Youth Activity Archive

Activity Description: Create a collective animal riddle poem before splitting into groups to secretly write and guess each other’s riddles.

Items Needed:

• Paper
• Pen or pencil
• Timer

Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 25–35 min):

1. Create a practice riddle poem together as a large group. (5–10 min).
   • Choose a common animal together for the first poem.
     • Ask how the animal looks. Write their short description down as the first line.
     • Ask what sound the animal makes. This could be a noise they voice or a sound they make when they walk or do another action. Write it down as the second line.
     • Ask what the animal likes to do and write it down as the third line.
     • Complete the riddle poem with a guessing question. Write the phrase “Who am I?” as the final line of the poem.
   • Read the entire completed poem aloud to the group from start to finish. Have everyone call out the correct animal name together.
2. Work in groups. (15 min).
   • Split into two groups to secretly create new riddle poems. Move the two groups to opposite sides of the room.
   • Set a timer for 10 minutes as that is all the time they have to create their poems.
   • Help each group secretly choose two or three different animals. Assist them in thinking of the look, sound, and action lines for their secret animals. The leader writes the poem down.
3. Present the secret riddles for the other group to guess. (10–15 min).
   • Bring both groups back together in a central area.
   • Take turns having each group read their secret riddle poems aloud. Allow the opposing group to guess the secret animal after hearing the description.

Sample Poem:

Big and gray,
Stomp stomp all day long,
Loves to spray water with a long trunk,
Who am I?

(An elephant!)

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