Animal Lineup

    🚀 Warm-up / Exercise
    ♾️ Whole Group

    Also known as:
    • The Zoo
    Categories:
    • Embracing Mistakes
    • Physicality
    • Spontaneity
    Lesson Plans:
    Propose ChangesClone Resource

    A real fun one to get the energy high and embrace failure!

    Setup

    You need 6 players to form a backline. The rest of the players (as many as you like) form a queue and wait to enter as soon as a player is eliminated.

    The 6 players take on the persona of an animal, with a very precise order (from left to right). Each animal has a sound and a gesture

    1. The lion says "RAWR!" and raises their "paws"
    2. The giraffe says "Gobble gobble!" while raising their arm straight in the air and mimicking a giraffe looking left and right with their fist
    3. The worm says "Wriggle wriggle" while miming a a worm with their finger
    4. The fox says "Cunning, cunning." while holding their chin in a sly way
    5. The monkey says "Have a banana" while peeling a banana
    6. The vulture says "KAKAAW KAKAAW" while flapping their wings

    Once the group has understood the sound and gesture of each animal, the game begins.

    Rules

    Each round starts with the lion.

    Starting with the lion, each animal must make their own sound and gesture, and then the sound and gesture of another animal in the lineup. Then that second animal becomes the animal "with the focus" and continues the trend (their own sound & gesture, then the sound & gesture of another animal in the lineup).

    Whenever someone takes too long or makes the wrong sound/gesture, they are eliminated. Everyone, starting with the animal eliminated, moves one place to the right, and someone new from the queue becomes the new vulture.

    Examples

    (The examples omit the gestures for clarity)

    Lion: RAWR!, Wriggle Wriggle Worm: Wriggle wriggle, KAKAAAW KAKAAAW Vulture: KAKAAW KAKAAAW, Cunning Cunning Fox: (Too slow, doesn't realise it's their turn)

    The fox is eliminated! The monkey becomes the fox, the vulture becomes the monkey, and someone from the queue becomes the vulture. We start again with the lion

    Tips

    • This is a high-energy game - make sure to encourage speed and big gestures/sounds
    • After a while (especially if the group is doing well), it's fun to just eliminate people on very arbitrary things. For example, "You weren't very convincing as a vulture, eliminated" or "Monkeys always peel their bananas with their left hand! Eliminated!"

    Variations

    • You can add or remove animals to mix it up
    • Often there is an additional special rule that only the lion can "return the focus" to the animal that has just given it to them