Target : For us the main aim of a party class is to give students a break from studying, relax, and learn a little about western culture. Besides the egg and spoon race and the Easter egg hunt, there aren't many traditional games played at Easter, so we try to find games that involve balls (representing eggs), foxes, chickens, lambs, and other Easter words.
Lesson length : 40 to 50 minutes
Class size : Small Group class
Preparation time : 15 - 20 minutes to prepare the "Tube Marble Race", 60 - 120 minutes to prepare the “Fox Teeth Shooter” game, 5-10 minutes to prepare the "Eliminiation game", and 20 - 30 minutes per egg (Because this craft requires glue to dry, prepare atleast a week before) to prepare "Self-Righting Eggs" and flashcards.
Materials :
- For “Tube Marble Race” game : A 10cm long tube cut in half to form a gutter-shaped half tube for each student; a marble for each team
- For “Elimination game” : Plastic eggs to place around the room, or in absence of eggs, ping pong balls work well .
- For “Fox Teeth Shooter” : A cheap rubber suction dart shooting gun; a whiteboard; magnets or board pieces to represent the chickens (one chicken for each team) and fox.
- For “Self-Righting-Eggs” : Various materials (See webpage by left-clicking the button in instructions)
We made our fox head for the "Fox Teeth Shooter" from cardboard and hung it from the top of the whiteboard, but it would work just as well just drawing the fox head to the board with a marker. We cut a wide mouth so that we could draw lots of teeth inside. Our shooter was bought at a local thrift shop in Japan for 100 yen. In the example above the chickens are represented by blue magnets, and the fox by a green magnet, but teacher may like to make more realistic looking characters for their own games.
Instructions
1. Teach students some Easter vocabulary. Teachers can find free flashcards at the website https://en.islcollective.com/
2. Play the “Tube Marble Race” game : Clearly define the start line and finish line for the race (from one side of the classroom to the other is probably long enough, but if it's a small classroom the students can race to one end and back). Divide the class into teams and give each student their half tube. Line the teams up behind the line and give a marble to the student at the back of each line. On go the student must angle their half tube so that it safely rolls onto the next student's tube without falling to th floor. That student then runs to the front of the line. The second student rolls the marble to the next tube, and the cycle continues as the team edges closer to the finish line. If the ball drops to the floor, the team must return to the start line. The first team to reach the finish is the winner.
4. Play the "Elimination Game" : Instructions can be accessed by left-clicking the button below.
5. If time permits Play the "Fox Teeth Shooter" game : Draw a fox head with it's mouth open on the whiteboard (Or you can make the head from cardboard and hang it over the whiteboard. Draw 15-20 big sharp teeth in the mouth of the fox. Write numbers from 1-4 in the centre of each tooth. Draw a path of 20 seeds on the board under the fox head for the chicken characters to follow, and a goal point (preferably a chicken hutch) to represent safety. Position the chickens on the 17th seed from the goal and the fox character on the 20th seed. Assign one chicken to each team. Each turn students fire the plastic gun at the mouth of the fox. If they are able to hit a tooth, wipe the tooth out with your board eraser, and move the team's chicken the number indicated by the tooth along the seeds. Should students miss a tooth, the fox moves one seed closer to the chickens. If the fox reaches a chicken, that team is eliminated. If a team reaches the goal point, the team has won.
6. Make an Easter craft with the class : The "Self-Righting Easter Egg" craft is fun and interesting for all ages. Instructions for preparing the egg can be accessed by left-clicking the button below.