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Activities Formatting

Ava Gambucci

a. The Animal Game

b. APA Citations:
4 Creative Ways to Teach Blind Kids about Animals. (2017, April 22). Retrieved September 25,
2017, from http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/learning-about-animals

Datillo, J., & Shahvali, M. (2016). Chapter 22. In Facilitation Techniques in Therapeutic
Recreation (3rd ed., pp. 669-699). State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc.

c. No equipment needed.

d. Activity Description.
1. Participants will sit down (on the floor or in chairs) and form a circle. (works best with
5-10 players)
2. Participants will then be asked to pick 1 animal they would like to be for the game.
They must pick a sign that relates to their animal. (Ex. Participant chooses chicken, puts one
hand under each armpit cheek to represent a chickens wings.)
3. Each participant must remember their animal sign and remember the other animal
signs in the group. Once everyone is familiar with all the animals in the group, the facilitator will
say go and begin the game.
4. The participants will then begin the thump. The thump will go on for the entirety of
the game to keep the beat. The thump is 2 hand slaps on the thighs followed by 1 hand clap,
and then repeated.
5. After each thump one of the participants will flash their animal sign followed by the
sign of another animal in the group. The other participant who is called on will then repeat the
process by flashing their animal sign and calling on someone else.
6. You are out of the game if you forget your animal sign or hesitate too long when
choosing another players animal sign.

e. Primary interaction pattern(s): Multilateral interaction. Competitive action in a group of 3+
players with no one person as antagonist.

f. Adaptation for blind and visually impaired individuals:
This game can be adapted for blind and visually impaired individuals by replacing the hand sign
with a vocalized animal noise. For instance, if a player chooses to be a chicken, they can make a
squawking noise to represent their animal. This game encourages play and can facilitate
learning for younger blind children to better understand different animals and the noises they
make.