The Compass Game
Source:
Adapted form The Moine Mhor National Nature Reserve, local schools pack (SNH)
OBJECTIVE
- To learn the compass directions
- To learn how to use a compass
Time
10 - 20 minutes
You will need
- compasses
- 4 lengths of rope
Did you know?
Navigation, using a type of compass which responded to the Earth's magnetic field, had been developed in China by the 11th century.
The activity
1. Play the compass game to familiarise the class with the points on the compass.
- Use compasses to find north, south, east and west.
- Mark a centre point and then stretch ropes out to mark finish lines for going N, S, E & W.
- One person, the shouter, stands in the middle and the rest form a circle around them.
- The shouter, turns in a clockwise direction, pointing to the directions and saying Never (North), Eat (East) Shredded (South) Wheat (West)
- Then the shouter shouts out one of the directions and everyone else runs to the rope marking that direction.
- The last (or first, if you prefer) person to cross the rope becomes the shouter
- The shouter can also throw a soft ball at the legs of those running. Anyone touched by the ball is out
- Game over when everyone out or exhausted!
To make the game harder, also use the mid-way compass points, North-East, South-West etc. Use additional ropes to mark these directions or use the gaps between the original 4 lengths of rope.
2. Give each child a compass and get them to all stand facing you, but spread out. Shout out a compass direction and number of paces to take, e.g. South, 3 paces, and check that they all go in the right direction (it should be fairly easy to pick out the ones who don't get it right!). Once they all have the hang of the simple directions, make it more and more complicated, for example: North north-east 10 paces or two sets of instructions, South 10 paces followed by north-east 3 paces.
Suggested Follow up
Draw sound maps in the school grounds, or go to an area that has many natural sounds, see the activity Sound Map in the Freshwater section.
Curriculum Links
- science - main
- technology - main
Age Range
2,3