This week at Tinkergarten Anywhere, we take on different perspectives as we explore the needs of prey and predators in the wild. In this activity, kids pretend to be bunnies, imagining what they might need. Then kids can build bunny hideouts for themselves and their Forest Bunny. As they build, kids can test their hideouts by taking on the perspective of a wolf hunting for food for its pups and packmates.
The Guide
Step 1: Watch the Tinkergarten Anywhere Hunt and Hideout video lesson.
Hop into your My Tinkergarten trial dashboard to watch the Hunt and Hideout video lesson. Kids can watch how Meghan and other explorers play like wolves and bunnies. Then, kids can get inspired to play like both creatures and create hideouts for themselves or their forest friends!
Step 2: Play like bunnies!
Pretending and moving like others creatures is a great way to help kids take on the perspective of others! Hop or run in a zig-zag like rabbits do to escape predators. Or, try some of these rabbit games:
“Hop”stacle course (any # of players): Place a variety of nature treasures in a straight line or a zig-zag pattern on the ground. At the end of the path, place a string or make a circle shape with nature treasures. Invite kids to hop along the trail to safety in the rabbit hole.
Freeze and Hop (any # of players): The leader yells “Hop!” and everyone hops until the leader yells “freeze.” When frozen, players stay as still as they can to camouflage in to their surroundings. Extra challenge: all players need to hop in a circle, a zig-zag or from point A to point B.
Bunny, Bunny, Wolf! (4+ players): Just like Duck, Duck, Goose, but the child who taps heads is a bunny. Child says, "Bunny" each time until they tap someone as “Wolf!” The “wolf” chases around the circle and back to their seat.
Step 3: Make a bunny hideout.
Wonder together what kind of hideout a bunny might need to feel safe from wolves and other predators. Chat a bit to generate a list of the criteria needed for a good house. Some examples: big enough to fit the bunny; easy for the bunny to get in and out of; bunny can’t be seen from the outside; withstands wind, rain, etc.
Help kids gather materials and offer teamwork as feels supportive as they build their hideout for a pretend rabbit, stuffed animal or for their Forest Friend. Or, welcome kids to pretend to be a rabbit and make a hideout big enough for them to fit inside. Three approaches that kids in Tinkergarten classes have used:
Use the hole in the bottom of a tree and cover it with branches, greens, etc.
Make a small lean-to against a tree using sticks covered with leaves and grasses.
Dig a hole and build a stick and mud roof over the hole.
Step 4: Play like wolves.
Test your hideout by moving like a wolf and seeing through their eyes. Welcome kids to imagine that they are a parent wolf looking for food for their hungry pups and packmates. How easily can kids find the bunny hideout? Invite kids to adjust their hideout to make it even more hidden.
Extend the Play:
Predator/Prey Hide and Seek—Play a rabbit/wolf version of hide and seek. Where can bunnies stay hidden from the wolves? How can wolves use their sense of sight and smell to find rabbits?
Indoor Hideaway—Use couch cushions, chairs, tables and blankets to make an indoor hideout to spark even more pretend play. Read our Cozy Hideaway DIY Activity for more ideas.
Camo Hunt—The color of rabbits’ fur helps them to camouflage with their environment and keep safe from predators. Try our Camo Hunt DIY activity to help kids playfully explore the concept of camouflage.
Why is this activity great for kids?
In this activity we use pretending as a tool to help kids take on the perspective of two very different yet connected creatures—rabbits and wolves. That ability to take on another's perspective is at the heart ofcognitive empathy.
Pretending to be animals not only supports perspective taking, it turns animals into allies, connecting children to other species in profound and lasting ways. It is easy to identify with and feel empathy for the rabbit trying to escape its predator, but helping kids understand the needs of the wolf trying to feed its family helps kids empathize with both predators and prey and learn that all creatures have needs.
Imagination is defined in many ways, but one we like is, "the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality." This is no small task to little kids, and yet young childhood is a time in which imagination is developed more than any other. How does imagination develop in childhood? Through an increasingly sophisticated life of make believe.
We all likely have a sense of what we mean by make believe or good old "pretend play." How do experts define it, though? To some, there are different types of make believe that vary in sophistication and make pretend play different than other types of play. For example, kids may use objects to represent something else (e.g. a block becomes a cell phone). Or, they may start to give an object certain properties (e.g. a doll is asleep or a tree is on fire!). Still yet, they may themselves take on the properties of someone or something else.
From there, pretend play evolves into acting out scenarios or stories, those getting increasingly intricate as imagination develops. As kids' pretend play grows more sophisticated, these stories come to involve not only the creative use of objects, but multiple perspectives (e.g. good and bad guys in the same story), and/or the playful manipulation of ideas and emotions (e.g. I am sad, but then become happy after I save the village from certain doom).
Why does it matter?
An ever growing body of research substantiates the many benefits of pretend play including the enhanced development of: language and communication skills; self-control and empathy; flexible and abstract thinking; and creativity. These are the skills that will help kids balance emotions, form healthy relationships, work effectively on teams, stay focused in school, be successful at various jobs and solve the problems of an increasingly complicated world. An individual's creativity in particular, both requires and is limited by her imagination.
Naturalist
Category:
Thinking Skills
What is a Naturalist?
The oldest and simplest definition, “student of plants and animals,” dates back to 1600. The term has evolved over time, it's importance changing as the values of dominant culture have changed. 400 years after that old definition, Howard Gardner, the paradigm-shifting education theorist, added “naturalist” to his list of “multiple intelligences.” Gardner challenged the notion that intelligence is a single entity that results from a single capability. Instead, he recognizes eight types of intelligence, all of which enable individuals to think, solve problems or to create things of value. To Gardner, the Naturalist intelligence enables human beings to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of the environment.
A true naturalist has not simply Googled and learned the names of plants, animals, rocks, etc. Rather, he or she has had direct experience with them, coming to know about them and using all senses to develop this intelligence. A naturalist also has a reverence for nature, valuing and caring for living things from the smallest mite to the tallest tree. A naturalist comes to not only knowing the creatures and features of his or her environment, but treasuring them in thought and action.
Why does it matter?
In the process of becoming a naturalist, children become stewards of nature, a connection that is associated with a range of benefits, including greater emotional well-being, physical health and sensory development (not to mention the benefits to nature itself!). In a world in which primary experience of nature is being replaced by the limited, directed stimulation of electronic media, kids senses are being dulled and many believe their depth of both their interest in and capacity to understand complicated phenomena are being eroded. To contrast, the naturalist learns about the key features of their natural environment by using all of his senses and be interpreting open-ended and ever-changing stimuli.
Empathy
Category:
Social Skills
What is Empathy?
Simply put, empathy is the ability to think and care about the feelings and needs of others. The good news is, the more we study, it appears that children are empathetic by nature. All we need to do is nurture it in them—that of course is now always easy. Even though young children are simply working on gaining control over their emotions and won’t learn to really think about their emotions and the cause and effect of their behavior on others until their school years, they can start to develop the foundation for empathy much earlier. Taking actions (and watching adults take actions) that benefit other people, caring for animals and their environment and even just wondering how other people or creatures are feeling helps build both positive habits and a strong base for the development of empathy.
Why does it matter?
Empathy is at the root of what psychologists call “pro-social” behavior—behavior that people must develop in order to develop a conscience, build close relationships, maintain friendships, and develop strong communities. Empathy also helps kids avoid bullying, one of the most worrisome social challenges young kids face. Being able to think and feel for others can keep kids from becoming either bully or victim and equip them to stand up for others who are bullied. Imagine if all kids had such tools!
Age: 0 to 8+
Time: 1 hour+
Materials: sticks, leaves, grasses
