team work, cooperation, cardiovascular training

Students need to be spaced out in rows far enough so that the rat and the cat can safely run through the rows. The children in the rows need keep their hands and feet out of the rows so that the cat and the rat do not trip. It is important to practice the line formation, and especially the direction switching before beginning the game. This will avoid confusion during the game.

Players are chosen to be the cat and the rat.

The remainder of the class will be placed into four rows, holding hands, and standing parallel to each other.

The object of the game is for the cat to tag the rat. The rat tries to avoid the cat.

The other children act as the barriers for the cat and the rat to run between.

The catch is that the teacher or the cat can call “mpuke ekali” which means “let the rat stop.&rdqup; This call signals the children to drop hands with the people in their lines. All students turn a quarter turn to the left, so that they are all in new lines now (the lines just changed from horizontal to vertical). Students should quickly hold hands with the new people next to them.

Now that the line direction has changed, the rat may be easier or harder to catch.

The game ends when the rat is caught or the teacher calls time.

The cats and rats should then change places with two students in the lines.

You can choose to add more than one rat. This adds an interesting element especially when the direction of the lines changes.

You can have the cats and rats try different modes of moving. For example, they can run, skip, gallop, etc.