Sleeping Lions
What you need
- a rug or a few cushions to lie on
How to do it
- Everyone lies down on the rug as sleeping lions, as still and quiet as they can be.
- You're the zookeeper: walk round softly and try to make the lions move without touching them, with silly faces, jokes or a whispered story.
- Any lion who wiggles or giggles gets up and becomes a zookeeper too.
- Swap so your child is the zookeeper and you're the lion trying very hard not to laugh.
Why it matters
Staying still while someone pulls silly faces takes real effort, and the giggle that finally escapes is half the fun.
What they're learning
- Keeping still
- A quiet body for as long as they can.
- Not giggling
- Hardest of all.
- Being the zookeeper
- Trying to make someone else laugh.
What to look for
Notice them squeezing their eyes shut to keep from laughing.
A tip
Any lion who moves becomes a zookeeper, so nobody sits out. Keep the tickling to words, not fingers.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: count to five out loud while they stay still, then let them spring up with a roar
Harder: lions keep their eyes closed and the zookeeper can only use words
