Day 81: learning camouflage

Today was a hit. I remembered an activity that I created a long time ago (not taking complete credit for this because I am sure years ago I read it or saw it some where) for a family program. I thought I could simplify it a bit and use it with Sam.

Super simple. Cut out some rabbits (or really any other animal that is small and easy to cut out) in a variety of colors. Then hide them in places where rabbits would naturally live.

Then let the children go to find the rabbits.

Sam loved "hunting" for the rabbits and I did hide some a bit hard so that she had to keep walking back up and down the path to find all ten that I had hidden. We talked about which ones were the hardest to find and she called them out by color each time she found one. We did this activity over and over again (Sam would go play on her swings while I hid them!).

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The Nitty Gritty!

I just used a rabbit that I found online, printed it out, cut it out and then traced it onto construction paper. Since Sam liked this so much I will probably laminate the rabbits just to make them hold up a bit better and be heavier so that I can be sure they won't blow away after I have hidden them.

This is a GREAT activity if you have several kids of different ages. With rabbits hidden at different levels of difficulty there will be challenges for each kid. You could also tell each child they are looking only for rabbits of specific colors to guide their hunting. Although with the little ones they might be so excited to find one they will point it out no matter what color it is.

With older kids the idea of camouflage can be explained in much more detail. This time of year the hardest rabbit to find is the green one, so why aren't rabbits green? Would it help them if they were green? How does being grey/brown/slightly multi-color help rabbits to survive? There are lots of different examples of animals that use camouflage that can be described and talked about.

This is also a great activity to have packed when you go camping or hiking. It can be motivation on a trail (just send one parent up ahead while you are on a break to hide the rabbits) or a good at camp activity.