Animalography

Animalography

Hello parents and kids!  Is it bed time yet?

First, we wanted to take a minute to thank you all for reading our blog.  Hopefully you have found the activities to be fun and we have dozens more ideas in the works, so please follow us on Twitter or Facebook to stay up to date with new posts!


Today's activity is short and sweet.  Some of you may have played the Geography game before, but today's game is even better for kids because they are more likely to know names of animals instead of places.  The truth is, you can play this with any genre you want, but our kids love playing with animals.

There isn't anything magical or special about this game. It's just a way to find a simple moment at the end of the day for a little quick and fun connection. It is a way for your children to have their last memory of the day be of a moment where their mom or dad gave her/his full and whole attention.

How to Play (For Older Kids Who Can Spell)

 

Start by saying the name of any animal (e.g. armadillo). The next player has to name an animal whose name starts with the last letter of the previous animal.  Since armadillo ends with an "o", the next animal needs to start with "o" (e.g. ostrich).  Play continues back and forth until a player cannot think of an animal that 1) starts with the correct letter and 2) has not already been said.

Example:

1. Armadillo
2. Ostrich
3. Hedgehog
4. Gorilla
5. Aardvark
6. Kingfisher
7. Rat
8. Turtle

You get the idea!

How to Play (For Kids Who Can't Spell Yet)

 

For younger children, you may need to coach them a bit.  For example, you might make the various long and short "o" sounds after armadillo so that they can hear what the o sounds like and it will trigger the next animal.  For example, when you say the "long o" (ō) they may say "opossum" whereas a short "o" (ŏ) may elicit "octopus".

You may also want to offer clues when they are really stuck.  "Ok, you need an animal that starts with "o".  Can you think of an animal that has eight tentacles?"  There are lots of ways to vary the difficulty of the clues to make it challenging and still fun for the little ones.  Even the older kids will need some help in the later rounds when they hit another "e" animal and eagle, elephant, egret, and emporer penguin have already been said!

Have Fun!

 

Post a comment below or on Twitter/FB about your experience with this activity.

1. How many animals did you get before your got stuck?
2. What was the most interesting animal you thought of?
3. Which letters were the most difficult?

Just a reminder- it's easy to forget about the core ideas of this shared time together when you're having fun.  Refer back to our first post for a refresher.  We want this time to be quiet whispers of joyful games, lying together in the dark.  It should help children settle before bed.

There's a great poem called "What Remains" that Lisa A. McCrohan wrote at Barefootbarn about what we want our children to remember about us when we're gone.  Here's a little piece that's just perfect for our values at Moonlit Minds:

What remains? I want it to be the words I’ve whispered into their being
a million times a million times, “you are my delight.”

Have fun, and... Mind the nap!