Prior to your planned game time, teach students what hibernation means, explaining to them how and why some animals hibernate. Present them with an assortment of animals that hibernate, telling them key facts about each one. For example, tell your students that some animals go into such a deep sleep when they hibernate that they can't be awakened and may actually appear dead.
Get ready for your game by gathering pictures of animals that hibernate and printing two copies of each image onto card stock cards. Include in this selection of cards: badgers, bats, marmots, prairie dogs and the most famous hibernator of all, bears. Take care to make each card the same size, so that, from the back, they are indistinguishable.
Allow two to four students to play your prepared game at each time. To get them started, jumble the cards and lay them face down in the center of a desk. Allow students to take turns flipping over two cards. If the cards match, allow the flipper to keep the pair. If they don’t match, ask the flipper to turn the cards back over then flip again. Encourage students to pay close attention to what animal images appear on each card; they can use this knowledge to create matches of their own.
Give students points for each match they make. If your students are older, or you want to make the game more educational, offer bonus points for stating hibernation-related facts. To add this component to the game, create a list of questions pertaining to each of the animals you feature and present students with these questions when they flip over the pairs. For example, you could write the question, “Do all polar bears hibernate?” to pose to the student who flips over the matching set of polar bear cards. If the student gives the appropriate answer, “no, only pregnant females,” give him an additional point.
Make the game more exciting for your students by offering them prizes suited to the activity. Purchase plastic figurines of animals to offer as incentive to students. Give the student with the most points the chance to pick one of these animal toys, or give a toy to all students as a thank you for their effort.