Camouflage!

Setting: DPA

Season: Spring

Activity Goal

In this modified tag meets hide-and-seek game, participants avoid capture and utilise evasiveness tactics to endeavour to make it back to ‘home base’ without being seen.

For participant safety, please review the contents of the Beyond the Walls: Safety Considerations page for information on Safety Standards, Spring Safety Considerations, and Outdoor Playing Areas and Surfaces.

Equipment

• 6 cones/pylons
• 1 hoop per ‘predator’
• 1 large cone/pylon, or differently coloured hoops

Before Play

• Review the safety rules and activity instructions with participants prior to the activity.
• Establish the boundaries for the designated playing area and share them with participants.
• For this activity, playing areas that provide natural or built elements for participants to hide behind and ‘camouflage’ themselves are best.
• Review with participants how animals avoid being seen in nature. Explain that in nature, remaining unseen can mean the difference between life and death, particularly in predator-prey relationships! Remind participants that there are certain times during the day (or night) that predators like to hunt. Take a moment to review diurnal and nocturnal predators, and possible food webs that could be found in nearby nature areas.

During Play

• Select one or two participants as ‘predators’ and provide them each with a hoop to make their ‘den’ somewhere in the playing area. Place a different coloured hoop (or extra-large cone/pylon) somewhere in the playing area. The cone/pylon represents the food or water source for the ‘prey’. This is their ‘safe’ zone!
• Direct participants assigned the predator role to return to their dens for ‘sleeping time’. Have predators close their eyes and count backwards from 20.
• Direct prey to find a ‘camouflaged spot’ somewhere within the playing area.
• When the predators finish their countdown, they yell ‘feeding time’, open their eyes and look for prey. Predators call the names of participants they can see. The participant then travels to the den of the predator. Anyone whose name is not called remains hidden. The predator then yells ‘sleeping time’ and covers their eyes again.
• Prey then leave their camouflaged spot to access the food/water source and find a new camouflage spot before the predator ‘wakes up’ and yells ‘feeding time’.
• Play continues until all prey are found, or all prey make it safely to the food/water source.

After Play

Use the following prompts for participants to reflect on ways to be active in spring and engage others in activity to build a habit of engaging in outdoor activity throughout the year.

Question prompts:

• How does this game represent what happens in actual predator-prey relationships? How is it different?
• How would the game change if each time a prey was caught, they became a predator? What would this represent within the realm of population dynamics?

Adaptations

Consider these tips to maximize the challenge and the fun for participants.

• To increase the challenge, consider imposing a time limit on ‘feeding time’ and ‘sleeping time’.
• Add beanbags to the food/water source and place it in a fairly open spot.  Consider having prey run to get the beanbag and return to a hiding spot each time.
• To increase the activity level of participants, consider directing participants to perform a predetermined number of repetitions of a pre-selected activity (such as one from Ophea’s 50 Fitness Activities) to re-enter the game after they’ve been ‘eaten’ (i.e., captured and brought to the predator’s den).

Modifications:

Consider these tips to maximize inclusion and fun for all participants.

• To accommodate the needs of different participants, consider increasing or decreasing the ratio of predators to prey. Note that more predators will result in a faster round of play.
• To facilitate the inclusion of participants with physical or intellectual disabilities, consider having them be found three or more times before they count as ‘eaten’.