In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle!

The Boys With Their Rainmakers

This week’s preschool/ kindergarten theme is the jungle.  Alex has her first homeschool class at the Jacksonville Zoo this Wednesday, and since the younger kids and I will be spending several hours waiting there for her I thought it would be great to make it educational and relevant. We’re learning all about habitats, African animals, Africa, and more. We have lots of fun crafts lined up, a dozen or so related books from the library, and tons of finger plays. The kids are sure to have a roaring good time.

Here’s the Preschool/ Kindergarten Lesson Plan I put together for this week:

Preschool/ Kindergarten Jungle Lesson Plan

Here are all of the related fingerplays and crafts, compiled from online searches:

Jungle Preschool Theme Activities

Today we started school with Story Circle. All of the kids were actively involved.  We’re starting school a bit earlier to involve everyone in circle time. I was just doing it with the boys, but Alex wanted to be involved too. We discussed what a jungle is and what sorts of animals we might find in a jungle. We talked about different habitats in Africa and what makes up a habitat. We also read three great books today. One of them, “Walking Through the Jungle” is in both French and English so we got a double lesson there! We also had way too much fun with three new finger plays:

1. The Elephant Goes

This is the way the elephant goes
With a curly trunk instead of a nose
The rhino all hairy and fat
Has a sharp horn in place of a hat
The hippo with his mouth so wide
Let’s see what’s inside
The wiggley snake upon the ground
Crawls along without a sound
But monkey see, monkey do
The funniest animal I ever knew!
Note: Make actions for each animal (swing arms like elephant nose, put hands on head for rhino’s hat, etc)

2. I Went to the Jungle One Day

(Sung To: “London Bridge”)

I went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a monkey on the way and this is what he said, “oh-oh-oh-oh”
I went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a lion on the way and this is what he said, “roar”
went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a snake on the way and this is what he said, “hiss”

3. Do You Know the Jungle Animals

(Sung to: “The Muffin Man”)

Do you know the slimy snake, the slimy snake, the slimy snake
Oh do you know the slimy snake that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the chimpanzee, the chimpanzee, the chimpanzee
Oh do you know the chimpanzee that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the wildebeest, the wildebeest, the wildebeest
Oh do you know the wildebeest that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the crocodile, the crocodile, the crocodile
Oh do you know the crocodile that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the mountain lion, the mountain lion, the mountain lion
Oh do you know the mountain lion that lives deep in the jungle?

Monday's Exciting Reading Selection

We sang each of the fingerplays a handful of times. I lead the first time through. By the last “performance,” the kids noisily and happily sing along, romping around the story mat and pretending to be various jungle animals. Even 16-month-old Bella loves Story Circle!

Bella dances to the beat of our fun fingerplays... you're never too young to learn!

We slid into our regular school day at 9 am. Alex began her Classical Conversations Memory Work (Week 5) and the boys colored pictures of monkies and elephants. We next made rainmakers out of tp rolls, construction paper, rice, yarn, and lots of glue. The boys loved them! Derek ran around the house making lots of “music” while Ethan read aloud from “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.”

To incorporate the jungle theme into reading/ phonics time, Ethan practiced writing the word “jungle” and reading different animal names. I put up African animal flashcards all around the dining room and the boys loved that. Alex got a little jungle themed work during French time, practicing the names of some African animals in French and coloring a related worksheet. 

Alex studies her animals in French

During math, Ethan and I created a graph of the animals we found in “Walking Through the Jungle.” It was colorful and fun!

Ethan's Animal Graph

 We got a ton of schoolwork accomplished today, plus spiced it up with a little jungle fun. There was plenty of math, reading, phonics, and language study that had nothing to do with jungles, too. We like to add a bit of hands-on learning, fun, and creativity to our days to stave of boredom. Nothing kills the love of learning as quickly as boredom (on my part and theirs!).  We danced. We sang. We ran around outside and got out the wiggles. We learned new math concepts and practiced new vocabulary. Four little brains were thoroughly stimulated this morning!

Ethan, my kindergartener, had so much fun today that he proclaimed, “I loved today! Can we do today again tomorrow?” Now that’s a compliment every homeschooling mama wants to hear.