We're Going on a Safari...

6/27/2013

We started our new theme, AFRICAN SAFARI, a few weeks ago. With the nice weather and long days, our evening adventures have been extended, leaving less time for me to sit down at the copmuter and put this together. Tonight, however, my mother-in- law is flying in to spend a few weeks with us and the older girls are taking a late night trip into the city with Daddy to pick her up at the airport. Roo is sleeping, so I am here by myself for four hours awaiting their return...whoa!!! So I am hoping to get caught up a bit.

We have had a blast learning about the African savanna and its many creatures, such as lions, giraffes, zebras, hippos, cheetahs, hyenas, and elephants. Our local library had some fabulous books to supplement our discoveries as well. Here are some highlights from our adventures thus far...

BOOKS OF THE WEEK:

African Critters
By: Robert B. Haas

Hide and Seek
By: Il Sung Na

Starry Safari
By: Linda Ashman

Adventures of Riley:
Safari in South Africa
By: Amanda Lumry and Laura Hurwitz

BIBLE VERSE:

LETTER OF THE WEEK: S

S is for safari guide.
S is for sunset.
S is for savanna.

MUSIC CONNECTION:

Going on a Safari

We're going on a safari,
Going on a safari,
going on a safari,
to see what we can see!

Elephants, and cheetahs,
hippos and giraffes.
(repeat)

We came up with a game that went along with this song that the girls LOVED! They would put on their safari vests and binoculars (see CRAFTY CORNER) and wait while I hid all our stuffed safari creatures in the other room. Then we would all sneak into the room while singing the song and the girls would try to find the animals. The girls could have played this game all day, every day if I let them. :-) Fun, and too cute! You can experience for yourself in the video above. :-)

ART CONNECTION: Sunset on the Savanna

I came up with this idea randomly one night when trying to think of a cool way to create a sunset at the mere age of 3. This worked so well! We have experimented with tissue paper and a glue and water mix before. The paper is thin enough that the colors meld together in a really neat way. First we layered on the paper on color at a time onto cardboard- blue, then pink, then orange, and then yellow. The girls painted over the paper with glue watered down. The we pasted on pre-cut "safari" shapes from black card stock to look like shadows on the horizon. The girls were really attentive for this project and created some really beautiful pieces...frame worthy really!