Snake Hide-and-Seek

Materials

• yarn or (curling ribbon) in different bright colors—these will become the “snakes.” To prepare: Cut 3 feet of yarn and fold it over twice so it’s a foot long. Tie a knot at each end and in the middle to keep the strands together.

Key Science Concepts

• Something of one color against a background of a similar color may be hard to see.
• Something of one color against a background of a contrasting color is easy to see.

Directions

1. Before beginning, hide a snake in plain sight—perhaps green yarn in a plant or blue yarn on a blue rug. Hold up another “snake” in a different color and tell children to find the snake hiding near them.
2. Now it’s their turn to play snake hide-and-seek. State the rules: The snake cannot be completely hidden—it has to be on top of something or next to something so that it can be spotted, just the way you hid the first snake. They should try to match the color of the snake and the hiding spot to practice the idea of camouflage.
3. Pass out snakes to half the group. They’ll hide their snakes while the others cover their eyes. Then have the children who covered their eyes search for the snakes.
4. Have children switch roles and do the reverse—the hiders become seekers this time.

Share and Reflect

Ask children about hiding snakes: What color was your snake? Why did you decide to hide it where you did? Then ask them about finding snakes. What color was the snake you found? Where did you find it? Explain why this would be a good spot for a (insert color) snake to hide.