We are having such fun with our African Safari unit!
We began the unit by exploring a wide variety of animals that live in Africa. We got our gear (crafts) ready, including binoculars and hats. Then we went on our little safari around the school!
The children have absolutely loved making themselves into animals, like lions and rhinos. Experience Curriculum sends full craft kits, which makes this busy teacher and homeschool mom's job SO much easier!
A fun little bonus activity I added to one of our classes was painting like elephants. Yes, you read that correctly: elephants can paint a picture using their trunks! Check out a neat video here. We watched the video and then tried to paint with our mouths. It didn't work out so well, so I think we will stick to using our hands!
Have you ever visited a watering hole? There are so many African animals which utilize watering holes. We tried to get our animals there by playing a fun counting game. It is a great opportunity for my three's preschool class to also practice waiting and taking turns.
The best way to enjoy a unit for my little class is implementing a sensory bin! We used marbles for a watering hole, rice and mosses to create grasslands. It was so much fun to see them using the watering hole with the animals and they acted out the food chain using the animals. It was a terrific opportunity to talk more about the food chain, migration, and herds. Using the vocabulary frequently as they played, will help them to recognize and use the new vocabulary words themselves.
We can't wait to begin exploring our next Experience Curriculum unit!