MEGA Duck Duck Goose

Rating

Elementary, Minimum prep, Active

How to Play

Preparation is as simple as assembling a list of animal names. You can do this yourself as part of an animal lesson, or ask the students to volunteer words. When I did this with an elementary English club, they volunteered over fifty animals! Then have them choose one (my club chose "penguin") as the trigger.

Get the students set up in a circle for Duck-Duck-Goose, in chairs or on the floor. Play Duck-Duck-Goose as normal, with one "it" student walking around the outside, patting people on the shoulder (I try to avoid head) and listing animals as they go. But instead of simply repeating "Duck," the student who's "it" should name a different animal each time they pass a classmate. Whenever they feel like it (not too soon, though), they should say the trigger animal. The student who was patted last jumps up and chases "it"; "it" tries to run around the circle and take the other student's spot without getting tagged. Whoever loses is the new "it." Repeat until you're done.

How to Use

This is a superb game for raising energy levels; there's too much rest time to wear the kids out, usually. Make sure that you have sufficient space to avoid injuries! Like all active games, this works best when the weather isn't too oppressive. I played it in the spring and everyone got a bit sweaty, but it was a huge hit.

Notes

Naturally, this can work for any category of things, not just animals. You and the JTE should play too; you'll be picked on a little but it makes it easier to keep the work distributed evenly among the students. Feel free to use psychological tactics; it can really keep them on their toes if the trigger word sounds like another word in the set. In cases where they get a little too jumpy, you can penalize students who leave their seats without the trigger being said.

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