Outdoor education/
summer camp game used to introduce students to the sense of
hearing, and teach the principle of
echolocation. This game, similar to the
swimming pool game "
Marco Polo," is a good activity to precede a
night hike, especially if
bats are likely to be encountered, and the late
summer sunset means there is extra time in the schedule that needs to be filled.
Appropriate ages: 6-11.
Number of players needed: Ideally, 8-10.
Location: Any level surface, a field, meadow, or wide trail.
Materials: a blindfold.
How to Play:
- One person is blindfolded. She will be the bat.
- One person is chosen to be the moth.
- Everyone else is a tree, and stands in a circle around the bat and moth.
- The object of the game is for the bat to tag the moth, using sound to locate her target, similar
to a bat using echolocation.
- The bat may call out the word "bat," and the moth must respond by saying "moth."
- If the bat tags someone in the outer circle, they respond by saying "tree."
- The game is over when the bat successfully tags the moth.
The game goes pretty quickly, but in my experience everyone wants a
turn at being the bat and the moth, so allow time for everyone to get a chance.
Oh, and remember to summarize the experience to connect the game to the natural phenomenon (it helps when actual bats start to appear), e.g. "Hey kids, if it's dark, how is the bat going to find a moth for dinner?"..."Right, the bat can send out a sound, which will bounce off the moth, come back to the bat, who can then turn in the direction. Of course, they can do this really fast, from 10 times in a second, to as many as 200 calls in a second.")