(adapted from Wan Smol Bag)

Teacher’s Note: This game helps introduce related concepts about marine turtles and
their environment through word association. In this game, students learn that the food
source of leatherbacks is jellyfish and that such turtles feed in deep sea waters. You can
change the words used to demonstrate different relationships. For example, substitute
the words “leatherbacks” and jellyfish” and “sea” with “nests”, “hatchlings” and “sand
beach” or “green turtles”, “sea grass” and “lagoon”. You might also want to use language
words.

You will need:

Enough chairs for everyone except the teacher. If you do not have chairs, you can use
rice bags or mats. Alternatively, you can play this game on the sand and draw circles for
sitting in.

How to Play:

• The teacher stands in the middle with all students sitting in chairs in a circle.

• The teacher goes around the circle giving every student a name (i.e. “leatherback”,
“jellyfish”, “leatherback”, “jellyfish”, “leatherback” and so on).

• The teacher asks all “leatherbacks” to stand up and then all the “jellyfish” to stand up.
This is so that everyone knows his or her name.

• The teacher then explains the game. The object is to find an empty chair and not be
left standing in the middle.

• When the person in the middle says “leatherbacks” all the students in that group must
change chairs as quickly as they can.

• The person in the middle must try to grab an empty chair. Pushing, shoving and
cheating are allowed as long as it does not get too rough.

• The person is the middle now calls “jellyfish” and everyone in that group must change
chairs.

• If the person in the middle calls “sea” then everyone must change chairs.

• The person in the middle now calls “leatherbacks”, “jellyfish” or “sea” and the game
starts again.

• The game finishes when everyone is exhausted.