Materials
Imaginations What to do
- Take the children on an imaginary animal hunt. All should sit in chairs with hands on their knees.
- As the hunt begins, show them how to slap their knees alternately to simulate a person walking.
- The children repeat each line after you say it and imitate your hand movements.
- 4. Chant this animal hunt poem as you slap your knees.
We're going on an animal hunt.
I'm not afraid!
Oh, no!
What's that up ahead?
It's a river.*
Can't go around it.(try other prepositions, too, for example, over or through)
Can't go under it.
We'll have to swim it.Suggestions for animal habitats:
Bird Tree
Lion Grass
Bear Cave
Bobcat Mountain
Fish River
Whale Ocean
Monkey Tree
Tiger Grass
Goat Mountain
Snake River
Octopus Ocean - 5. Pause after the first verse and ask what kind of animals live in the river. Allow for some discussion and then suffest that the children attempt to catch some of those types of animals as youswim across the river.
- 6. Make swimming motions and pretend you are picking up various fish and water creatures and putting them in a sack. Wipe your forehead with your hand, shake your arms and begin slapping yourknees and again as you say the next verse of the poem.
- 7. Continue as you explore a variety of animal habitats, until you feel you have gathered enough animals or the children's interest begins to wane. Stop your safari in a nice field for lunchand, over your pretend meal, discuss the animals you have collected during yoiur adventure. Here are some questions you could ask to stimulate conversations. Where did we get the snakes? What livedin the tall grass? What did you find under the rocks in the river?
- Discuss what you should now do with your collection of animals. Should you put them in a zoo or realease them back into the wild? Maybe you can take them home with you in your backpack, or justlet them loose to roam around the room.
More to do
Art: Cut out magazine pictures of a variety of animals and use them to make a collage to represent what you found on your animal hunt. The children an make their own binoculars on yourjungle safari. Have them decorate two toilet paper rolls in any manner they wish. Avoid using glitter or glued-on materials since these will be used near the eyes and such materials often fall off.Tape or staple the two tubes together to form a pair of binoculars. Puch two holes in the ends and tie on some string or yarn so that the binoculars can be worn around the children's necks.
Language: Make a simplified lift-the-flapbook aoubt your jungle adventures. Cut out magazine pictures of jungle animals and glue them to an 8'' x10'' paper using glue or ametal brad. Now you can lift the flap to find out which jungle animals live in which habitat. Create a cover and bind the pages together into a book. Related books and recording
A Creepy Crawly Song Book by Hiawyn Oram
Crocodile Beat by Gail Jorgensen
Hippo Lemonade by Mike Thaler
Into the Jungle by Judy Hindley
Jane Yolen's Old MacDonald Songbook by Jan Yolen
Jungle Walk by Nancy Tafuri
Nanta Lion's search and Find adventure by Susan McDonald
Stop That Noise by Paul Geraghty
The Tiger Who Lost His Stripes by Anthony Paul
Who is the Beast? by Keith Baker
"The Animal's Lullaby" by Tom Paxton
Virginia Jean Herrod, Columbia, SC | 
