Jurassic Park

 

Purpose: to apply movement concept and strategy in chasing and fleeing activities. To teach students characteristics about various dinosaurs.

Suggested Age: K-4 (though older kids love it too)

Equipment: Hurdles, Tumbling mats, orange cones, hula hoops, scooters, fuzz balls, different colored taggers (I use padded pirate swords), jump ropes, bowling pins, music

Game Objective: the objective of the game is for the tourists to avoid the carnivorous dinosaurs while the carnivorous dinosaurs attempt to tag them.

Set Up:

• Using ALL of the space in the gym, set up several electric fences, sink holes, poison bushes, caves, and trees.
• Turn the lights down low
• Have a playlist set up with Jungle / Dinosaur themed music. I like to use this page
• Choose 1 student to be a T-rex, 4-6 velociraptors, 2-4 triceratops, and 1 dilophosaurus
• For more information about roles or equipment set up, see the pictures page

Before the students come into the gym I will meet them outside in the hall and inform them that we will be leaving the school today. I then throw open the doors and welcome them to "Jurassic Park". As they walk in I have the theme music from the movie Jurassic Park playing and I have them sit in the entrance as they come in. As they're sitting I inform them that they are all tourists who have come to Jurassic Park, however something terrible has gone wrong. The dinosaurs have broken loose! I then explain each of the dinosaur roles and the rules associated with them (see below), and then we go on a tour around Jurassic Park. At this point we walk around and I explain the rules for each of the obstacles in the park. Finally I choose students to be the various dinosaurs and we get ready to begin. 

When the dinosaurs have been chosen I send all of the carnivores to the center of the gym where they must go to sleep (lay down with their eyes closed). At this time the tourists may spread out around the park and hide if they so choose. Then when the music starts the carnivores may wake up and will begin to stalk their prey!

Roles/Rules:

• T-Rex: the T-Rex carries two taggers and attempts to tag tourists. If tagged, a tourist must sit down. However, since the T-Rex only tracks movement, if a tourist stands still the T-Rex must move past them
• Velociraptors: as Raptors travel in packs, a student must be tagged by two Raptors at the same time before they need to sit down. If only tagged by one Raptor, the tourist must stand still while the Raptor holds their tagger against the student and counts to 5 out loud. If another Raptor doesn't come during this time the tourist is free to go.
• Dilophosaurus: in the movie Jurassic Park the Dilophosaurus is known for spitting poison. As such, this student has a fuzz ball that they can throw at tourists. If a tourist is hit them must sit down. The Dilophosaurus must continually retrieve the ball after they throw it.
• Triceratops: Triceratops move around on either their belly or bottom and save the tourists that are sitting. If tagged by a Triceratops, the tourists may get back up and re-join play

• If a tourist enters a cave they cannot be tagged by any carnivores for 10 seconds. They must count out loud and there is no puppy-guarding 
• There is no sliding or intentionally knocking over equipment allowed
• If you knock over ANY equipment you must set it back up immediately. If you are a dinosaur you must sit down for 10 seconds before returning to play. If you are a tourist you must remain seated until saved by a triceratops. The T-Rex is the only person who can step in a sink hole without needing to sit down
• Each round is 5 minutes long and roles will switch in between games

Tips:

This game can be more or less tiring depending on how much equipment you place around the gym. If there is more equipment it forces the students to move slower, leading to less accidents. This however also doesn't give the students as much exercise as it would if there was more space to run.

Video:

Acknowledgement: I learned this game from a former PE teacher from Gilman, WI.