Animal Keeper Preschool Game

By Charlene Haukom

Animal Keeper, Animal Keeper, what animal do you see? Stretch preschoolers’ imaginations while you stretch their muscles in the Animal Keeper Preschool Game! Preschoolers will have to act like all kinds of animals as they make their way to the Animal Keeper. The first preschooler to reach the Animal Keeper wins the game!

What You Will Need

Knowledge of common animals
Space to play

How to Play

1. Designate a permanent spot for the Animal Keeper.

2. Create a start line a few yards away. Use tape, chalk, string, or simply pick an existing object – like a tree – to serve as the starting point.

3. The Animal Keeper looks through his/her pretend binoculars and says, “I’m walking through the _______, and I see a ________!” Fill in the blanks with words like jungle, neighborhood, and zoo for the first blank and monkey, dog, and frog for the second blank.

4. Once the Animal Keeper names an animal, the preschoolers move toward him/her while behaving like the chosen animal. For example, if the Animal Keeper chose monkey, the preschoolers would hunch over, swing their arms or scratch their bellies, and make monkey noises.

5. Preschoolers who don’t act like the correct animal must return to the start line. For example, if preschoolers scratch their tummies like a monkey but run like children, then they must return to the start line. Preschoolers need to incorporate their whole body in the action.

Another example would be a dog. Preschoolers would have to crawl, wiggle their bottoms as if wagging their tails, and bark like a dog. Barking while running like children would not count, and would send the preschoolers back to the beginning.

6. Each time the Animal Keeper wants to change animals, s/he must say the sentence in step 3. All preschool animals must freeze when the Animal Keeper speaks. Preschoolers that don’t stop moving will be sent back to the start line.

7. If the Animal Keeper calls out another animal, but forgets to use the sentence in step 3, s/he must give up the Animal Keeper position and head to the start line. The preschool animal closest to the Animal Keeper becomes the new Animal Keeper.

8. The first preschooler to reach the Animal Keeper wins the game and becomes the new Animal Keeper. All preschoolers have to return to the start line to begin again.

---

Like this article? Get more like it in your inbox. Subscribe today to our free weekly newsletter.