Read the book, Inside an Ant Colony, by Allan Fowler, to peer into the world of ants. Follow that book with The Ants Go Marching, a Sing and Read book and CD combination, written by Mary Gruetzke, which ties music into your lesson. Set up the tunnel next to a wall, so the wall can act as the end of the ant tunnel. Have children pretend to be ants marching along in a line collecting items such as balls or large foam blocks that have been scattered around the room. The "ants" deliver their treasure to the tunnel, then back out of the tunnel and begin marching again. Repeat until the tunnel is full or until every "ant" has made a delivery.
Set up an obstacle course in your room with a tunnel, blocks and a letter station. Children will travel through the tunnel, weave through and jump over the blocks and arrive at a station. That station will consist of letters or pictures. Ask the students to find and retrieve the letter of the day or a picture that starts with the letter of the day and race back through the obstacle course.
Hang a bell near the inside middle of the tunnel. Ask the students to crawl to the middle of the tunnel, ring the bell a specified number of times and crawl backwards out, to demonstrate their knowledge of one-to-one correspondence. Some children may be able to handle addition problems. Ask students to ring the bell the right number of times to answer the question.
Making a tunnel by attaching cardboard boxes together can create opportunities that are not as easily accomplished with a purchased collapsible tunnel. The tunnel can be a cave where the kids decorate the walls with their version of ancient cave art and then explore the tunnel with flashlights. You could also recreate the night sky by punching holes in the top in the shape of constellations.
Put a couple of small pillows near the middle of the tunnel, and let students use the tunnel as a reading nook. Little hiding places are great for getting lost in a great book like Green Eggs and Ham. Hey, there's even a tunnel in that book.