Secret Agents of Good - Spy School

 Little Blue Bunny and his compatriot, Franklin, are back at SAOG (Secret Agents of Good) school this week.  With all the white stuff outside, they decided to hone their spy skills.

(What they get up to when they are NOT in SAOG training!)

Today they plan to become...SUPER SMELLERS!!! AND TERRIFIC TOUCHERS

Yes, the Blue Bunnies of Beneficence will use their noses to sniff out (hehehehe) different scents. Why is this important, you ask?

Well, a SUPER SMELLER can warn others of gas leaks, or of possible bad tastes, or of garlic overload.

But also, a SUPER SMELLER can stay safe by avoiding food that smells "off" - usually a sign of spoilage.

Here are some Spy School ideas.

-What's That Smell Game?

1. Gather some small cups or containers.

2. Gather an equal numbers of items with strong smells - like onions, vinegar, flowery perfume, peppermint, vanilla, or coffee. NOTE: stay to food safe items. Some very smelly items should be avoided - like cleaning supplies.

(Smelly things.)

3. Place a little bit of one smelly substance into each cup, one smell to a cup

4. Cover the cups with a thin tissue.  Some things that smell also have identifiable looks.

5. Challenge your spy student to identify the smell in each cup.

(Franklin is taking the plunge. I hope it smells good.)

 

Make it harder.

Place the cups around a room and ask your SAOG trainees to find them, using their sense of smell. 

-AAHHHH! What did I touch?

Sometimes we have to reach into containers to find things like lost toys, or lost crochet hooks, or lost pocket change or lost keys. Actually, I am thinking of sofa cushions right now, which are not containers. I think you know what I mean.

When reaching into dark places, it is helpful to know when to NOT grab something - or to be able to figure out what we DO grab. Just saying. This is where TERRIFIC TOUCH power comes into play.

For this game you need an empty box with a hole big enough to reach through. I suggest a tissue box, because those boxes come with holes.

(Could you guess what this was, if it was in the box?)

1. Place something with a particular shape or texture into the box. NOTE: for safety sake do NOT use sharp, poisonous or dangerous items for this test.

2. Cover the hole with a cloth so the trainee can NOT see inside.

3. The trainee must reach inside.

4. a. The trainee can tell you what they think is in the box.

    b. The trainee can describe how the item feels.  

5. If the trainee is successful in step 4,  it is the trainee's turn to test the tutor, (or trainer or teacher or....).

 

Good guessing, Franklin!

-Grab it!

This game is like a scavenger hunt for the senses. Make a list of words that describe things, like fuzzy, or furry or fluffy or feathery or - moving on to another letter now - smooth, sleek, slippery, slimey, shivery..

or any other describing word. You can add words that use other senses, like "bright" for the sense of sight, or "sweet" for taste or smell, or "loud" for hearing.

Challenge your SAOG trainees to GRAB something that matches your word. If you are keeping score, give extra points to trainees who grab creative choices. Or not. Play it by ear. Or eye, or tongue or nose or fingertips. It's all good.

Extra Points for putting everything away.

The Final Installment of SAOG Spy School will show up here sooner or later.

 

Secret Agents of Good Training

Little Blue Bunny wants to be a spy.  But, he doesn't want to lie, or steal, or hurt people.  Sometimes spies have to do those things.  Oh, the moral dilemmas a little bunny can find himself in!

Secret Hideout?

No worries!  He will be a Secret Agent of Good!  He will secretly learn ways to secretly help his neighbors and friends, on the sly (which means secretly).

But first he has to TRAIN:  All spies (or SAOG, Secret Agents of Good) must be very good at observation, memory and being inconspicuous.

Training Session #1:  Observing things with your eyes.

Game #1: Spies play this game all the time.  Put 6 or more items on a tray.  Study the tray for 15 seconds.  That's not very long.  The trainer takes the tray away and removes one or more items.  Now, the SAOG trainee must remember what was taken from the tray.
Variation:  The trainer ADDS something to the tray.  The trainee must notice what was added.

Don't look in there!

Game #2: The trainer places objects around a room or yard.  The objects should NOT be hidden in or behind anything.  The trainee has a list of the items and walks around the area until she finds them.  Then she reports to the trainer where each item is. 
Variation:  The trainee doesn't have a list.  The items are things that do NOT belong in the room they are placed in.  For example, pots in the living.  Sofa cushions in the yard. 
- OK, this is harder, especially in Little Blue Bunny's house where things routinely are out of place.
Variation #2:  The trainee studies the room.  Then the Trainer adds something in plain sight, or moves things around.  The trainee returns and finds the changes. 

Training Session #2:  Observing things with your ears.

Game #1.  The trainer stands behind the trainee and uses different items to make noises.  The trainee must guess what they are.

Game #2:  The trainee is blind folded.  The trainer calls from different places in the space.  The trainee has to point in the direction the sound comes from.

Game #3:  The trainer claps a rhythm and the trainee has to copy the rhythm.

Game #4:  The trainer stands out of sight and says the same phrase in different voices; sad, happy, angry, surprised, shy, scared.  The trainee must identify the emotion.  This is tricky! The trainer better be very good at expressing emotions with her voice.

LBB plans with other SAOG.

There are other ways of observing things.  Scent is one.  Touch is another way of observing things.

When you have passed these two trainings, Little Blue Bunny will be back with training on scent and touch.

What Good will you do once you complete your Secret Agents of Good Training?  Little Blue Bunny wants some ideas.