At the beginning of the game, two players are chosen – a hedgehog and a mouse – through drawing lots or counting. All remaining players stand in a circle and hold hands. The children in the circle help the mouse escape from the hedgehog. The distance between the players should be large enough to allow running between them. The “mouse” sits inside the circle, while the “hedgehog” stays outside of it.

The teacher turns on the music. While the music is playing, children, holding hands up high, dance around the mouse.

When the music stops, the children also stop and lower their hands down, and the “hedgehog” stands up and starts chasing the “mouse”. The goal of the “hedgehog” is to enter the circle and catch the “mouse”. It can do so by crawling under the linked hands, jumping over them, or even trying to break the chain. The other players must help the “mouse” and hinder the “hedgehog” from catching it by lowering their hands at the right moment and then raising them again to let the “mouse” through. It is not allowed to trip or squeeze arms in the game.

If the hedgehog enters the circle, the mouse can run out of the circle (but not too far). If the “hedgehog” catches the “mouse”, the “mouse” becomes the “hedgehog,” and the previous “hedgehog” goes back to rest in the circle, while the players choose a new mouse, and the game continues.

This post was produced as part of a project co-financed by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt in cooperation with the Naturschutzzentrum Oberlausitzer Bergland.