Stork Stand

Set up

Stand side by side on a non-slip floor with a clear space around you. Put the cushion nearby as the stork nest and lay the nest stick a few steps away from it.

How to play

Become storks. Lift one foot, rest it against the standing leg’s calf or knee, and spread your arms like wings.

One stork is the caller and stays on one leg too. The caller names a stork move, and everyone does it while balancing.

Beak moves

• Clatter hello: storks have almost no voice, so they greet each other by tipping their head back and clapping their beak. Tip your head back and clap your hands above your face: “tak-tak-tak!”
• Preen: pinch your fingers into a beak and comb slowly along one outstretched arm, then the other.
• Catch a frog: peck down low, then tip your chin up and gulp it down.
• Sleepy stork: tuck your chin onto your shoulder and stay still and quiet for a slow count of three.

Wing moves

• Sunbathe: hold your wings half-open and drooping low, like a stork warming up in the sun.
• Soar: hold your wings flat and perfectly still and lean forward a little, gliding on warm air.
• Flap slowly: big, slow wingbeats without hopping.

Sometimes the caller says “Build the nest!” Everyone may put a foot down, pick up the nest stick with beak fingers, carry it to the cushion, and return to balance again.

If a foot touches down early, do a stork shake: ruffle your whole body to settle your feathers, then lift the foot again. Swap callers often, and switch legs each round.

Make it easier

Lightly hold a wall, chair back, or each other’s hand, and keep the lifted foot just off the floor. Start with the wing moves before trying head-back clatters.

Make it harder

Add the wing-and-leg stretch: reach the lifted leg straight back and stretch the same-side arm back beside it, then hold. Try a sleepy stork with eyes closed, or stand on a folded towel.