Beetles are extraordinary. They come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Some have vibrant colors on their bodies and others have spots and stripes. During this Invitation to Create, the children experimented with a variety of tools and materials to assemble their own African Beetle. During this process, the children observed, planned and made decisions about their art. By offer a variety of materials and no specific example, children are able to create based on what makes sense to them. 
We sorted beetle shapes by color. They used shapes to create beetles in their fine motor journals.  Finally, they created beetles with play dough, straws, bottle caps and beads.

All animals need water to survive, and they search for rivers and watering holes to stay hydrated and cool. Today, I gave each child a Safari Postcard, and we talked about the animals they’ve learned about this month. They were encouraged to draw their favorite animal(s) and themselves on their postcard.
I also switched up name practice! I wrote each child’s name on butcher paper, and they each had a dot marker. They walked around, looking for their name and placing a dot when they found it. This activity got them moving and thinking!
For math, we worked with math story cards and solved each problem together. Using link strips as pretend animals, the children listened to the story and placed the "animals" in or out of the water, depending on the problem.
Finally, we practiced the letter "C" using Q-tips to paint. They each had a choice of paint color, and, unsurprisingly, everyone chose pink! They also practiced stringing letters.
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There are many different types of birds that live in Africa such as parrots, ostriches, storks and flamingos. They created a cute flamingo puppet!
For fine motor skills they traced lines and played with play dough. 

Many African animals are herbivores and eat grass. Grass can easily be found in places in Africa and also in your own backyard. There are two types of grasslands; tropical savanna (dry and wet season) and temperate grasslands (four seasons). They created a grass crown and were encouraged to fringe cut the edge of the green paper. I fitted to their head.  
We discussed what insects or animals have spots.  They were encouraged to draw spots in their journals.  We played a game, picking the ladybug card, counting the spots and finding the giraffe with the same amount of spots. 
Lastly, they practiced their scissor skills, I gave them strips of paper and they tried to stay on the line cutting!  They are getting really good with the scissors! 

The great migration is when 1.5 million wildebeests and other animals walk from Tanzania to Kenya. This occurs annually due to the search for food and water. They travel across dangerous rivers and plains. During this Invitation to Create, the children observed the Inspiration Photo of a herd traveling together, then planned their own migration creation. The children used their imagination and pretended the mosaic squares were migrating animals. Through this process, the children discovered how to arrange their art materials into a moving herd. 
We played elephant matching. Flip an elephant, identify the color, place on the same color "Herd." Elephants live in large herds for safety and love. Their family stays together in the herd. 

African music is often made up of percussion instruments such as drums and xylophone. Sometimes they are used to pass down stories from generations to generations. Today they created a shaker stick using a cup, lid, and popsicle stick. They used stickers to form the letter C.

We have celebrated another three birthdays this month.  Happy birthday Quentin, Niamh and Emmy! 

The foods in Africa are traditionally grains, fruit, vegetables and meat. Animals can either be carnivores, herbivores or omnivores. We discussed types of food we eat and our favorite foods. All living things need food. Some eat only plants and some eat other animals. Some animals such as lions, need to eat other animals to survive. They are called carnivores. 
We worked on letter Cc again today!

Continuing our Going on Safari unit. Jewelry is often made and worn in African cultures. The Maasai tribe, located in southern Kenya, have been creating beaded jewelry for a very long time. Besides clay, bone, wood, copper and brass, colorful beads are used to create necklaces to indicate someone's age, social or marital status or to represent emotions or natural elements like sky and earth. During this Invitation to Create, the children used a paper plate to create a necklace form then used a cotton swab to add colorful paint as decoration. When children are given the opportunity to create their own designs, they develop self-confidence and understanding that there is no wrong way to be creative. 
They used bottle caps and stacking counters to create African color patterns. They worked on letter Rr in their journals.