Activity Overview
Girl Scouts learn about animal behavior by playing charades.
- Guide them in playing charades by picking a card and acting out the animal silently.
- Encourage Girl Scouts to make their animal’s sound if the group doesn’t guess correctly.
Leader Guidance
Say:
- Just like us, animals love to play! It makes them happy and gives them energy. Did you know bear cubs play-wrestle? Or that some dogs love fetching tennis balls? Even young ravens like to play—they’ll slide down slopes of icy rooftops. Has anyone ever seen animals playing?
- Have you ever seen a dog “ask” a person or another animal to play? How did you know? (Give Girl Scouts time to answer. They may have seen a dog “play bow” by lowering the front of their body and holding their rear end up or ask to play fetch by dropping a ball and wagging their tail.)
- Animals use their bodies to express more than just wanting to play. There are some examples of animal body language in Animal Feelings. (Give Girl Scouts time to look through the worksheet and talk about what they see.)
- We’re going to find out more about animal body language by playing a fun game of our own! Have you ever played charades? (Wait for answers. If any Girl Scouts don’t know how to play, explain that charades is a game of acting silently while other players try to guess what they’re doing.)
Break Girl Scouts into pairs or small groups and hand out the Animal Feelings Charades. Give them time to draw animals on the blank cards (one animal per card). Fold the papers, and put them in a container. Then have them take turns picking a paper and acting like the animal, without talking! They can act out things like a cat licking its paws, a kangaroo hopping, or a snake sliding through the grass. If the group can’t guess, encourage them to make the sound the animal makes.
Set a timer for one minute in each round. If no one guesses within a minute, add a second minute and allow the player to use sounds. When everyone has had a turn, bring the full group back together.
Say:
- Who wants to share what they noticed or learned while playing charades?
- You can talk about the animals you acted out or guessed, what their behaviors or movements taught you, or any surprises you noticed during the game.
