Welcome back to my series of columns on nature activities for young children! This week I’ll cover nature activities for groups: what to do when you’ve got a birthday party, a scout troop, or even just a bunch of friends and family in the outdoors for a day.

Much of what I’ve already written applies to groups. With a little bit of planning, the beach activities, observation games, and journal activities can be adapted to work for as many people as you’ve got. Today, I’ll focus particularly on some group activities that lend themselves to “team-building.” Because of that, most of today’s games work best with middle elementary through high school aged kids.

Before I get started, I want to encourage you to look back at the general guidelines in the previous articles. In addition, there are a couple of things to think about before you take a group to the outdoors.

• Chaperone Behavior. You’ll need some adults, about one parent per five kids. (With younger groups or in challenging areas you’ll want to improve that ratio a bit.) However, make sure all your chaperones know to keep the kids safe but otherwise not to help them at all with the activities. Only you, as the group leader, should make suggestions, and even then, wait until the kids seem really stuck before jumping in.
• Competition-Free Zone. When playing nature games, I enforce a no-competition rule. “Winning” should mean a success for everyone, not just one person or one team. Kids have enough opportunities for competition — let their outdoor adventures be a time when they can leave that behind and work together.

Outdoor Group Games

Ants on a Log

This is a classic group game. The hardest part is finding a good setting: you need a fairly long fallen tree trunk or driftwood log with no part of the log too far off the ground (your kids will be walking its length). In a pinch (or on a schoolyard!) a few backless school benches, placed end-to-end, will do.

1. Explain that ants move in a line from their nest to food and back again, so they must pass one another on the way. The kids are going to try to do exactly that: starting at one end of the log, they will make their way to the other end and back again, without getting out of order. That means that when the kids turn around at the end of the log, they’ll have to figure out a way to pass by all the other kids: every kid will be on the log at the same time.
2. Make sure you’ve got adult chaperones along the sides of the log, but they’re there for safety only. If a student needs to touch or catch a chaperone, he has to jump off the log, go back to the beginning, and start all over again.
3. If the kids are having trouble figuring out ways to pass each other, you can give some pointers. (The foolproof way is to lie down on the log so people can step over you. But don’t tell them that at first!)

Some variations: To make it easier, or if you’ve got a short or especially challenging log, you can split the kids into two groups, which will start from opposite ends of the log. Instead of having every child up at the same time, parent chaperones will make sure that exactly three kids at a time from each side are on the log. As soon as one kid makes it to the end, the chaperone starts another one in that direction.

Millipede

This is a fantastic game that usually leaves everyone laughing in a big pile.

1. In an area with fairly flat but varied terrain, have your kids line up, front to back, at one arm’s length. (The easiest way is to have each kid place one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him or her and straighten that arm.)
2. Finally, have everyone stick his or her right arm out to the side. Now (and not before) get out your roll of masking tape and join their arms together. Go once around each arm, then move back to the next without leaving any slack. If you’ve got a talented or older group, tape them just above the elbow; with a younger group, tape in the middle of the forearm.
3. Only now do you explain to the group that their challenge is to get around as a group without breaking the tape. You’ll give them simple instructions and they need to figure out among themselves how to manage without breaking the tape. Here are some sample commands, from easiest to hardest:
• Move forward 10 yards. Move backwards 10 yards.
• Make a circle around a tree.
• Sit four people on a bench (or a log, or a rock, whatever’s handy).
• Sit down in a circle. Then stand up. Lie down. Then stand up.
• Find 10 pieces of trash and throw them away. (If trash isn’t available, make a pile of rocks or pine cones.)
• Form a spiral. Every shoe should be touching someone else’s shoe.
4. When your kids are in that tight spiral, get the tape out again. This time, run it around them in a circle (twice, ideally). Their goal is still for everyone to move together without breaking the tape, but now some people will be facing forward and some backwards! (You’ll probably be able to give just one goal for this exercise.)

Make a Shape

There are several games you can play with a rope, but you have to get the right rope. Ideally, it will be about two or three feet long per kid, so if you’ve got a group of a dozen, you’ll want about 35 feet. It’s important that the rope be substantial and have a “soft” feel to it, like a 1/2-inch polyester line from a hardware store or marine-supply store. (Most nylon and natural jute ropes can leave rope burns.)

There is an additional important safety rule when working with rope: no wrapping. That is to say, no one may wrap a loop of rope around a hand, finger, or other body part. These games involve putting tension on the rope, and having a hand wrapped can cause injury.

1. Tie the ends of your rope together so you have a very large loop.
2. Explain to the group that in this game, they will be trying to make shapes with the rope. The only rule is that everybody must have at least one hand on the rope at all times. To get started, have the group make a circle. Most kids will have no trouble with this step.
3. Now comes the challenge. Explain to your kids that this is a silent game. From now on, they have to try to make shapes with the rope without talking at all! Test them out on some simple shapes: square, triangle, and diamond work well.
4. If your group is having trouble making the shapes, you’ll can guide them a little in leadership skills. Feel free to “freeze” the game and let the kids talk about their strategies. Once you “unfreeze” them, though, no more talking!
5. On the other hand, if your group is doing well, try them on these challenging shapes: heart, crescent moon, the capital letter A, a five-pointed star.

In one final variation that works if you’re on a soft surface, like a lawn or a sandy beach, you can try a group sit:

1. Re-form the circle with the kids spaced as evenly as possible around the rope.
2. Have each student hold on to the rope with both hands and gently lean back until the rope is under tension all around.
3. Once the circle is steady, the entire group can try to squat and then sit together. If you crouch exactly in unison, the circle will stay whole all the way down, and then, if you’re really talented, all the way back up, too!

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Before I close, I want to introduce the concept of “debriefing” after group activities. It’s very important to sit in a circle and share some of the things that worked — or didn’t work — about each activity. Point out, for example, how well people were warning each other about bumps and holes during millipede, or how it can be hard when you’re making a triangle shape not to be on one of the corners.

There you have it, my three favorite outdoor group games! As you become comfortable with playing them, feel free to mix in some variety. Mix the adults in with the kids!

This series of articles on nature games for children comes to an end in two weeks with one of my favorite topics: the Night Hike. See you then!

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[tags]kids, children, outdoors, nature, woods, learning, discovery, games, groups, fun[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by zen♪, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved