Zoo: Day Two

Zoo Animals and Animal Sounds

Children will learn the types of animals that live in the zoo and the sounds they make.

Book:
Read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear? by Bill Martin, Jr. Talk about the animals at the zoo and the sounds they make.

Ask children about the animals and have them make the sounds of those animals.

Song:
Sing a song about the animals in the zoo such as:

I see Animals (to the tune of "Are you Sleeping?")

I see animals,
I see animals
in the zoo-
in the zoo.
Elephants, giraffes,
lions and seals,
monkeys, too-
monkeys, too.

I see animals,
I see animals
in the zoo-
in the zoo.
Tigers and bears,
hippos and snakes,
lizards, too-
lizards, too.

(The song can keep going as you add more animals. Have the children try to fill in the song with more of their own animal ideas.)

Zoo (to the tune of "Skip to my Lou")

Zoo, zoo, who's in the zoo?
Zoo, zoo, who's in the zoo?
Zoo, zoo, who's in the zoo?
Let's go for a visit.

Monkey, swinging in a tree.
Sheep and lions, grazing free.
Tall giraffes-a sight to see,
all on our zoo visit.

Art:

Make animal crafts. Paper Plate Lion - Paint a paper plate yellow or tan. Cut several strips of orange, yellow, or brown construction paper. Curl the strips around a pencil. Glue strips of paper all around the plate to make the lion's mane. Cut out a face and nose out of construction paper and glue it on to the center of the plate. Draw in the eyes and mouth with marker. You can also do this with yarn around the face, but it is more difficult for younger children to manage.

Paper Plate Elephant - Paint the back of a paper plate gray (or any other color you choose) and let dry OR color with crayon. Print out the black and white or color template. Color the parts, if necessary, and cut out the pieces. Glue or staple the ears onto the plate on opposite edges. Glue on the trunk and eyes.

Giraffe Paper Bag Puppet - Print out one of the giraffe templates ( color - or - black and white). Color the giraffe, if necessary, and cut out the 2 parts. Glue the giraffe's head to the bottom of a small lunch-sized paper bag. Lift up the fold and glue in the neck of the giraffe so that when you put your hand inside the bag it looks like the giraffe has a head on top of a neck.

Zebra Stripes - Print the picture of the zebra without the stripes, or you can use a picture of a horse. Cut thin strips of black paper (I use a paper shredder for this as it is quicker). Give children black strips of paper and glue to make their own zebra picture.