jungle

Bendable Zoo Monkey

This cute bendable monkey provided lots of play value for my kids after they made them! Imagine all the places they could be hidden around the house...

monkey bendable

 

Thanks to Busy Bee Kids for the inspiration!

monkey bendable

What you need:

  • Monkey printout (we only used the front)
  • Markers
  • Scissors
  • Foam sheets (with sticky backs)
  • Pipe cleaners

 

monkey bendable First, have your child colour in the monkey print out. You might want to attach the sticky foam to the back first - this gives them a firm surface.

 

Then, cut out the monkey (if you haven't attached the sticky foam backing, do it now) and use a smaller piece of sticky foam on the back to attach the arms and legs!

You have a bendable monkey!

oakville bendablel monkeysmomstown Oakville made some great ones at a Zoo playgroup!

 

 

 

 

 

Love monkeying around with zoo crafts like momstown does?

Make some:

Giraffes

Elephants

Lions

Posted by Teacher Mom on 08/29/2011 - 20:44
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

Hand and fingerprint Giraffe

momstown's Zoo theme has all kind of animals being created in our house! This painting craft was inspired by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas. We made it our own partially because I mixed up the colours!

 

handprint giraffe

 

Aren't these so cute? Using handprints and fingerprints, you can make a giraffe!

 

handprint giraffe What you need:

  • Yellow and brown paint
  • Brushes
  • White construction paper
  • Black marker

 

 

handprint giraffe

 

First, paint your child's hand yellow or brown. Here's where I mixed it up, so we ended up with two sets - brown giraffes with yellow spots and yellow giraffes with brown spots!

 

Press hand onto paper to make a handprint (or two!)

 

handprint giraffe

 

Then, have your child dab their finger into yellow (or brown) paint, and press fingerprints onto the giraffe for spots.

 

 

 

As a final touch, paint on the giraffe's 'mane' and use black marker to make an eye and a smile!

 

barrie momstown

momstown Barrie made lots of giraffes at their zoo-themed playgroup!

 

 

Handprint painting is a fun sensory experience and a great way for kids to experiment with paint!

Try momstown's

Handprint Lamb

Fingerprint I for Insect

Handprint golfish bowl


Posted by Teacher Mom on 08/23/2011 - 11:28
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

E is for Elephant

How many ways can you use the letter 'E'? Well, you can make an Elephant with momstown!

 

E is for Elephant

 

My 6-yr old was a big help with this one! I came up with the legs/body 'E' but he added the tail and ear with smaller sized upper case 'E's! - a fun way to introduce "E" for "Elephant".

 

What you need:

  • Construction paper
  • Letter "E" cutouts of different sizes
  • Glue
  • Marker (to add details like eyes, nose, etc.)

 

When children are learning first vowel sounds, it's important that you start with words that have the same vowel sound, i.e. short 'e' is the sound that starts the word 'elephant, egg, elbow'. It gets confusing if you add words like 'eye, earth' that use a different 'e' sound.

 

 

e is for elephant Newmarket Auroramomstown Newmarket-Aurora did a great version of this craft in their Alphabet Play program!

 

Starfall has some amazing online games for preschoolers to try. Click here for a 'short e' sound activity!

 

momstown loves to get creative with letters and animals! Check out:

B is for Butterfly

C is for Caterpillar

 

Posted by Teacher Mom on 05/17/2011 - 09:17
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

Nature walk crocodile

I didn't see this one coming. No one expects to find a crocodile on a walk through the woods in Southern Ontario! But armed with a child's imagination, we found one!

 

crocodile driftwood craft

 

Kids are the best - they find excitement in just about anything! My four year old was convinced that this (rather rotten) piece of wood looked just like a crocodile (picture it with no eyes, paint or tail...)

 

So, we brought it home, cleaned it, let it dry, and then painted it green and added googly eyes. Ben had also picked out a choice stick for a tail, which we kind of poked in at the end.

 

It really couldn't get simpler than this - momstown loves nature-inspired crafts - and it's great to be able to use things we find in the outdoors. I thought I was a pretty good sport about bringing a dirty piece of rotten wood into the house - and I'm glad I did!

Posted by Teacher Mom on 04/11/2011 - 19:00
Labels:
ShareThis share this post

Jungle Fever!!

July’s theme was JUNGLE month in momstown and all chapters planned some jungle fun. Our little members were kept very busy pretending to be animals in the jungle and exploring all kinds of activities jungle or safari related! Many included a field trip to the zoo this month too to check out the real life versions of the animals we’ve been learning about!

Super craft ideas sparked this month in our neighbourhoods are below!

lion plate craft

Pasta Lions
momstown Oakville created roaring lions with something we all have in our cupboards – pasta!

  • paper plate for face
  • curly fusilli pasta for the mane
  • googley eyes & glue
  • crayon to decorate

    •  

     

     

     

     

    Monkey Cupcakes
    Bake cupcakes like momstown Edmonton South and then decorate for some jungle fever! (Baking counts as a functional craft!!!)

    animal cupcakes

    • cupcakes
    • chocolate icing (cheat and buy it!)
    • M&M or skittles candies for eyes
    • Round vanilla cookie – 1/2 for mouth, ¼ each per ear

     

     

     

     

     

    Posted by momstown mama on 08/17/2010 - 00:40
    Labels:
    ShareThis share this post

    Jungle Alphabet Tree

    The kids had a great time creating these alphabet trees (inspired by the fabulous Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.) but they did take some parent guidance. It took us several days to complete these.

     

    What you need:jungle tree

    brown paint

    a cylinder shaped recycled material (paper towel holder, oatmeal container, etc...)

    green construction paper or tissue paper

    alphabet shaped pasta

     

    First, we painted a recycled cylinder like a paper towel holder or oatmeal box brown. Let it dry.

    Cut out green leaves for the palm tree. Glue them onto the "tree trunk" and let it dry. Parents may need to help with this.

    After the tree is dry, have the kids glue their alphabet pasta onto the tree.

     

    Check out this great rendition of the book online to hear the catchy phrasing and cute little song and video. Now Scit scat scattle scoot and go make this craft!

     

     

    Posted by momstown mama on 08/02/2010 - 17:45
    Labels:
    ShareThis share this post
    12next ›last »