Still more Oz fun

I was in charge of a ROCKO event today. Because I already had lots of resources for a Wizard of Oz theme, that's what we did today. The kids had a blast making magic wands and Over the Rainbow necklaces (multiple colors of pony beads on lanyards). We even did an interactive viewing of the movie: singing all the songs, dancing along with Dorothy and her friends, blowing bubbles whenever Glinda appeared, booing the witch, etc. while we ate Munchkin Munchies (Chex snack mix).

We also played Follow the Yellow Brick Road:


Materials:

• 8 1/2 X 11 yellow paper (20 sheets or at least one for every player)
• pictures of characters and places in the story to glue/tape onto the yellow paper (laminate for durability if you want to be able to use them again); a good source is Pete Wells's Oztastic unit
• matching pictures for a "draw" pile or to put on an All-Turn-It spinner
• sound track to the movie
• small prizes (optional)

Procedure:

• Lay the yellow paper "bricks" out in a circle, picture side up (we used yellow duct tape to secure ours to the floor)
• Have the kids choose a brick to stand on
• Start the music; the kids move around the circle until the music stops
• When the music stops, everyone stops on their spot
• Pull a picture from the "draw" pile or spin the spinner
• The person standing on the spot can receive a small prize, become the Music Master, or whatever other activity you choose to use
• Continue, engineering as needed to make sure everyone has a chance to "win"

Variations:

• Play like traditional musical chairs, removing one spot each time until only one player remains
• Put action options on the All-Turn-It spinner; the person on the spot that is drawn gets to spin then do the action chosen (or choose someone else to do the action); options might be "melt like the witch," or "sing We're Off to See the Wizard" or "dance like the scarecrow" or "freeze like the rusted Tin Man," etc.
• Let the student who lands on the "lucky spot" don a witch's hat and become the Wicked Witch to swoop in and "get" the next person who lands on the lucky spot
• Have the student who lands on the lucky spot act out something related to their spot
• Have each student identify the character/location/vocabulary term he/she lands on or tell something about the item
• Have the student draw a card then follow the circle until he/she finds the matching brick
• Have a race to see who can match the cards to the bricks the fastest; must follow the path; could do this as a relay race, just make the path a straight line and have one team per side
• Could do the same as the matching activity but use comprehension questions instead
• For better access for wheelchair users, put the path on the wall

We used the following characters/places/things: Dorothy, Toto, Auntie Em, tornado, house landing on witch, Munchkin Mayor, Munchkin drummer, Lollipop Munchkin, Glinda, Wicked Witch, ruby slippers, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, angry apple tree, Emerald City, Witch's castle, The Great Oz, the Wizard, and flying monkeys
Other items might be: rainbow, hot air balloon, Munchkinland houses, water bucket, broomstick, yellow brick, basket, Uncle Henry, Miss Gulch, oil can, magic wand