the stuffed farm animal somewhere in the room. As the seeker looks for the animal, students recite the rhyme, getting louder when the seeker gets close to the animals and softer when he/she gets farther away. Next blind fold two seekers and repeat step 4. Third time all who have not been seekers yet become the seekers, and the stuffed farm animal is hidden somewhere in the teacher's clothing. The Name Game Gather students in a circle. The ideal number is 15 or less. A leader introduces the game by saying his/her first name, then calls out the name of someone else in the circle and tosses a small, soft sports ball to that person. That person calls another person's name and tosses the ball to him/her, and so on until everyone has received the ball at least once. For the duration of the game, each person throws the ball to the same person. It is fun to get several balls going at once. It is also fun to time how long it takes the group to complete the game. If you have a large numbr of students, play the game in groups, with only one group playing at a time, while others watch. Too many students in the circle are not advisable. Have fun. PASS:   Health & Fitness: Standard 5.1; Language Arts: 1.2 Observation Place several different vegetables on a table. Have students stand around the table for one or two minutes and try to memorize the vegetables. Cover the vegetables with a table cloth, and have students write down as many as they can remember. After three or four minutes, call time and collect the lists. The player who has written correctly the greatest number of vegetables wins. Pumpkin Man Preparation: A large open area is required for the movement. Teach the following song: Pumpkin man, pumpkin man, catch a brownie if you can, Yes I will, Yes I will, if the brownie will stand still. Divide students into two groups - a pumpkin group and a brownie group. Form a circle, facing inward. Have the pumpkins step forward and put their palms together to make "windows." (Don't weave fingers.) As all sing the song, have brownies go in and out of the windows at least twice. When teachers says "stop," pumpkins should lower the "windows." All brownies inside the circle become pumpkins and join the circle. Play two times so that everyone who started out as a pumpkin gets the opportunity to become a brownie. Background: The pumpkin is a warm-season vegetable that can be grown throughout much of the United States. Besides being used as jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween, pumpkins are used to make pumpkin butter, pies, custard, bread, cookies and soup. Pumpkin is a very tender vegetable. The seeds do not germinate in cold soil, and the seedlings are injured by frost. Pumpkins can be harvested whenever they are a deep, solid color (orange for most varieties) and the rind is hard. Rope Activities Preparation: Secure ropes Teach shapes. Students work in groups to create shapes while holding onto the rope. Rutabaga Bring a rutabaga and other tough-skinned fruits and vegetables to class. Have players sit in a circle and pass the rutabaga around as they count from left to right, starting with the number one. When the number five or any multtiple of five comes up, the word “Rutabaga” is called out instead. Match the other vegetables to different numbers, and play the game with different multiples. Variation: Play the game with sevens. Whenever “Rutabaga” (or whatever) is called, the direction of the number-calling is reversed. If the game progresses into the 70s, the counting changes to “rutabaga 1, rutabaga 2,” etc. Whenever a player makes a mistake, he or she gets one penalty point and starts the game from the beginning again. Sand, Clay, Loam Divide class into two groups. One group is rain; the other is soil Have students in the soil group stand with their arms outstretched, with each student touching the hand of the student next to him/her. Let students from the rain group work their way through the outstretched arms of the students of the soil group to represent the movement of water through sand. Students in the soil group will stand shoulder to shoulder. Students in the rain group will attempt to work their way through to represent the movement of water through clay. Now have students from the soil group stand with their hands on their waists, with elbows touching. Students in the rain group will work their way through to represent the movement of water through loam. Scatter Square Dancing Preparation: Use blue grass, pop, rock or country & western music - anything with a quick, steady beat. Teacher is the caller. Background: The square dance is an American institution. It began in New England as the first settlers and the immigrant groups that followed, brought various national dances. We call them folk dances now, but at the time they were just the popular dances of the day in the countries of their origins. The schottische, the quadrille, the jigs and reels and the minuet are some examples. After a week of toil carving space out of virgin forest and building new homes, the settlers would gather in the community center on Saturday evening and enjoy dancing their old-world favorites. As the communities grew and people of different backgrounds intermingled, so did their dances. As the repertoire increased, it became increasingly difficult for the average person to remember the various movements. Share background information, and explain the calls: "Right arm swing" - Lock right arms at elbow, and dance in a circle. "Left arm swing" - Lock left arms at elbow, and dance in a circle. "Do-Si-Do" - Cross arms in front, and dance around your partner. "Right Hand Star" - "High five" right hands, and dance in a circle. "Left Hand Star" - "High five" left hands, and dance in a circle. "Honor Your Partner" - Curtsy or bow, and say a kind greeting. "Hit the Trail" - Keeping the beat to the music, move about the dance area. Partner up and walk through the calls. Start the music, and give the calls, There is no "right" order. Tossed Salad The players sit on chairs in a circle, with one player, the grocer, in the center. The grocer gives each of the others the name of a vegetable. He or she then calls out the names of any two vegetables. The two students with these names quickly exhange places, while the grocer tries to get one of their seats. Of the three, whoever does not find a seat becomes the grocer for the next round. At any time, the grocer may call out “Tossed Salad,” and all the players scramble for new seats. Wood Fence, Stone Fence, Barbed Wire Divide students into two groups—fence and cattle. Groups line up facing each other. Cattle group counts off by fives. When the teacher calls “stampede ones,” the ones in the cattle group take off running toward the fence. When the cattle get near the fence, the teacher calls out “wood fence,’ “rock fence,” or “barbed wire.” The fence responds by doing one of the following: Wood Fence—Students on the fence team stand straight, side by side with arms at their sides. Rock Fence—Students on the fence team stand side by side with their arms crossed in front of them. Barbed Wire—Students on the fence team stand side by side with their elbows hooked. The cattle try to get through the fence. Those who get through return to the cattle side. Those who don’t get through join the fence. After all the cattle groups have been called, reverse the teams. Variation: In addition to running, cattle groups may be asked to walk, skip, hop, gallop, etc. Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom Back to Food and Fun Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.