Ungulates, food, and predators game

Materials

large open play space

masking tape

crape paper streamers

pieces of colored paper about three inches square

Player Skills 

color recognition

counting skills

Ungulates are animals with hoofs. We think of these animals as horses, cows, dear, sheep, goats, bison, even pigs. There are some members of this family you would not think of as a hoofed animal when you see them, such as elephant,  aardvark, hyrax, tapirs, rhino, and hippos.

Ungulates must by nature eat and run. To have the energy they need and because the food they eat is at times dry, stringy and not full of easy energy, they must eat a lot. So they spend a great deal of time eating, and to survive, thinking of running.

Although most are large animals, there are still other animals out there thinking dinner, when they see ungulates eating.

Game preparation

Mark a space in the center of the play space equal to about one fourth the total play area with the masking tape. If you are going to have to remove the tape make sure to fold over the ends a bit to give you an easy tap to grab. This area is where the best food grows, so where our ungulates want to eat. Now mark a space at the outer edge of the play space as the safe zone. This is were the ungulates will run to to be out of the predators reach.

Place the colored pieces of paper in the food area and mix them up well, these are different types of food.

One of the players is the hungry predator the others are hungry ungulates.

The ungulates are given a length of crape paper to attach to their waist.

To catch an ungulate the predator must grab the crape paper.

Players must not bump into each other, which is not the natural thing they would do, but for safety sake a rule to this game. If there is bumping then those players are out for two or three rounds.

The predator stands by the instructor and the ungulates are allowed to go eat. When the ungulates are eating the instructor tags the predator and the predator goes on the hunt and tries to grab an ungulate's crape paper. The other ungulates not wanting to be eaten scatter to the save zones.

If the predator catches an ungulate, the predator becomes an ungulate and the ungulate a predator. The game is played until all have become a predator or the instructor thinks its best to quit. 

The ungulates that make it to the safe zone count how many pieces of food they have. Those that have the most win that round.

After a few rounds of ungulates eating any type of food, up grade the game. In life some ungulates prefer  a certain type of food, and even have teeth specialized to chew this type of food, so now the ungulates must pick one color of food that is the only food they can pick up.

The next time the predator hunts,  the ungulates that have the most of their colored food win. If an ungulate has eaten a different color, oh dear they must sit out a  round. For who knows that bit of food may have been the death of him or her!

You can allow the predators to hunt in prides, packs, or families. This will of course effect the health of the herd.

Some ungulates are shaped just right to shove into a forest thick with fallen trees to escape the predator. I'm thinking of the tapir. If there is time set up a ring of obstacles such as empty boxes to allow the ungulates to scatter between. Predators are allowed only through a few special marked spaces to get to an ungulate.

The game continues as before. 

There is nothing that says the ungulates can't have a watcher in the herd that helps the herd keep and eye on the predators but this is something the ungulates should think of themselves.  Should this happen the watcher should also have to pick up food. They need the energy to escape so a number of pieces of paper should be decided on that the watcher must pick up before the herd flees to safety. 

Experience is a good teacher.

A bit of guided observation by the players of this game may help in understanding the life of an ungulate in the wild.

Have fun!