Jungle theme activities

Jungle animals are just so great to link to so many different activities whether it be art and craft or music as well as many more.

I made a simple jungle animal book for the children to look through using Sparklebox resources and printed off some of the animal masks they have for the children to wear for the song below.

The Jungle Hokey Pokey

A great action song for children

(To the tune of the Hokey cokey)

You put your Elephant trunk in,

You put your Elephant trunk out,

You put your Elephant trunk in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey - Pokey

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

You put your Monkey hand in,

You put your Monkey hand out,

You put your Monkey hand in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey - Pokey

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

You put your Giraffe neck in,

You put your Giraffe neck out,

You put your GIraffe neck in,

And you shake it all about.

You do the Hokey - Pokey

And you turn yourself around.

That's what it's all about.

Other ideas to try:

1. Make a giraffe out of a kitchen roll

http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/animals/africa/giraffe.asp

2. Make some masks using funky foam.  This can be purchased really cheaply and can be found in the pound shops.

Image taken from Pinterest

3. Make a jungle animal picture frame

http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/kids/kids-craft-supplies/kids-foam-sheets-and-shapes

4. Make some jungle animal finger puppets

http://www.crafthubs.com/animal-finger-puppets/20729

5. Decorate some cupcakes into jungle animals

Image taken from Pinterest

Baa baa black sheep

Baa baa black sheep

Have you any wool?

Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.

One for the master and one for the dame

And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.

I love this idea using your little ones hand as a template

And what about this fab idea from www.creativekidsnacks.com

Twinkle Twinkle

Twinkle, twinkle little star

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are?

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are?

You get the idea of the packs I put together by now to use with the families and here is the Twinkle, twinkle one.  Although I have used Sparklebox for many of the props there are other sites you could use too or just look for simple props on the internet.

5 little ducks

There are some many great activities you can link to this rhyme as well as printables available to bring it alive.

I have used Sparklebox to print off these counting mats seen in the picture below.  Add some home made play dough and make your own ducks, it's so easy.

You can use the cut out ducks to match to the correct card as well as to use as a matching game (numbers to spots).

Five little ducks went swimming one day

Five little ducks went swimming one day

Over the hills and far away

Mummy duck said, quak, quack, quack, quack

But only four little ducks came back.

Four little ducks.......

Three little ducks......

Two little ducks......

One little duck......

Other ideas to try:

1. Cut a duck shape out of a sponge to do some sponge painting

2. Make a paper plate duck like this one

https://thekidfriendlyhome.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/paper-plate-duck/

3. Try making some home made lacing cards.  Follow this link to take you to one you can print out from Activity Village.
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/duckling-lacing-card

Don't forget to add shoelaces : )

Hey Diddle Diddle the Cat and the Fiddle

Now this is a rhyme I don't really hear very often which is why I like to bring some of the older rhymes into the packs that I put together for the families to share.

I printed off the rhyme cards from Sparklebox and made them into a book for the option of sharing a book together and using to sing with.

I made up a rhyme card to add to the pack to use with the props.  For the props I searched the internet and found simple matching characters from the rhyme.  For more of a sensory play add soft toy characters.

Hey Diddle Diddle

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle

The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed to see such fun

and the dish ran away with the spoon.

Humpty printable puppets

Pop on over to Twinkl to find lots of fabulous resources.  These printable puppets are just one of many that can be added to lollipop sticks to use for the rhyme.

http://www.twinkl.co.uk/

5 Cheeky Monkeys swinging in the tree

One of my all time favourites.  To go alongside this rhyme I printed off some cute monkey pictures from the internet, a palm tree which I then enlarged for the monkeys to swing from and of course a greedy Mr. Crocodile to use as props to bring the rhyme alive.

For this rhyme pack I added a song book printed off from Sparklebox to add the element of 'sharing books together'.  Lastly I added a rhyme card with the lyrics.

This pack aids with:

• Language development
• Matching skills
• Early number skills 

The best thing is that it hasn't cost me a lot to put it together.  I laminated it all so it can be used time and rime again.    

Five little monkeys swinging in the tree

Five little monkeys swinging in the tree

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me!”

Along came the Crocodile as quiet as could be and …

SNAP went Mr Crocodile! Oh dear me!

Four little monkeys swinging in the tree

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me!”

Along came the Crocodile as quiet as could be and …

SNAP went Mr Crocodile! Oh dear me!

Three little monkeys swinging in the tree

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me!”

Along came the Crocodile as quiet as could be and …

SNAP went Mr Crocodile! Oh dear me!

Two little swinging in the tree

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me!”

Along came the Crocodile as quiet as could be and …

SNAP went Mr Crocodile! Oh dear me!

One little monkey swinging in the tree

Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me!”

Along came the Crocodile as quiet as could be and …

SNAP went Mr Crocodile! Oh dear me!

Five currant buns in a bakers shop

For a really great sensory version pop on over to Kids Craft Room.  Fabulous ideas for resources and lots more here.  Loving this idea for the currant buns using tights and brown paper as well as pom poms for the cherries.  Brilliant print out for large pennies too.  
Fab idea!

http://kidscraftroom.com/five-currant-buns-song-resources-free-printable/

Five currant buns in a bakers shop

I just love using this rhyme with the children.  There are so many different play ideas you can link to it.  Here is one I made up using props from Sparklebox.

I made up a matching game with five boards that can also be used as play dough mats if you add some home made play dough.  Use the props alone to use with the song and of course don't forget to add your penny!

Five currant buns in a bakers shop

Five currant buns in a baker's shop.
Big and round with a cherry on the top,
Along came .......... with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

Four currant buns in a baker's shop.
Big and round with a cherry on the top,
Along came  ..........  with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

Three currant buns in a baker's shop.
Big and round with a cherry on the top,
Along came  ............  with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

Two currant buns in a baker's shop.
Big and round with a cherry on the top,
Along came ............  with a penny one day,
Bought a currant bun and took it away.

One currant bun in a baker's shop.
Big and round with a cherry on the top,
Along came  ..........  with a penny one day,
Bought the currant bun and took it away. 

This song was originally posted at:
http://bussongs.com/songs/five-currant-buns.php

Fuzzy little caterpillar song

This is a great little song sung to the tune of (Row, row, row your boat):

Fuzzy little Caterpillar

The fuzzy little caterpillar

In the garden creeps.

He spins himself a blanket

And soon falls fast asleep.

The fuzzy little caterpillar

Wakes up by and by

To find he has beautiful wings

And changed into a butterfly

http://www.bucketlife.com/blog/cocooning-prepping-bucket-list-life

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

As you will know by now I love this story and it is one of my all time favourites.  I love using it with the families as it covers so many learning opportunities:

• Language development
• Creativity
• Imagination
• Early number

The possibilities are endless as are the activities you can link to it.  

I printed off the cards in the picture from Sparklebox.  In order to match the story you could print several off at a time for the apples, oranges, strawberries etc.  You could cut the individual items out and the laminate them so you have more of a story sack.

Other ideas to try:

• Make a wooden spoon butterfly - cut some wings from paper, decorate and stick them to the spoon

http://blog.intellidance.ca/blog/1-23-2013/diy-wooden-spoon-puppets-kids

• Make some egg box caterpillars

http://www.crafthubs.com/egg-carton-birthday-invitation/25817

• Make your own props with your child to retell the story.  Use different coloured paper and lolly sticks

Taken from Pintrest

• Make some home made play dough to use with your child and make some caterpillars

http://mumcentral.co.uk/activities/on-monday#.Vz3TiZErLIU

Oh I have a field to plough.....song

Here's an idea for a new song to go alongside this Traditional Tale.

Unfortunately I have no link to credit it to the original author but wanted to share as it is such a lovely tune.

(Sing it to the tune of 'The Grand Old Duke Of York')

'Oh, I have a field to plough!'

Said busy Farmer Ben,

So he drove his tractor up the field,

And he drove it down again.

And when he was up, he was up,

And when he was down, he was down,

And when he was only half way up,

He was neither up nor down.

'Oh, I have some seeds to sow!'

Said busy Farmer Ben,

So he drove his tractor up the field,

And he drove it down again.

And when he was up, he was up,

And when he was down, he was down,

And when he was only half way up,

He was neither up nor down.

Traditional Stories: The Enormous Turnip

This is the Traditional Tale: The Enormous Turnip pack that i put together again using Sparklebox resources.

Along with the background story mat there are lots of props to match the many characters within the story.  I have also added three different sized laminated turnips which can be put in order of size....smallest to largest and largest to smallest to add another dimension to the story developing early number skills.

Other ideas to try:

Printing with paint - use pieces of turnip in the same way as you would potatoes for potato printing.  It is strong enough to be carved into many shapes.  

Try growing some seeds.  See if you can buy some turnip seeds and watch how they grow with your child.

Go on a treasure hunt in your house and see what else you and your child can find that's big (enormous) OR see what you can find that begins with the 't' for turnip sound.

If you haven't had turnip before, what about buying one and cooking it for you all to try? What does t taste like?

What other ideas can you think of?

Three Billy Goats Gruff rhyme

If your looking for a new song to along with this story how about this.....

(Sing it to the tune of: 'The Grand Old Duke Of York')

Three little goats went walking,

one lovely summers's day.

They crossed a bridge to get some grass,

but a troll got in their way!

They tricked the troll and down he fell,

In to the water wet.

Now three little goats are getting fat,

and the troll hasn't come back yet!

Image taken from: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4ZYQN_the-billy-goats-gruff

Traditional stories: The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Here is another example of a pack I made up to go alongside the traditional tale of the 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' using props from Sparklebox.

It's always good if you can add physical props that are sensory to add to the story.  However i love the fact that these are simple and easy to prepare props that can be used over and over again as well as wiped over if needed.  

You will see in the picture that I have also added two jam jar lids to the pack.  The children love using these to make the sound of the trip trap noise of the goats going over the bridge.

The other week when I was working with a small group of children we acted out the story after revising the story using the children as the goats and the troll.  We put some chairs together facing back to back and added some material over it for the bridge.

Blue material was added to the underneath section for the troll to sit on waiting for the goats. I printed off and laminated some goat masks for each of the children and a troll one.

The families helped tell the story and encouraged and supported the children to act out the parts.  A lovely afternoon was had by all and some great photos taken for the memories for the families.

The masks I used were these found at: http://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-t-529-the-three-billy-goats-gruff-role-play-masks

Goldilocks and three bears extension ideas

Here are some great ideas to extend your Goldilocks and three bears theme.....

1. Have a Teddy bears tea party.  How about playing some music too....'If you go down to the woods today...'

image from: http://www.rheged.com/teddy-bears-tea-party-2

2. Make some bear masks

http://www.firstpalette.com/tool_box/printables/bearmask.html

Great masks here to print and colour

3. Go for a walk to the woods and see if you can find the house where the bears live

4. Make some bear puppets.  I love this one where you can pop your fingers through for the legs.  There are lots of ideas on line.

5. Visit the library and search for some bear books and stories.  It's free to join!

6. Put on a puppet show using teddies, dolls and any other cuddly toy characters you have

See what else your little one can think of to do with bears but most of all have fun together.

Goldilocks and the three bears props

As you know by now I love using Sparklebox as it houses so many exciting ideas to use with children.

One of my favourite stories to use with the families as I have mentioned before is Goldilocks and the three bears.  Its always great to bring the story alive using props such as teddies and dolls etc.  But if you haven't got enough how making a set of these from Sparklebox?

You can wipe them clean and take them anywhere with you....holidays, sleepovers, doctors etc etc.  Place them all in a file and hey presto your ready to with them time and time again.

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/

You will find the printouts for the story board, characters as well as the matching game.

So many opportunities for language development, early maths skills, developing creativity and imagination skills.

Bingo board used as a memory game....there are various boards that can be printed off.

Completed board.....

 Ask questions about the story using the cards....

The printable story board......

I cut out characters, bowls, chairs and beds from the printables available....

The kitchen section for the porridge bowls.....

The three bears....

The three chairs.....

The three bears....

And of course not forgetting Goldilocks.

Leaf rubbing book

I have very fond memories of when I was a little girl taking rubbings of different leaves in the woodland areas around my Grandmas house.  The variety of trees and leaves were amazing and I always recall her teaching me the names of them.

When I had my children I did similar activities with them and loved taking crayons and paper out with us to do the same.  Its an activity that doesn't cost anything to do together but the memories you gain are priceless!

Again there is so much to talk about:

• The woodland area
• big / small items
• colours
• patterns

You can add your rubbings and the leaves to a home made book to cherish your memories even further.