Before we left on our winter break, our kids started talking about Africa, and when we came back to class in January, we began exploring the topic from different angles.
Our journey began during a circle time where I asked the kids what they knew about Africa. We looked at an illustrated map, books and photographs together and the kids shared their thoughts on a variety of topics:
- The shape of the African continent
- Village life
- Animals
The Shape
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| We looked at different maps of Africa. |
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| We drew the continent shape and other shapes in sand. |
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We did pin pricking of the shape of the African continent caption.
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| Look! I have TWO Africas! |
What did the kids think the shape of the African continent looks like?
- Madeleine: “When I turn it upside down it looks like the letter ‘J’”
- William: “It looks like a fish!”
- Kieri: “It looks like an octopus to me!”
- Elisia: “It looks like there’s lots of sea there…”
Village Life
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| The kids created a village like they saw in pictures. |
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| Some kids built a hut out of wooden arches and brown paper. |
Although the kids focused on recreating traditional village life, we also looked at modern-day living in Africa. Kai W. also made a connection between life in Africa and in Canada when he commented: “The hut looks like my home!”
The Animals
Our group spent the biggest chunk of time around the topic of animals. Through play, art and reading activities, we explored the African animal kingdom of lions, zebras, elephants, monkeys and more!
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| The lion was clearly the king of the jungle in this play! |
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| Others preferred to play with the various snakes. |
During play with the animal figures the kids talked about why they did or didn’t like lions:
- Kai S: “I like lions because they eat meat like me.”
- Jun: “I don’t like lions because they are not pretty.”
- Regina: “I don’t like them because they have big teeth and small teeth.”
- Jaylen: “I like the big lion because he can give me a ride!”
- Ella: “I don’t like them because they eat zebras… yuck!”
Art Activities
Art activities revolved around the making of various animals:
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| Creating zebras with yarn and glue. |
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Making lions with feathers.
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| Painting handprint elephants. |
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| …MANY elephants! |
Reading
…Last but not least, we read The Lion and the Mouse, which our group loved and requested that we read the book again.
What did the kids say about the book?
- Elisia: “The mouse helped the lion get out of the cage”
- Noa: “You can help your sister.”
- Sahara: “I help my daddy, although I’m small.”
I really enjoyed exploring the continent of Africa with your children and learned new and interesting facts with them!
-Michelle
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