Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

3- to 6-Year-Olds

MY ENVIRONMENT: May and June

Ministry of Education / Bureau of Early Childhood Education

2017
 My Environment | Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION TO MY ENVIRONMENT
The content area “My Environment” is planned for two months approximately – May and June and includes the following topics,
each of them might last one – two weeks depending on the interest of children:

My Environment

I. | Seasons and Weather | 1 week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. | Plants | 2 weeks . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . 15

III. | Animals: Farm Animals | 2 weeks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

IV. | Animals: Small Animals | 2 weeks . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. 59

V. | Animals: Tiny Creatures | 1 week . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. 78

My Environment i
 I: SEASONS AND WEATHER

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Young children tend to find the concept of seasons rather difficult because it is too abstract, but it can be easier to understand
since there are two seasons in Liberia – the wet (rainy), which lasts from May to October, and the dry season from November to
April.

Within this theme the children can learn that the weather changes according to the seasons: some seasons are rainy, some are
dry; wind and clouds in the sky bring rain, sometimes thunder and lightning; the amount of rain that falls and the temperature
can be measure and we can keep records of the weather.

Teachers can encourage children to observe the weather conditions – how the sky changes in color and appearance during
different weather conditions. Children can experience the wind and how it changes in direction and speed. In rainy weather
children can look at the puddles and what happens to them after the rain over a few days. It is interesting to watch the clouds
change shape as they are blown by the wind. Sometimes they look like faces or animals.

The following information about the weather might be useful for teachers:
• Clouds: different kinds of clouds have different names, e.g. the dark rain clouds are called nimbus clouds.
• Thunderstorms are caused by giant electric sparks between the clouds and the earth (fork lightning), or inside
the clouds (sheet lightning). The electric spark creates great eat which makes the air expand very quickly. This
makes a loud echoing noise-thunder.
• Rainbows occur when sunlight falls on drops of water in rain, fog or spray because the droplets split light into
seven colors that it is made up of – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Sometimes you can see
them in a bubble.

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 My Environment
WEEKLY PLANNING OVERVIEW – May, Week 1
I: Seasons and Weather

I: Seasons and Weather

Time Type of Activity Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9.00 – 9.15 Morning Meeting Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž
Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž
What is the topic
žž What is the topic
žž Making Rain p. 3
žž Making Rain p. 3
žž Shadows p. 4
žž
for the week? for the week?
Introducing
žž Introducing
žž
Weather p. 2 Weather p. 2
9.15 – 11.00 Work Time – Learning Centers: Teacher organizes materials for children to work in centers of the child’s choice including:
Art Center, Block Center, Drama Center, Literacy Center, Manipulative Center while one or two Small Groups are working on
teacher-initiated activities.
Small Groups Water Thermometer Weather Reports Water Thermometer
Weather Reports p. 9 Rain Gauge p. 11
Week 1 p. 8 p. 10 p. 8
11.00 – 11.15 Clean-Up

11.15 – 12.00 Outdoor Time Clouds p. 13 Rain Gauge p. 11 Season Walks p. 12 Free Play Season Walks p. 12

12.00 – 12.45 Wash-Up, Lunch

12.45 – 14.15 Rest & Quiet Time Children who can’t sleep may “read” books.
Social games, story reading, finger plays, singing, dramatization of the books, reading the children’s books
14.15 – 14.30 Group Story Time
related to the topic.
Review of the day, sharing impressions of the day, discussion of the activities children have been involved in –
14.30 – 15.00 Closing Meeting
which new things they learned and planning the next day.

Activities with Parents throughout the day Parents can volunteer in Small Group activities
žž
Parents can join in songs, games, books, storytelling
žž
Parents can learn an activity and practice at home
žž

My Environment 1
 A. IDEAS FOR THE MORNING MEETING

Introducing the Weather

Objectives:
• To introduce the theme and discuss weather characteristics of each season.
Materials needed:
• Season posters and pictures
• Or markers and paper to make season pictures
Preparation:
1. Locate a vehicle to be brought to the Center or a vehicle that the children can be brought to.
Instructions:
All Ages
1. Encourage the children to talk about the clothing they are wearing to school and why. Talk about the weather and
ask if it is the same as the day before. Is it always the same? Introduce the concept of the particular season, e.g. the
rainy time, the dry time.
2. Talk generally about how the season affects people’s lives, how we try to keep cool or dry, why the rain is important.
Use the following questions to get the children talking.
– How do we dress when it is raining / hot? Why?
– How do we protect ourselves from the sun /rain?
– What do you think it is made of? Why?
– What would happen if the raincoat was made of wool?
– What can we wear when it is sunny? Why?

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Making Rain

I: Seasons and Weather

Objectives:
• To learn more about rain.
Materials needed:
• Ice (if available) • Kettle or pot of boiling water
• Coal pot and fire coal/stove • Sponges and water
• Rain gauge
Instructions:
Beginner:
1. On a rainy day take the children out so that they can observe the falling rain. Let them feel it on their hands and
faces. Ask them to close their eyes and listen to the sounds the rain makes when it hits the various objects. Talk
about how it looks, smells and tastes.
Intermediate/Advanced
1. On a rainy day take the children out so that they can observe the falling rain. Let them feel it on their hands and
faces. Ask them to close their eyes and listen to the sounds the rain makes when it hits the various objects. Talk
about how it looks, smells and tastes.
2. Fill a pot with ice and hold it over the boiling kettle or a pot of boiling water. Tell the children to watch carefully.
As the hot steam hits the cold saucepan, the vapor will condense into large droplets which fall like rain.
3. Talk about how the rain that we see is made in the same way as this. The water from the earth’s surface
evaporates into the air as water vapor, especially when it is hot (things get dry). Clouds form in cold air. When the
clouds become too full of water, it falls back to the earth as rain.
4. Let the children play with the sponges and water, letting the sponges get full of water and then squeezing them
to release the water.
5. When it has stopped raining, go outside and check the rain gauge (see small group activity pg. 11 for making rain
gauge). Talk about how much it has rained and how to measure it.
6. Think of an indoor activity so that children who have health issues can enjoy a similar experience.

My Environment 3
 Shadows
Objective:
• To talk about the sun and how shadows are made.
• To observe and discuss changes that occur during a day that shows the passing of time.

Materials needed:
• Piece of chalk or ball of string
Instructions:
Beginner:
1. Take children outside in the morning when there is strong sunlight. Explain to them that the sun rises in the east.
Ask them to show you where they think the east might be. As it rises, it throws long shadows to the west (where
do they think west is?). Discuss East, West, North, South.
2. Make a game of jumping on your own shadow. Draw or mark around each child’s feet. Then draw or mark out
the outline of the child’s shadow.
3. Tell the children to try and jump on their shadow. The children will soon find that it can’t be done, but they will
enjoy trying. They can try jumping on someone else’s shadow. Can they make their shadows dance? Let them
experiment with shadows. What different shapes can they make with their bodies?

Intermediate/Advanced:
1. Take children outside in the morning when there is strong sunlight. Explain to them that the sun rises in the east.
Ask them to show you where they think the east might be. As it rises, it throws long shadows to the west (where
do they think west is?). Discuss East, West, North, South.
2. Draw or mark around each child’s feet. Then draw or mark out the outline of the child’s shadow. Come back at
different times of the day (midday and mid-afternoon) and talk about how the shadow has changed. Discuss why
children think the shadow changes and why there is hardly any shadow at midday (in summer).
3. Make a game of jumping on your own shadow. The children will soon find that it can’t be done, but they will
enjoy trying. They can try jumping on someone else’s shadow. Can they make their shadows dance? Let them
experiment with shadows. What different shapes can they make with their bodies?

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 My Environment
4. Use the following questions to get the children talking
– What shape do you see?
– How is it different?
– Why do you think it has changed?
– How can you make your shadow longer / rounder?
– What would happen to your shadow if you stood under the tree? Why?
– What would happen on a cloudy day?

I: Seasons and Weather

My Environment 5
 B. IDEAS FOR THE SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES

Newspaper Hats

Objectives:
• To provide protection from the hot sun.
• To encourage creativity.

Materials needed:
• Newspapers • Paint and paintbrushes • Stapler or tape, scissors

Instructions:
Beginner:
1. Explain to the children that they are going to make hats to protect them from the sun. Ask each child to choose
which hat to make. Give a full sheet of newspaper for the triangular hat and a half a sheet of newspaper for the
round hat.
2. Encourage Children to decorate their paper with the paint. You will need to help children with making their hats.
Children can wear their hats when they go outside to play.

Intermediate/Advanced:
1. Explain to the children that they are going to make hats to protect them from the sun. Ask each child to choose
which hat to make. Give a full sheet of newspaper for the triangular hat and a half a sheet of newspaper for the
round hat.
2. Children decorate their paper with the paint. You will need to help children with making their hats. Children can
wear their hats when they go outside to play.
3. Older children can be shown the following steps and they can cut and staple their own hats.

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 My Environment
Triangular hat:
1. Fold the piece of newspaper in half and make a crease.
2. Fold in half again and crease Undo the last fold.
3. Fold the corners of the closed section towards the middle crease to form a triangle leaving a strip of
about 8 cm at the bottom.
4. Fold each strip back separately, and stick it with tape or paste, if necessary. Open to make hat.

I: Seasons and Weather

Round hat:
1. Fold the piece of newspaper in half and make a crease-
2. Fold in half again and crease.
3. Undo the last fold.
4. Cut two-thirds of the way along the crease line of the doubled sheet towards the fold.
Then cut down at right angles to the edge.
5. Undo the first fold.
6. Fold at the front to make a brim.
7. Staple x to x and z to z.

Water Patterns
Objectives:
• To use natural materials (water and earth) to make patterns.

Materials needed:
• Tins with one, two or three small holes in the lids or plastic bottles with a small hole in the bottle top
• Water
• Flat, dirt space outdoors OR indoor sand/dirt box

My Environment 7
 Instructions:
Beginner:
1. Provide a cleared dirt space, and plastic bottle with water in it. Show the children how to drip water into the dirt/
sand. Let the children have fun creating patterns

Intermediate/Advanced:
1. Ask each child to pick an area of earth and tell them to move all stones, twigs and leaves to the side, creating a
smooth space. Tell the child to draw a circle around their smooth space (this can be done indoors if an indoor sand/
dirt area is available).
2. Show the children how they can make patterns in their circles by dripping water from a bottle or tin onto the smooth
earth.
3. They can also experiment to see what kinds of patterns they can make using a tin (or bottle) with more than one
hole in it.

Water Thermometer
Objectives:
• To discover the effects of temperature changes and to measure air temperature.

Materials needed:
• Glass or clear plastic bottle, piece of rubber
• Transparent tube (a clear plastic straw will do)
• Cardboard or paper, pen, ruler, scissors, glue
• Food coloring (e.g. vegetable dye)
• Variety of wooden, metal and plastic things, white and black plastic and cloth things,
• Water in a glass jar

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 My Environment
Preparation:
1. Half fill the bottle with cold water and color it with the food coloring.
2. Tie the piece of rubber over the neck of the bottle. Make a hole in the rubber and push the tube through it so that
it fits tightly and almost reaches the bottom of the bottle.
3. Mark a piece of white card or paper like the markings on a thermometer. Stick the card on one side of the bottle
with the markings facing inward.
Instructions:

I: Seasons and Weather

All Ages:
1. Do this activity on a very hot day. Put out the variety of things (plastic, wooden, metal, and black and white).
Encourage the children to feel the temperature of the things and talk about which feel the same temperature,
warm or cool, warmer, warmest / cooler, coolest. Then ask them to predict which things will get hotter than others
when put in the sun. Ask them to put the things in the sun, including the jar of water.
2. After a while (perhaps the children can look around outside for things that are hot and cool while they are waiting
and compare how they feel) the children can feel the things they put in the sun to discover if their predictions were
correct. Ask them why some things get hotter than others (some soak up heat, like metal and black things}. They
can group the various things or arrange them from coolest to hottest
3. Suggest that they feel the temperature of the water in the jar. Has it got warmer? Then show them the water
thermometer and explain that it can be used to measure changes in the air temperature. (As it gets hotter, the
water expands and moves up the tube, and as the water cools, it contracts and the level of the water in the tub
falls. It can be placed in the sun and in the refrigerator (if available) to show the changes.

My Environment 9
 Weather Reports
Objectives:
• To encourage children to observe weather changes and create their own ways of recording
weather conditions.

Materials needed:
• Weather paper dolls • Water thermometer and rain gauge paper
• Pencil • Ruler
• Crayons • Scissors

Instructions:
Beginner: • Note: Not for younger children.

Intermediate/ Advanced
1. Encourage older children to make their own weather reports using whatever they like. For example, they can draw,
paint and/or cut and stick; they can draw the sun, clouds or rain, and they can dress a ‘weather’ paper doll in
suitable clothes and stick it onto their weather report, or draw their own person.
2. Also encourage them to record the temperature or amount of rain in some way. They could use measuring strips
or draw the water thermometer showing the height of the water in the tube. Keep the water thermometer on a
window sill where it gets the morning sun.
3. In group time the children who have made weather reports can show these to the group and talk about them. They
can also compare their earlier and later measurements. Has the day got hotter or cooler? Why?

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 My Environment
Rain Gauge

I: Seasons and Weather

Objectives:
• To measure and record the amount of rain that has fallen.

Materials needed:
• Clear plastic round bottle with smooth sides • Sharp knife or scissors
• Paper • Ruler
• Pens, markers, pencils, crayons

Preparation:
1. Make the Rain Gauge. Remove the lid of the bottle and cut off the top third of the bottle. Place the top part upside
down in the bottle to act as a funnel.
2. Mark off measuring lines on a strip of paper with ruler and pen. Stick this strip to the bottle so that children will be
able to see how much rain water is inside the bottle.
3. Cut a number of strips of paper and mark off measuring lines in the same way as those on the gauge to use for
recording purposes.

Instructions:
Beginner:
1. Place rain gauge in an open area outside on a flat surface.
2. Check the rain gauge after each rainfall and record on a chart on the wall during the rainy season. Remember to
empty the rain gauge after each reading.

Intermediate/ Advanced
1. Place the bottle in an open area outside on a flat surface. Remember to empty the rain gauge after each reading. Do
this activity in the rainy season.
2. Help the children record the rainfall in different ways. They can count how many long lines the water ‘covers’ on the
measuring guide and then a child can color in one of the separate strips up to the same mark (it can be checked by
holding it against the bottle). Display the strips in some way so that they can be compared,

My Environment 11
 3. A more concrete way to record rainfall is to mark the height on the bottle, either by sticking a small strip of paper at
the height of the water or using elastic bands to mark the height each time it rains.
4. Encourage the children to think of other ways of recording the rainfall, e.g. they could draw rain gauges showing the
height of the water. Older children might try to use a ruler to measure properly and to write numerals.

C. IDEAS FOR OUTDOOR GAMES

Season Walks
Objectives:
• To observe plants, animals, farming activities and changes in the surroundings according to the season.

Materials needed: None

Preparation:
1. Plan the walk to places where children will see changes in the trees, crops, flowers, and in the farm animals or tiny
creatures that live in the surroundings.
2. If there are special farming activities happening nearby like harvesting, include these in the walk! Or perhaps it is
the time between February and March when women gather to fish in the swamps and small rivers. It is sometimes
easier to define seasons according to the farming activities that take place in the area during each season.

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 My Environment
3. Talk to the children about where you are going on the walk and what they should look out for. Perhaps each child
can collect one or two things, such as a flower, leaf or cone to take back to the playroom or they can collect things,
like fallen leaves or seeds, for activities. Take bags to put things in if necessary.

Instructions:

I: Seasons and Weather

All Ages:
1. Encourage children to look and feel different plants. Discuss how they look - are the leaves green and fleshy or
brown, dry and crunchy? Feel the trunks of trees and talk about how they are rough or smooth, hard or soft. If
possible, look at the bark through a magnifying glass. You may see small holes through which the tree breathes.
2. Look at the fields and talk about what the children can see and hear. What is growing in the fields? What animals
and tiny creatures do they see? Is there water in the dams or streams?
3. Follow up after the walk.
• Talk about where you went and what you saw during the walk. Draw attention to farming activities and
changes related to the weather and the season, e.g. Why is it so dry? Because it does not rain in the dry
season.
• Children can show the group what they collected and talk about it. Things collected can be compared and
sorted. Special items can be put in the collection display case.
• Wild flowers and leaves can be pressed by placing them between the pages of a heavy book (e.g. telephone
book). Pile some more weight on the top and leave for a few weeks to dry. Children can then glue them
onto cards as a special art activity.
4. Ask the following Questions about what was collected:
— What foods will grow from the seeds?
— How does it look / feel / smell?
— What kinds of fruit / vegetables did you see growing?
— What do you think it looks like inside?
— What color is it? Which flowers / leaves / seeds have the same shape /size?

My Environment 13
 Clouds
Objectives:
• To observe cloud formations
• To understand that clouds move, change, grow bigger, and produce rain
• To develop imagination

Materials needed: None

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Have children observe clouds on several days.
2. Ask the children to pretend they are clouds gently moving through the sky, blown by the breeze. Encourage them to
explore all the space outdoors.
3. Then they can stand still and take deep breaths, pretending to draw more and more water up from the earth into
their bodies. Children draw up their arms as they feel themselves blowing up bigger and bigger.
4. Now they can all move in together to form one big, solid rain cloud.
5. Use two metal objects (drums or pot tops) to make a crashing sound and the rain comes pouring down. The children
sink lower and lower as they lose all their rain, and end up relaxed on the ground.

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 My Environment
II: Plants
II: PLANTS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Plants are different from other living things in that they cannot move and each plant makes its own food, but it does need water,
minerals from the soil and sunlight. Children might know already about plants from the theme “Food We Eat”. It provides many
opportunities for children to learn more about how plants grow and to gather and analyze data on the many different kinds of
plants, especially trees and flowers. It is most important, however, that they learn through observation and discovery by growing
plants (gardening) and examining real trees and flowers in their surroundings. Children can also observe local farming activities
that happen in each season, and talk about why we need to care for and respect the natural environment.
Following information might be useful for teachers so they can answer children`s questions:

Trees:
• Evergreen forests cover the major part of Liberia – about 235 varieties of trees exist in the country. Some
examples are cotton tree, the kola tree and the oil palm. Liberia is known for its rubber trees.
• Among the fruit trees there are Pineapples, citrus fruits, papaya, mango, alligator apple, and avocado.
• Trees are very important. They provide shade and shelter for people, animals and crops. Large forests of trees
are important for the weather. They provide food for people (fruits and nuts) and some animals, rubber, cork,
timber (wood) for making houses, furniture and many other things, and for fuel (making fires for cooking) and
paper which is made from wood pulp.

Grasses belong to the most important plant family economically because they provide the main foods for people and most
animals. All grains and cereals such as wheat, maize, rice. Sugar cane and bamboo (reeds) are grasses.

Cassava, cacao, indigo, cotton, upland rice etc. also cover a considerable part of Liberia.

My Environment 15
 Leaves of plants come in all shapes and sizes:
• Leaves help plants to breathe and live. Each leaf is a tiny factory which uses sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to
produce some of the food the plant needs to live. The rest comes through the roots.
• Leaves provide food for animals and people (e.g. leaf vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, lettuce); medicine
from herbs; drugs such as tobacco.

Flowers are necessary for plants to reproduce themselves:

• Flower buds are covered in sepals which are usually green but can be bright colors.
• The corolla consists of petals, which have nectar (a sweet liquid) in some plants to attract insects, especially bees.
Grass flowers do not have sepals or petals.
• In the middle are the stamens with pollen (male) and the pistil leading to the ovary where the seeds are (female).
• Pollination: insects, bats and the wind help to move the pollen from the stamens of one plant to the pistil of
another plant to fertilize the seeds.
• Seed dispersal: the seeds are scattered by the wind (e.g. dandelions, grasses) and by animals (seeds either stick
on their coats or in their droppings after being eaten).
• Flowers are used by bees to make honey (from the nectar), as vegetables (e.g. cauliflower, broccoli), for making
perfume, and for decoration.

Fruits and nuts grow around the seeds and provide food, including vegetables such as pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumber. Cotton
and flax (used for making linen) come from seed cases called bolls.

Seedless plants have no flowers and consist of a large variety of ferns, which have feathery leaves under which grow spores for
reproduction (like primitive seeds), and mosses.

Other plant-like growths are not true plants and are not green:
– Fungus such as mushrooms and toadstools (poisonous) and molds live on other plants (parasites).
– Lichens are crusty patches or bushy growths on tree trunks or on the ground.
– Algae grow in water (like seaweed) or very damp places

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 My Environment
WEEKLY PLANNING OVERVIEW – May, Week 2 and 3
II: Plants

II: Plants
Time Type of Activity Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9.00 – 9.15 Morning Meeting Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž
Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž
Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž
Trees and Leaves
žž Leaf Guessing
žž Classification
žž Trees and Leaves
žž Flowers p. 23
žž
p. 19 Game p. 18 Game p. 21 p. 19

9.15 – 11.00 Work Time – Learning Centers: Teacher organizes materials for children to work in centers of the child’s choice including:
Art Center, Block Center, Drama Center, Literacy Center, Manipulative Center while one or two Small Groups are working on
teacher-initiated activities.
Small Groups Seed Creatures p. 25 Growing Plants p. 26 Seed Creatures p. 25 Growing Plants p. 26
Bottle Greenhouse
Week 2 p. 27
Small Groups Nature Collage p. 24 Vegetables p. 28 Leaf Patterns p. 30 Vegetables p. 28 Free Play
Week 3

11.00 – 11.15 Clean-Up

11.15 – 12.00 Outdoor Time Flowers p. 23 Young Flowers p. 33 Tree Pictures p. 34 Making Propellers Free Play

12.00 – 12.45 Wash-Up, Lunch

12.00 – 12.45 Rest & Quiet Time Children who can’t sleep may “read” books.
Social games, story reading, finger plays, singing, dramatization of the books, reading the children’s books
14.15 – 14.30 Group Story Time
related to the topic.
Review of the day, sharing impressions of the day, discussion of the activities children have been involved in –
14.30 – 15.00 Closing Meeting
which new things they learned and planning the next day.
Activities with Parents throughout the day Parents can volunteer in Small Group activities
žž
Parents can join in songs, games, books, storytelling
žž
Parents can accompany class on trash walk
žž

My Environment 17
 A. IDEAS FOR THE MORNING MEETING

Leaf Guessing Game

Objectives:
• To develop imagination and creativity.
• To encourage children to ask questions.

Materials needed:
• Cardboard • Crayons • Scissors
• Drawings of leaf and caterpillar • Sand • Paste/glue
• Variety of leaves

Preparation:
1. Cut out a large leaf shape from the cardboard and color it green.
2. Cut out and color the caterpillar.
3. Paste sand onto the back of the leaf and the caterpillar.
4. Stick the caterpillar onto the flannel board and place the leaf over it so that caterpillar is hidden.

Instructions:
Beginner: • Note: Not for younger children.

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 My Environment
Intermediate/Advanced:
1. Show the children the leaf and ask them to guess what might be hiding underneath the leaf. Accept all their
suggestions and encourage them to think of many different things.
2. Ask some child to come up and lift off the leaf. Talk about why the caterpillar is there and what will happen to the leaf.
3. Give each child a leaf. Tell them to pretend that they have something hidden underneath their leaves. Children take

II: Plants
turns to ask questions about the hidden objects: Is it big or small? How many legs does it have? What does it look
like? Each child describes what is hidden under his or her leaf in response to the questions and then talks about the
reasons for it being there.

Trees and Leaves

Objective:
• To increase awareness of their natural environment.
Materials needed:
• A variety of leaves and other things that grow on trees (fruits, nuts, blossom)
Instructions:
Beginner:
1. Talk about the uses of trees and leaves (e.g. shelter, shade, wood, paper, rubber as well as medicine and food)
2. Encourage children to look carefully at leaves and talk about their color, texture, shape and smell. Discuss the veins
which carry food to the leaves from the roots, and from the leaves (make food) to other parts of the plant. Compare
veins in ordinary leave (like a net) and in blades of grass (parallel).

My Environment 19
 Intermediate/Advanced:
1. Talk about the uses of trees (e.g. shelter, shade, wood, paper, rubber ).
2. Encourage children to look carefully at leaves and talk about their color, texture, shape and smell. Discuss the veins
which carry food to the leaves from the roots, and from the leaves (make food) to other parts of the plant. Compare
veins in ordinary leave (like a net) and in blades of grass (parallel). Lilies also have long, thin leaves with parallel veins
like grass. Ask children if they can find veins on themselves.
3. Children can compare the leaves of different trees. Leaves are also useful for talking about the concept of width
(wide and narrow), and children can arrange leaves from widest to narrowest, longest to shortest.
4. Following questions will help you to conduct further discussion:
— How does it look/smell/feel/sound?
— What kind of edge does the leaf have?
— Can the leaf be divided evenly in two halves?
— Which leaf is wider/widest; narrower/narrowest?
— Where have you seen one (tree or leaf) like this before?
— What do you think will happen to the bud/flower?
— Why do we need to have trees? What happens if there are no leaves?
— What can we use dry pieces of wood for?
— How do trees help animals/people/other plants?
Important! If there are poisonous plants in the environment, make sure that children know which ones they are.

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 My Environment
II: Plants
Classification Game

Objective:
• To extend children`s understanding of classification and number concepts within the “Plants” theme.

Materials needed:
• Many different leaves or flowers (at least one for each child) for classification activities
• Drawings of leaf shapes and flower types
• Cardboard or paper, scissors, glue
Preparation:
1. The children and their parents can help to collect the leaves and flowers.
2. Make the category cards for the week by cutting out the drawings or pictures needed. Paste these onto separate
pieces of cardboard or paper.
3. Set out the category card on a large piece of paper and the items to be classified (e.g. leaves or flowers) flat on the
floor or large table. Each child chooses a leaf (or flower) to classify.
Categories: the following ideas for categories are suggested:
1. Shape of leaves: oval, round (circle), triangular, and rectangular (long and narrow). Which shape does your leaf
fit best? Which shape is your leaf most like? Leaves can also be classified according to size, color, or texture.
2. Type of flower: single flower at the end of stem (e.g. rose, arum lily, pansy); composite flower (e.g. daisy, sun-
flower); cluster of flowers at top of stem (e.g. geranium); spike of flowers along stem (e.g. grass flowers). Flowers
can also be classified according to color, number of petals, shape.

My Environment 21
 Instructions:
Beginner:
1. Each week set out the selected category cards/activity. Make sure that the children understand what the picture
cards show (represent) and know what they have to do (classification activity). Link the task with what they have
learned previously.
2. Help children to decide which category to use when necessary.
Intermediate/Advanced:
1. Each week set out the selected category cards/activity. Make sure that the children understand what the picture
cards show (represent) and know what they have to do (classification activity). Link the task with what they have
learned previously.
2. Help children to decide which category to use when necessary.
3. Talk about how many fall into each category. Ask questions and talk about (compare) the different kinds of leaves
and flowers.
— Which shape are the most of leaves like? The least?
— Which of the leaves is most like a triangle? Circle?
— Are the leaves/flowers the same color? How many different colors are there? Are all blue flowers
exactly the same color?
— How do the leaves/flowers smell/ feel?

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 My Environment
II: Plants
Flowers
Objective:
• To talk about and compare how different flowers look and smell.
Materials needed:
• Flowers of different kinds and colors
• Posters and pictures for different kinds of flowers
• Vases or jars
Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Ask children to bring flowers or to go for a walk to a garden to collect a variety of different flowers. If collected a day
before, keep the flowers fresh in a jar of water. In each season there will be different flowers, especially in spring
and summer.
2. Ask children to talk about their flowers, how they look (color, shape) and smell. Talk about the different parts of the
flower and compare the buds with open flower petals (which contain the nectar that insects like) and the seeds with
a weak smell and those with a strong smell) and shape or type of a flower:
— How does it look? What color is it?
— How does it smell?
— Why do you think it has long stem/petals?
— Why do you think it is such a bright color?
— What would happen if all flowers were the same color?
— Where have you seen other flowers that are the same?

My Environment 23
 B. IDEAS FOR THE SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES

Nature Collage

Objectives:
• To encourage children to use their imagination and create pictures using leaves/flowers of different colors,
shapes and sizes.
• To observe the differences and similarities in the colors, shapes and sizes of leaves and flowers during
the dry season.

Materials needed:
• Paper • Glue/paste and brushes
• Leaves or flowers of different colors, sizes, shapes • Crayons
• Scissors

Instructions:
All Ages:

1. On a walk, have Children collect leaves from trees or flowers.

2. When they are back in the classroom, have the children create their own pictures by pasting the leaves provided
onto paper.
3. The teacher can also provide crayons for children to draw pictures and then fill in these drawings by pasting the
leaves on the drawing. Children may also cut up the leaves.

24 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
Seed Creatures

II: Plants
Objective:
• To practice small muscle coordination.
• To use one`s imagination and develop creativity.
Materials needed:
• Large seeds or pits such as avocado pear or mango (these will need to be cleaned beforehand)
• Variety of material such as twigs, feathers, small seeds,
• Grass, wool and buttons
• Pieces of soft wire or paper clips
• Paste and scissors

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Children can help to collect the seeds and other materials. They can also be shown how to clean the seeds.
2. Children make seed animals using the above materials.
3. Encourage children to use their own ideas.

My Environment 25
 Growing Plants
Objective:
• To observe different ways that plants grow.

Materials needed:
• Large glass jar • Piece of soft cloth or panty hose,
• Elastic band • Seeds for sprouting

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Place the seeds in the jar with water. Cover the jar with the cloth and elastic band.
2. Soak the seeds overnight and drain the water the next day through the cloth.
3. Rinse the seeds daily and drain.
4. After 4-6 days, the jar will be full of sprouts. Let the children eat them raw or cook them slightly (they are full of
vitamins).

26 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
II: Plants
Bottle Greenhouse
Objective:
• To make a greenhouse.
• To watch plants grow from seeds.

Materials needed:
• 2 liters plastic Coca-Cola bottle
• Scissors or knife, hammer and nail
• Soil, seeds (flower or vegetable seed)

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Twist off the base of the bottle.
2. Make drainage holes in the centre of the base with the hammer and nail.
3. Fill the base with soil. Place the seeds in the soil. Water well.
4. Cut the top part of the bottle just at the point where the angle of the bottle becomes straight.
5. Use the neck part of the bottle for a water or sand play funnel.
6. Place the long part of the bottle over the base bottom up. It will fit snugly and provide warmth like a greenhouse.
After the dome is on, it will not need watering again.

My Environment 27
 Vegetables
Objective:
• To observe how different vegetables and fruits grow from different beginnings.

Materials needed:
• Ginger root • Butter pear
• Avocado pits • Onions/potatoes that have sprouted

Instructions:
1. Plant a piece of ginger root by placing it on the surface of the soil in a shallow container Roots will grow on the
underside. A wonderful ginger-scented plant will grow.
2. Suspend an avocado pit in a jar of water using match sticks.
3. Do not throw away sprouting onions and potatoes. Plant them out in the garden or in a container.

28 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
II: Plants
Flower Pot Game
Objective:
• To encourage concentration and cooperation skills.

Materials needed:
• 4 small cups and one larger container • 24 straws or sticks
• Thin cardboard (e.g. from cereal boxes) • Scissors, paint, crayons, paste or tape

Preparation:
1. Paint each cup a different color (use colors that would be found on flower petals, e.g. red yellow purple,
pink)
2. Cut out the flower shape. Stick it onto cardboard and then use it as a stencil to make 24 petal shapes on thin
cardboard.
3. Paint or color in the flowers so that there are 6 of each color to match the yoghurt containers.
4. Make a dice and write the numbers 0, 1, 2, 0, 1, 2 on each side.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Four children can play the game. Put all the towels in a container in the center of the playing area. Explain
the rules of the game and how to play.
2. Children take turns to throw the dice. They collect that number of flowers to match the color of their
yoghurt cups. If a 0 is thrown, the child misses a turn. The game continues until all the flowers are sorted.

My Environment 29
 Leaf Patterns
Objective:
• To learn about numbers and patterns.

Materials needed:
• Variety of leaves that differ in shape and size
• Cardboard, paste and brush
• Plastic or clear contact
• Box for storage

Preparation:
1. Press the leaves in a heavy book for a few weeks.
2. Cut the cardboard into 10 cards of the same size (about 10 cm x 30 cm).
3. On each card paste leaves in different patterns according to the shape and size.
4. Cover the cards with plastic or clear contact.
5. Put leaves that are the same as those on the cards in a storage box.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. The child selects a card and chooses leaves according to the pattern and places them underneath the card.

30 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
II: Plants
Matching Seeds
Objective:
• To develop perceptual discrimination in matching the seeds.

Materials needed:
• 1 cardboard egg box (12)
• Scissors, crayons
• 12 pairs of seeds or beans (e.g. pumpkin, squash, watermelon, orange, apple)

Preparation:
1. Cut off the lid of the egg box, then decorate the bottom half with the crayons. This is the matching tray.
2. Put all 24 seeds in the lid of the egg box

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Children try to find a pair of seeds that are the same for each cup.
2. Extend the experience by matching the seeds or beans to 12 corresponding drawings.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Children try to find a pair of seeds that are the same for each cup.
2. Extend the experience by matching the seeds or beans to 12 corresponding drawings.
3. Have the children sort leaves according to their shapes and colors (autumn).

My Environment 31
 C. IDEAS FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Flowers
Objective:
• To learn how plants grow from seeds.
• To learn what plants need to stay alive and healthy.
Materials needed:
• Flower seeds • Good soil
• Planter (if necessary) – tractor tire, old tin bath, or any other large container

Instructions:
1. Make a flower garden with the children outside or in small sections of the playground where the children do not need to
play. If there is a flower garden already, encourage the children to help preparing the soil, planting and looking after the
plants (watering, weeding}. Plant a variety of flowering plants at different times of the year so that there will be flowers
in every season. Remember that some plants like sun and others like some shade or protection from wind.
2. If space is limited or the soil is unsuitable, flowering plants can be grown in tubs made by filling a large tire (preferably a
tractor tire), an old tin bath or any large container with good soil. If the container has a solid bottom makes holes and put
a layer of stones at the bottom to provide drainage. These containers can also be placed on a verandah if there is enough
light and sun.
3. Flowering plants can also be grown in pots or tins inside. Choose plants suitable for indoor conditions make sure there
are holes for drainage and use good soil. Explain to the children how much water and how often to water - pot plants
should not be over-watered.
4. Make a duty roster for the older children to take turns in looking after the plants.

32 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
II: Plants
Young Flowers
Objective:
• To nurture imagination and creativity.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
1. Let the children pretend to be new young flowers, pushing up through the earth. They begin sitting cross-
legged on the floor, heads down.
2. Place palms of hands together and push them above their heads. Gradually stand and unfold their arms like
flower petals.
3. Now pretend a wind has come up, making the flowers sway and swing. Here comes a stronger wind with a
whoosh, whirling the flowers right round and blowing them all over the room.
4. Away goes the wind and the children gently settle down on the floor for a rest..

My Environment 33
 Tree Pictures
Objective:
• To nurture imagination and creativity.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
1. Divide the children into groups of 3 or 4. Together they show what different trees look like, e.g. they show
what a tall thin tree looks like by standing close together with their arms stretched up above their heads and
hands together.
2. Ask the children to show what a round bush looks like; then trees that are flat at the bottom and come to a
point at the top like a triangle; then trees that are flat on top with big branches going outwards; and so on.
3. Choose trees that the children are familiar with. They can also suggest the kind of trees or other pants that
they can make.

34 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets
III: ANIMALS: FARM ANIMALS AND PETS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In the animal world there is a large variety also – in the forests you can find Bosman`s potto that is in fact a lemur. Monkeys
of numerous species are also found in Liberia. Earlier buffalo and elephant were in great numbers in Liberia, but these have
disappeared nowadays. Wild pigs and porcupines along with some categories of leopard are also there in some parts of Liberia.
Some species of antelope are still found in the forests of Liberia.

However, this topic is about domestic animals, which means those animals that are kept by people as pets and for the economic
activity of farming. These are the animals like dogs and cats which are usually kept by families as pets but are often useful on
farms as well. It can also include horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs; poultry such as chicken, turkeys, ducks
and geese; ostriches, and even fish such as trout.

Younger children (2-4 years) need to see and talk about real animals. They should also learn about one kind of animal at a time.
Older children (4-6 years) can learn more by comparing the different animals and talking about the ways they are the same and
different.

Children can also observe how different animals move, and hear the sounds they make. They can learn about the care of the
animals, what they eat, and the names of the males, females and young ones.
It is important for children to know that farm animals are living things, like people: they need food and water, they grow and
reproduce, they feel pain when badly treated, they can get sick and need medicine, and they need shelter from bad weather and
protection from wild animals.

My Environment 35
 WEEKLY PLANNING OVERVIEW – May, Week 4; June, Week 1
III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets
Time Type of Activity Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9.00 – 9.15 Morning Meeting Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž Welcome children
žž
Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž Greetings
žž
Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž Classroom Rules
žž
Learning About
žž Different Kinds of
žž Learning About
žž Different Kinds of
žž Learn About Pets:
žž
Domestic Animals Animals p. 39 Domestic Animals Animals p. 39 Dogs p. 41
p. 37 p. 37
9.15 – 11.00 Work Time – Learning Centers: Teacher organizes materials for children to work in centers of the child’s choice including:
Art Center, Block Center, Drama Center, Literacy Center, Manipulative Center while one or two Small Groups are working on
teacher-initiated activities.
Small Groups Making Farm
Animal Masks p. 49
Making Farm
Animal Masks p. 49 Making Butter p. 52
Week 4 Animals & Pets p. 47 Animals & Pets p. 47
Small Groups Egg Shell Art p. 42 Collage Ideas p. 46 Egg Shell Art p. 42 Collage Ideas p. 46 Heads & Tails p. 55
Week 1

11.00 – 11.15 Clean-Up

11.15 – 12.00 Outdoor Time Making Butter p. 52 Heads & Tails p. 55 Animal Movements & Sounds p. 57 Free Play

12.00 – 12.45 Wash-Up, Lunch

12.00 – 12.45 Rest & Quiet Time Children who can’t sleep may “read” books.
Social games, story reading, finger plays, singing, dramatization of the books, reading the children’s books
žž
related to the topic.
14.15 – 14.30 Group Story Time Discovery Box: exploring sounds, tastes, smells, things found in nature and manufactured
žž
Movement game “Touch blue…”
žž
Asking questions about what did children find during Sense Walk
žž
Review of the day, sharing impressions of the day, discussion of the activities children have been involved in
žž
14.30 – 15.00 Closing Meeting
– which new things they learned and planning the next day.
Activities with Parents throughout the day Parents can volunteer in Small Group activities
žž
Parents can join in songs, games, books, storytelling
žž
Parents can go with class on a Community Walk
žž

36 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
A. IDEAS FOR THE MORNING MEETING

III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets

Learning About Domestic Animals
Objectives:
• To familiarize children with the variety of domestic animals.
• To begin categorization: farm animals and pets.

Materials needed:
• Pictures of typical farm animals and pets (if available)

Preparation:
1. Plan each talk-about time to focus on a particular topic. The age of the children is so important in planning around these
topics that two sets of talk-about ideas are suggested.
2. With young children (2-4 years) talk about only one or two kinds of farm animals or pets at a time. Begin with the most
common animals, such as dogs and cats, which children will see around their homes. Only talk about animals that
children can actually see on their farms.
3. Older children (4-6 year-olds) can compare different farm animals and talk about different types of stock farming. They
can also learn about animals and farming activities that may not be familiar to them. Some of the talk-about ideas
suggested for older children are sequenced to help children learn more about animals and develop their thinking and
language skills.
4. Try to use a talk-about topic in group time about twice a week. Do not try to discuss too many different ideas in one
Group Time.
5. Where possible link the talk-about topics with related special activities, stories, music and movement. Try to build on
what the children have learned or experienced before. This helps children learn.

My Environment 37
 6. Begin each talk-about time with a suitable game, movement activity, rhyme or song to involve all the children actively in
the group time.

Visual aids:
§ Suggested posters and drawings are illustrated in the text. Also use suitable magazine pictures and other posters
where possible.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Have the children see and talk about real animals. Either bring animals - a dog, cat or hen, to the school or take the
children for a walk to look at animals if they are nearby. The children will also enjoy seeing young animals, such as a cat
with kittens, chickens with chicks, sheep with lambs.
2. If the children go out to see animals, use pictures (drawings or magazine pictures) when you talk about the animals
during the Group Time.
3. If it is not possible for children to see real animals, then use pictures and models in clay or plastic. Also have real things
associated with the animals, e.g. feathers and eggs when talking about fowls; milk from the cow; sheep’s wool. Do NOT
talk about animals that most of the children do not see.
4. In the last review session, use pictures of the all the animals the children have talked about.
5. Things to talk about each animal:
§ What it is called (name).
§ What it looks like (appearance) and the different parts of its body; what the young animals look like,
§ How it moves and the sounds it makes.
§ What it eats and what kind of shelter it needs.
§ The uses or products of the animals, e.g. cats catch mice; leather for shoes, belts, bags, bridles; meat, milk, eggs for
food.

38 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets
Different Kinds of Animals
Objective:
• To find out what children know about different kinds of domestic animals, including the names of male,
female and young animals, and the sounds they make.
• To compare the appearance of different animals and the way they move.

Materials needed:
• Make posters of different farm animals and their babies using available drawings and magazine pictures.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Talk about each kind of animal using the posters. Ask them what the mother, father and babies of each of the animals is
called. Children can learn the names of the sounds they make, e.g. bark, low, bleat, cluck.
2. Talk about what the animals look like and the ways in which they are the same and different. Ask questions about their
body parts, skin covering, color, size, and so on.
3. The children can imitate the way different animals move. Use the words that describe the movements, e.g. gallop, trot,
climb, waddle, and paddle.
4. Ask the following questions
§ What color are cows/horses/goats/pigs/hens/ baby chickens? Which animals are the same colors?
§ Which animals have long legs? And which have short legs? Why do you think they have long or short legs?
§ Which animals have 4 legs, and which have 2 legs?
§ Which animals have horns? Do the horns look the same? What do horns look like? What do they feel like?
§ Which animals have a comb, udder, webbed feet, curly hair, wool, claws; chew the cud, long ears?
§ Are all the animals’ ears, mouths and eyes the same size and shape? Which animal is the biggest?
§ How do the horses and cows move? Is this different from the way the ducks and chickens move? Why?

My Environment 39
 Where Does It Belong?
Objective:
• To match different animal part to the animals they belong to.

Materials needed:
• One drawing of each kind of farm animal
• Drawings of noses, tails, feet
• Cardboard, scissors, crayons/paint, paste

Preparation:
1. Color in (or paint) and cut out each animal separately. Stick it onto a piece of cardboard.
2. Color in and cut out the drawings of different animal parts. Stick each page onto pieces of cardboard. When the glue is
dry, cut the card with animal parts into the smaller cards.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. This talk-about time could be linked with a walk to look for different animal footprints in the ground.
2. Begin with a guessing game, e.g. I am big and strong; I have four legs, a mane and a long tail; people ride on my back.
What am I? I have 4 legs, big eyes, a long tail to whisk away flies, and an udder full of milk?
3. The children sit in a circle. Arrange the larger cards with the pictures of different animals in a circle in front of the children
on the floor. Place the smaller cards with the animal parts face down in the middle of the circle.
4. Each child has a turn to select a card and place it next to the picture of the animal where it belongs, e.g. curly tail on pig,
webbed feet on duck.
5. Talk to children about the differences between these body parts of animals. Ask the children about which animals have
the same feet, tails or noses.

40 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
§ Why does a duck have webbed feet but not a chicken?
§ What is the duck able to do with its webbed feet?
§ What is the difference between the hooves of horses and those of cows? What other animals have cloven
hooves like cows?
§ Why do cats and dogs have claws on their paws?

III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets

§ What if none of the animals had tails? Why do animals need to have tails?
§ What is the difference between the horns of the cow and those of the goat? What other animals have horns?
§ Why do poultry have beaks? Are the beaks all the same? What is the beak of a duck called? Do chickens have
teeth?

Learning about Pets: Dogs

Objectives:
• To practice pre-math skills.
• To learn names of body parts.
• To compare and contrast.

Materials:
• A calm and friendly dog

My Environment 41
 Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Ask the children whether they have dogs at home. They probably talked about dogs in My Family, so encourage them to
do most of the talking by asking suitable questions.
§ How many ears/eyes/nose does the dog have?
§ How many ears do you have? Touch them.
§ Do your ears look the same as the dog’s ears? Why not?
§ What do dogs do with their paws? (scratch, dig)
§ Pele, is your dog at home as big as this dog (name)?
§ Why do people keep dogs? Do dogs help on the farm?
2. Tell them the name of the visiting dog. Let one or two children at a time pat or stroke the dog. While the others watch,
talk about the appearance and care of dogs.
3. Children can point out the different parts of the dog’s body, e.g. head (talk about the ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue,
teeth), neck, back, stomach, tail, legs (count), paws and claws, and the hairy coat (what does it feel like). Encourage the
children to talk about how the dog’s body is the same or different from themselves.
4. Children can also talk about the differences between the visiting dog and their own dogs, e.g. in size, whether the ears
and tails are the same, the hair and the color.
5. The children can try to walk and run like dogs on four legs. They can make the sounds that dogs make (barking and
whining).
6. Talk about what dogs eat and how they are cared for. They need food, water, shelter and exercise because they are living
things, just the same as people. And just the same as children, they do not like to be hurt.

42 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
II: Plants
Animal’s Food
Objective:
§ To group together (classify) food products and things connected with different kinds of animals.

Materials needed:
§ Drawings and magazine pictures of food products that we get from farm animals and other things connected with
animals
§ Large drawings of animals (horse, cow, sheep, pig, chicken and duck)
§ Cardboard (from cereal boxes), scissors, paste
§ Crayons and paint

Preparation:
1. Color in the drawings. Cut out the pictures and paste each one onto a card about 6 or 8 cm square.
2. Put the smaller picture cards into a box or bag.

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Arrange the bigger animal pictures in a row next to each other either on the floor or on the wall where all the children
can see them and reach them.
2. Each child takes a small picture from the bag or box and has a turn to stick it underneath the farm animal that it comes
from or is connected with, e.g. milk and leather goods underneath the cow, woolen things under the sheep.
3. First ask the child to say what the picture is of. If needed, help the child decide where to put the card by asking
questions. Ask the child to say why he has put the picture with a particular animal, and then ask the group if they agree
with where the picture is placed. If not, why they disagree.

My Environment 43
 INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Arrange the bigger animal pictures in a row next to each other either on the floor or on the wall where all the children
can see them and reach them.
2. Each child takes a small picture from the bag or box and has a turn to stick it underneath the farm animal that it comes
from or is connected with, e.g. milk and leather goods underneath the cow, woolen things under the sheep.
3. First ask the child to say what the picture is of. If needed, help the child decide where to put the card by asking questions.
Ask the child to say why he has put the picture with a particular animal, and then ask the group if they agree with where
the picture is placed. If not, why they disagree.
4. Talk about the things, especially leather goods and meat products, which can come from different kinds of animals.
5. When all the pictures have been sorted, count how many products we get from each animal. Which is the least? The
most?
6. Ask questions to help the children think of other ways of classifying the products we get from animals, e.g. food, leather
goods, clothing, bedding; or things from live animals and things from dead animals. Decide on the categories, and let the
children sort the pictures again.
§ Do we eat duck’s eggs, and duck meat? What are the duck’s eggs used for? (breeding more ducks)
§ What other animals’ skins are used to make leather goods? (pigs, sheep)
§ Which animals give us meat to eat? Does the meat from a chicken and a pig look the same?
§ Are cows the only animals that give us milk to drink?
§ What about goats?

Extensions:
1. If you can find enough pictures of animals, children can sort these in different ways depending on the selection of
pictures, e.g.
§ Different kinds of farm animals
§ Young animals and adult animals
§ Different color animals
§ Large and small animals
§ Animals with 4 legs and 2 legs
2. Children could also sort pictures of different breeds of only one kind of animal, e.g. cattle or dogs or cats, if you happen
to find many pictures of these.
3. Set out the different sets of pictures in suitable containers with sorting trays during free choice activity time for children
to sort individually or in pairs.

44 Liberia National ECD Curriculum: Teacher Planner

 My Environment
B. IDEAS FOR THE SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES

III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets

Eggshell Art
Objectives:
§ To encourage creativity and imagination.
§ To practice small muscle skills and eye-hand coordination.

Materials needed:
§ Empty eggshells (washed)
§ Paints made with mud or dyes or poster paints and
§ Brushes
§ Sharp object (pin, knife, scissors) and thread (e.g. wool, cotton, string), sticks or wire coat hangers
§ Rollers (bottles, tins) and paste, paper

Preparation:
1. Plan this activity well in advance to be able to collect enough eggshells. Perhaps ask children to bring eggshells from
home. Make sure that the eggshells are washed out to avoid unpleasant smells.
2. There are several different activities that can be done on different days.

My Environment 45
 Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Painting:
§ Put the eggshells out with the paints and brushes.
§ Encourage the children to paint patterns on the eggshells using different colors (if available).
§ Leave the eggshells to dry in a safe place.

2. Threading:
§ When the eggshells are dry, very carefully make a small hole in each shell with a sharp object.
§ Show the children how to thread the shells onto a piece of string or wool to make mobiles. Knot the string or wool
after threading about 4 or 5 shells.
§ Tie two sticks across each other. Then help the children to tie the threaded eggshells to the sticks (or wire coat
hangers), and hang the mobiles up in the playroom.

3. Alternative:
§ Break the eggshells into smaller pieces and make a hole in each piece.
§ The children thread the pieces onto a piece of thread to make bangles or necklaces.

4. Collage:
§ Show the children how to crush the painted eggshells into very small bits with rollers and put them in a container.
§ Encourage the children to make pictures by pasting the crushed eggshells onto paper.

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III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets
Making Farm Animals and Pets
Objectives:
• To encourage children to use their small muscles to mold, pinch and create farm animals.
§ To encourage creativity and problem-solving.

Materials needed:
• Clay or play dough or papier-mâché or thick soft roots.
• Collections of seeds, leaves, sticks and small stones,
• Small feathers

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Arrange the collections of seeds, leaves, sticks, small stones, and feathers attractively in separate containers on the table
or floor where children will work.
2. Set out the clay, play dough or papier-mâché in the usual way at each place where children will sit. If not available, put
the thick roots or whatever you can find that children could use to make animals with.
3. Encourage the children to mold the clay or play-dough or papier-mâché. If necessary, show children how clay can be
pinched, smoothed, rolled or how to work with the papier-mâché.
4. Ask the children questions that will encourage them to use the seeds, sticks, feathers and other natural materials for
legs, ears, wings, and so on, e.g. What could you use to make the cow’s horns?
5. If modeling material (like clay) is not available, talk to the children about how they could use the natural materials to
make animals by using the thick roots for the body, sticks for legs, and so on.

***NOTE: Do not tell children to make specific animals or give them models to copy. Encourage them to be creative.***

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 Animal Masks
Objectives:
§ To make animal faces which can be used in movement and story time.
§ To encourage observation of details and develop memory skills.
Materials needed:
• Pieces of stiff paper or thin cardboard
• Crayons, scissors, glue, brushes
• Pieces of cardboard in different shapes for ears, horns
• String or thick wool

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Encourage children to make animal faces or masks that they can wear. Ask them to think about the kind of animal they
would like to be, and then draw the face onto a piece of stiff paper and cut it out. Help them to cut holes for their eyes.
2. Ask them to use the cardboard shapes to stick on ears and horns or make a mane with bits of wad, depending on the
kind of animal.
3. Help them to tie pieces of string or wool onto their masks so that the masks can be tied around their heads.

Alternative:
1. Glue the masks onto headbands made out of strips of thin cardboard or folded newspaper about 50 cm long. Help them
to measure how long a strip they need to go around their heads and stick it to make a band. If necessary, help them to
stick the faces with all the different pieces onto the headbands. Allow the glue to dry before they wear the masks.
2. Clearly mark each child’s mask with his\her name or symbol.

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III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets
Collage Ideas
Objectives:
• To encourage creative sticking activities using animal products.
Materials Needed:
• Scraps of knitting wool in different colors
• Feathers
• Sorting trays, boxes
• Paper and paste
Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Set out special collage activities which encourage children to make pictures and patterns with one type of material on
different days.

§ Wool:
1. Children can sort the scraps of wool (cut up long pieces) according to the different colors in a sorting tray. Place
the sorting tray, paste containers and paper on the floor or table where the children will work.
2. Let the children make whatever pictures or patterns they like by pasting the bits of wool onto a piece of paper.

§ Feathers:
1. Children could also sort the feathers first into different sizes, shapes or colors.
2. They stick feathers onto the paper in whatever patterns they like.

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 Cooking Eggs
Objectives:
§ To discover what happens to eggs when they are cooked in different ways.
§ Cooking activities should be supervised at all times. Make sure that the children clearly understand the rules, e.g.
how far away they should be from the stove.

Materials Needed:
• One egg per child
• One fork or spoon per child (for mixing)
• Large spoon, knife, egg lifter
• A form of heating (stove, gas burner, primus, fire)
• One empty container per child (e.g. small margarine containers)
• Saucepan or pot, frying pan

Instructions:
1. Work with a small group of not more than six older children at one time so that they can be carefully supervised and
helped where necessary. Other children can watch if they wish, and everyone should have some to eat afterwards. A
different group can take part in each of the suggested discovery activities.
1. Set up the activity on a low table near the stove. There should be enough space for the children to sit or stand around
the table comfortably.
§ Scrambling eggs:
1. Give each child a container, fork or spoon, and one egg.
2. Show the children how to gently crack the egg by knocking it against the side of the container, and then empty
the contents into the container.
3. Talk about what a raw egg looks like: the clear color of the white and the yellow of the yolk.
4. Show the children how to mix or whisk the eggs using their forks. Discuss this as they go along: What does it feel
like? What color do you have now?

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5. Melt a little butter in the pan. Children then empty their mixed eggs into the pan (add a little water or some milk
to make a bigger amount).
6. While the mixture is cooking the children can take turns to stir it so that they feel and see it getting thicker. Also
remove the pan from the heat from time to time for the children to see the changes in the egg.
7. When the scrambled egg is cooked, divide it up among the children so that they can look at it, feel it and eat it.

III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets

Talk about the changes: What did the raw egg look like? In what ways is the cooked egg different? What color is
it? What does it taste like?
§ Boiling eggs:
1. Talk about the fact that the egg is placed into boiling water with the shell still on, the hardness of the shell, color,
and shape (oval).
2. When the eggs have boiled hard, remove them from the boiling water and put them in cold water to cool down.
Each child peels the shell off an egg. Talk about how the egg feels, the color and shape.
3. Encourage children to cut the egg in half and look at the yolk and white. Give each child a piece of hard-boiled
egg to eat. Ask them to compare the taste of scrambled and boiled eggs.
§ Frying eggs:
1. A small group of children can observe the changes as an egg is being fried. Ask them to describe what is
happening to the egg. They can compare its taste and feel with the scrambled and hard-boiled eggs.

***Remember to collect the egg shells and wash them for Eggshell Art activities.***

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 Making Butter
Objectives:
• To discover how to make butter from milk (cream).
Materials Needed:

• Cream or milk with high butter (fat) content

• Small jars or containers with lids
• Salt
• Fine strainer
• Larger bowl
• Wooden spoon

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. If cream is not available, cover a jug or jar of milk and allow it to stand overnight in a cool place. The next morning
carefully remove the layer of cream on top of the milk with a spoon and place it in a clean jar. This process can be
repeated the next night to collect enough cream. Some children may want to observe this stage of separating the
cream from the milk.
2. Step 1: Half fill the small jars (purity jars are ideal) with cream and screw the lids on tightly. Let children take turns
(one jar between two children) shaking until the cream separates.
3. Talk to the children about how it looks and feels: at first it looks like whipped cream, then it becomes thick and
lumpy, and finally small lumps of yellow butter separate from a milky liquid (called buttermilk).
4. Step 2: Tell the children to pour off the buttermilk through a strainer and taste it.
5. Scrape all the butter bits into the larger bowl and show the children how to work the bits together with the wooden
spoon while rinsing the butter in water a few times until the water is clear. The children can take turns working the
butter with the wooden spoon. Add a pinch of salt.
6. If bread is available the children can spread the butter on the bread, divide it up and eat it.

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III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets
Happy Animals Family
Objectives:
• To develop memory skills, concentration and strategic-thinking skills.
• To learn to follow the rules of a game..
Materials Needed:
• Pieces of cardboard (e.g. from cereal boxes)
• Animal family drawings (15 cards)
• Paint or crayons
• Scissors
• Paste/glue
• Storage box
Preparation:
1. Color in the drawings of the animals and stick them onto the pieces of cardboard.
2. Cut out the 15 cards. Make sure that all the edges are stuck down, and if possible cover with plastic contact or clear
varnish.

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Give the animal family drawings to children and ask them to sort the cards into the five families. Talk to them about the
different animals and what they are called, what they look like, what they eat, and so on.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Introduce the game to the children. Show them all the cards and talk about the five animal families. Make sure they
know the names of each animal. Explain the rules of the game and see that they are followed.
2. 5 children can play at a time. Mix up (shuffle) the playing cards and give (deal) each child one card at a time until

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 they each have 3 cards (place the cards face down in front of each child).
3. The children pick up their cards so that the others cannot see what they have got. The aim of the game is for each
child to collect one animal family.
4. The first child (sitting next to the dealer) starts the game by asking one of the other children for a card to go with
one of the cards he already has, e.g. Michael can you give me the hen, please. If Michael has the hen card, she has to
hand it over, and the first child gives Michael any one of his other cards (face down so the others cannot see).
5. The child sitting next to the first child then has a turn to ask someone for a card, and so on.
6. When a player has collected an animal family, she puts her 3 cards face up on the table for the others to see that they
are correct. The remaining players continue the game until all the families are complete.
7. When the children have learned how to play the game, they can continue playing on their own.

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III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets
Heads and Tails
Objectives:
• To learn more about the body parts of different animals, and about part-whole relationships.
• To encourage children to pay attention to details and develop their observational and memory skills.

Materials Needed:
• Pieces of cardboard (e.g. from cereal boxes)
• Farm animal drawings (12)
• Paint or crayons
• Scissors
• Paste
• Storage box

Preparation:
1. Color in the drawings of the animals and stick them onto the pieces of cardboard.
2. Cut out the 12 animal cards and then cut each through the middle on the dotted lines. Make sure that all the edges
are stuck down, and if possible cover with plastic contact or clear varnish.

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. This game can be played individually or by 2 to 4 children as a group.
2. Spread out the 24 cards face up on a table or floor, and explain to them how to match the head to the tail of each
animal. For example, point to the horse’s head and ask the child(ren) what animal this is. Then ask her to find the horse’s
tail. Then ask a child to choose a card and tell you what it is. Then he looks for the other half.

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 INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. This game can be played individually or by 2 to 4 children as a group.
2. First look at the cards together and talk about the different animal parts, e.g. what they look like, similarities and
differences, why they think they are different, e.g. webbed feet as opposed to chicken feet, paws, hooves, and so on.
3. Mix up the 24 cards and spread them out face down on a table or on the floor. The first child turns face up any two cards.
If they match, she takes them, and she turns up another two cards. If the cards do not match, the same child turns them
face down again in exactly the same places.
4. The next child then has a chance to turn over any two cards. As the children see the different cards being tuned up, they
can remember where a particular card is and this helps them to find the other half.
5. They continue until all the pairs have been found.
6. The game can be made simpler at the beginning by using fewer cards, e.g. only 8 pairs (16 cards).

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C. IDEAS FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

III: Animals: Farm Animals and Pets

Animal Movements and Sounds
Objectives:
• To learn to categorize.
• To stimulate their imagination.
• To increase control of large muscle movement.
• To practice sounds of different animals.

Materials needed:
• One Animal Mask for each child

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
Note: Not for younger children

INTERMEDIATE: ADVANCED:
1. Start off with a finger play or rhyme to settle children and get their attention.
2. Ask children to put on the animal masks that they made, and then divide into animal groups, e.g. sheep, horses, cows,
chickens. Do not have more than 5 or 6 children in a group.
3. Each group sits in a different part of the space. The groups take turns to show the rest of the children all the different
movements their animals can make, e.g. the horses gallop, trot, walk, jump.

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 4. Encourage the children to move freely and use their imagination. Only if you find that they are not sure of movements,
and then start off by showing one or two yourself. Encourage them to do movements standing up and on all fours.
5. When the group has shown their movements, all the children to copy the movements.

Sounds:
1. As they move around the room making the movements, they also make the animal noises. Start off with one group at a
time, and then all the groups move around together making the different sounds.
2. End the group activity with each animal group going to sleep in their different areas of the room, e.g. horses in stables,
sheep in the kraal, and cows in the shed.

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IV: Animals: Small Animals
IV: ANIMALS: SMALL ANIMALS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
This topic about small animals focuses on small wild animals that live nearby in the back yard or garden, in sheds, in the veld
and in or near rivers and dams. The following kinds of animals are included: small mammals such as mice and hares, birds,
reptiles, amphibians (frogs), and fish. Separate topics are about smaller creatures such as insects, worms and snails.

The previous topic “Farm Animals” helped children learn more about domestic animals which are mainly mammals. This topic
extends children`s knowledge of mammals, birds and fish, and introduces new types of animals, reptiles and amphibians which
can live in water and on land.

The purpose is not to make children memorize a lot of facts about specific kinds of small animals, but to arouse children`s
curiosity about nature so that they become more observant in their everyday lives. Teachers can do it by creating opportunities
for observing and talking about particular animals in small and large group activities.

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 WEEKLY PLANNING OVERVIEW – June, Week 2 and 3
IV: Animals: Small Animals
Time Type of Activity Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9.00 – 9.15 Morning Meeting žžWelcome children žžWelcome children žžWelcome children žžWelcome children žžWelcome children
žžGreetings žžGreetings žžGreetings žžGreetings žžGreetings
žžWhat is the Topic of žžWhat is the Topic of žžDiscovering About žžAnimal Movements žžAnimal Homes
the week? the week? Birds p. 65 & Sounds p. 66 Classification p. 64
žžSmall Animals and žžAnimal Homes
Reptiles p. 61 Classification p. 64

9.15 – 11.00 Work Time – Learning Centers: Teacher organizes materials for children to work in centers of the child’s choice including:
Art Center, Block Center, Drama Center, Literacy Center, Manipulative Center while one or two Small Groups are working on
teacher-initiated activities.
Small Groups Group Nature
String Painting p. 69
Group Nature
String Painting p. 69 Free Play
Week 2 Collage p. 68 Collage p. 68
Small Groups Spot the Small Observing Small Spot the Small Observing Small Discovery Table
Week 3 Animal p. 72 Animals p. 70 Animal p. 72 Animals p. 70 p. 74
11.00 – 11.15 Clean-Up
Catch the Snake’s Catch the Snake’s
11.15 – 12.00 Outdoor Time Nature Walk p. 75 Nature Walk p. 75 Free Play
Tail p. 77 Tail p. 75
12.00 – 12.45 Wash-Up, Lunch

12.00 – 12.45 Rest & Quiet Time Children who can’t sleep may “read” books.
Social games, story reading, finger plays, singing, dramatization of the books, reading the children’s books
žž
related to the topic.
14.15 – 14.30 Group Story Time Discovery Box: exploring sounds, tastes, smells, things found in nature and manufactured
žž
Movement game “Touch blue…”
žž
Asking questions about what did children find during Sense Walk
žž
Review of the day, sharing impressions of the day, discussion of the activities children have been involved in
žž
14.30 – 15.00 Closing Meeting
– which new things they learned and planning the next day.
Activities with Parents throughout the day Parents can assist in visiting the classroom and telling about their job/role
žž
Parents can assist children in making their postcards
žž
Parents can assist as volunteers in a field trip
žž

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A. IDEAS FOR THE MORNING MEETING

IV: Animals: Small Animals

Small Mammals and Reptiles
Objectives:
• To talk about and compare small mammals and reptiles.

Materials needed:
• Drawings and pictures of small mammals and reptiles
• Flannel board, easel, and blackboard or wall space
• Live animals, such as a tortoise or chameleon (if available)

Preparation:
Color in available drawings of small animals and reptiles. Cut out all available pictures and paste them onto
cardboard. If using a flannel board, put a strip of paste on the back of the pictures and shake sand onto it so that
they will stick to the flannel board.

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Plan several group times on different animals. In each talk about only one or two animals that children have actually
seen.
2. If there are any live animals in the playground or garden, take the children to look at them and talk about them. Then
return to the playroom and sit down.
3. Tell the children that you are going to talk about small animals that live on or in the ground. Build on the experience of
the walk and ask the children to name as many of these kinds of animals as they can. Put up the pictures of one of the
animals that they saw or that you have chosen for the day.

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 4. Ask them questions that are of interest/discuss the animal:
Things to talk about:
§ What it is called (its name).
§ What it looks like (appearance) and the different parts of it body; what the body is covered with; what the young
animals look like.
§ How it moves and whether it moves fast or slowly.
§ The sounds it makes; high or low, loud or soft.
§ How dangerous it is; how it can hurt people.
§ What it eats and when (some animals only eat at night).
§ Where it lives or how it is protected; whether it is warm-blooded or cold-blooded.
§ How babies are produced (live birth or eggs) and how they are cared for.
5. Additional Questions
§ Where have you seen one like this before? How did it look? How does it move?
§ How do you think its body feels?
§ Why do you think it has...(e.g. such a long tongue / no legs / a shell on its back / quills)? What do you think it
eats?
§ Which of these animals live in holes in the ground?
§ Where do the others live?
§ In what ways are these animals the same? (e.g. most of them have 4 legs; small mammals have fur and give
birth to their babies; reptiles have scales and lay eggs) Which animals move fast and which move slowly?

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Begin with a guessing game or movement activity and/or song.
2. If there are any live animals in the playground or garden, take the children to look at them and talk about them. Then
return to the playroom and sit down.
3. Tell the children that you are going to talk about small animals that live on or in the ground. Build on the experience of
the walk and ask the children to name as many of these kinds of animals as they can. Put up the pictures of the animals
they name, and then add the others. Group the pictures of the mammals separately from those of the reptiles.
4. Ask if anyone would like to choose a picture and talk about the animal in the picture. Ask questions to help the child
and invite other children to add information. Also encourage the group to ask questions, and add information when
appropriate.
5. After each child has spoken, ask questions to help the children compare the different animals.

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6. Things to talk about each animal:
§ What it is called (its name).
§ What it looks like (appearance) and the different parts of it body; what the body is covered with; what the young
animals look like.

IV: Animals: Small Animals

§ How it moves and whether it moves fast or slowly.
§ The sounds it makes; high or low, loud or soft.
§ How dangerous it is; how it can hurt people.
§ What it eats and when (some animals only eat at night).
§ Where it lives or how it is protected; whether it is warm-blooded or cold-blooded.
§ How babies are produced (live birth or eggs) and how they are cared for.
7. Additional Questions
§ Where have you seen one like this before? How did it look? How does it move?
§ How do you think its body feels?
§ Why do you think it has...(e.g. such a long tongue / no legs / a shell on its back / quills)? What do you think it
eats?
§ Which of these animals live in holes in the ground?
§ Where do the others live?
§ In what ways are these animals the same? (e.g. most of them have 4 legs; small mammals have fur and give
birth to their babies; reptiles have scales and lay eggs) Which animals move fast and which move slowly?

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 Animal Homes Classification
Objective:
• To compare the different kinds of small animals according to the homes in which they live.
• To develop classification skills.

Materials Needed:
• All the drawings and picture cards of small animals
• Three drawings of “homes” (sky, ground, water)
• Flannel board, easel, blackboard or wall
Preparation:
1. Color in and cut out the drawings of “homes” and paste onto card.
Instructions:
All Ages:
§ Put the 3 “homes” cards on the board and spread the animal cards out in front of the children.
§ Talk about where animals live and what they need to live in water, air or land. Ask each child to choose an animal
picture and put it under the card showing where it lives.
§ As each picture goes up, discuss the animal and the way its body is adapted to live in its surroundings, e.g. birds have
wings to fly with and feet to perch on branches or swim in water.
§ Ask some or all of the following questions:
• What kind of body covering do you think it needs to live in the trees and in the sky?
• Why do you think the lizard has short legs? What would happen if it had long legs?
§ Can the fish live on land? Why not?
§ Why do you think moles live underground?

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Discovering About Birds

IV: Animals: Small Animals

Objectives:
• To increase children`s understanding of birds..

Materials needed:
• Variety of feathers from different kinds of birds
• Old nest(s), eggshells, seeds and other things they eat,
• Bowl of water
• Drawings and pictures of different kinds of birds and things they eat (insects, worms, snails, mice).

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Take the children outside to observe the birds quietly for a few minutes.
2. When you return let the children handle the nest, feathers and eggshells.
3. Talk about the feathers and discuss why they are different colors (sometimes to protect them from their
enemies) and how they feel. Put the feathers in the bowl of water. See if the feathers will float. Discuss why
they float and what feathers are for.
4. Talk about the ways in which all birds are the same: how birds fly, their nests, how the eggs are kept warm
and the adult birds care for the young.
• Then talk about the differences between birds in color, size, how they make nests, how they get food
and the kinds of food they eat; differences in the shape of their beaks and in their feet.
• Ask the following questions:
• How do you think birds fly? Can we fly? Why not?
• What would happen if a bird did not have wings? Why?
• What would happen if birds had no feathers?
• Where do you think the birds are flying to?
• What do you think the nest is made of? How?
• Why do you think ducks have webbed feet?

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 Animal Movement and Sounds
Objectives:
• To compare the ways different animals move and the different sounds they make..

Materials needed:
§ None

Instructions:
INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Combine various movement activities with talking about the different ways animals move and the sounds they make.
§ Movement:
a. Begin with a movement activity involving all the children in imitating animal movements,
§ e.g. Waddle like a …..? (duck)
§ Slither on your tummies like a …. ? (snake)
§ Swim like a …? (fish) Now like a tadpole.
§ Walk very slowly on four legs like a…..? (tortoise)
§ Jump like a….? (frog)
§ Fly like a ....? (bird)
b. Stand in a circle and play a guessing game. Ask individual children to imitate the way a particular small animal
moves. The rest of the group must guess what animal it is.
2. Discuss what helps different animals move in certain ways. Talk about which animals move in the same way and which
move differently from each other.

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§ Why do you think the snake has no legs? How does it move?
§ What does a hare’s feet look like?
§ How does a fish swim? Can we swim?
§ Which animal jumps the highest? Why?

IV: Animals: Small Animals

§ What would happen if a lizard had long legs?
§ Does a lizard move in the same way as a tortoise? In what ways are they the same?
§ In what ways different? Which animals move fast? Which ones are slow?
3. Sounds
§ Play the Animal sounds game. Discuss the different sounds that animals make, how they make them and the reasons
for the different sounds.
§ Suggest that the children have animal conversations. Ask other children to guess what they are saying.
§ Ask some of the following questions:
§ Do you think all animals make sounds?
§ Which animal do you think makes the loudest sound?
§ Which animal makes the softest sound?
§ What do you think they are saying to each other?
§ What do you think would happen if animals could not make any sounds?

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 B. IDEAS FOR THE SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES

Group Nature Collage

Objectives:
• To encourage children to work together and learn to share.
• To develop children`s creativity through using natural materials.

Materials needed:
• Newspaper and/or large pieces of the paper • Natural materials such as twigs
• Leaves • Bark
• Wood • Soil
• Dry grass • Feathers
• Seeds • Smaller pieces of paper or card
• Crayons or paint and brushes • Paste/Glue
• Scissors

Preparation:
1. Stick large pieces of paper (on newspaper) together to make a large long piece. Fix the large piece to the wall at the
children’s height or lay it out on newspapers on tables, the floor or on the verandah. If paper is not available, children
can make the collage on the ground.
2. Stick a few items onto the paper that will stimulate the children’s imaginations, e.g. piece of blue paper for a dam, some
leaves and bark for a tree.

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Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Encourage children to talk about the plants and animals they have seen in field or near the river. Suggest they use the
materials provided to make a group picture. They can also draw or paint, cut and stick things on.
2. Allow the children to work in their own ways and use their own ideas. Some children may not try to make a picture of
what they have seen.

IV: Animals: Small Animals

3. Encourage children to talk to one another as they work as this will encourage cooperation and the sharing of ideas.

String Painting
Objectives:
• To experiment with a different way of putting paint on paper and making “snake” pattern.
• To practice small muscle control.

Materials needed:
• Flat containers, such as styrofoam food trays
• Paint of different colors (if available) or mud paint
• Pieces of string of different lengths and thickness
• Paper

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Pour the paint into the containers. The activity is likely to be messy, so lay newspapers down where the children will
work and have a wet cloth or water nearby.
2. Explain to the children that they dip a piece of string into the paint and then pull drop or roll it across the paper to make
patterns.
3. Encourage them to try different ways of using the string to put the paint on the paper and make patterns.

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 Observing Small Animals
We do NOT encourage children to catch live animals or keep small animals in cages or other containers. But there are some small
animals that can be kept for a few days in the playroom or playground/garden if we can provide a suitable home for them.

Objectives:
• To provide opportunities for children to observe small animals closely and to discuss the results of
their observations.
• To stimulate children`s interest in small animals and nature.
Materials needed:
• A suitable environment in which to keep the small! animal(s). This must include the following:
– enough space in which to move,
– natural materials that are part of the usual surroundings in which the animal lives, such as soil, small
stones, grass, leaves and other plants for food,
– shade and shelter, if necessary,
– air to breathe,
– enough food and water.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Tortoises can be kept in a safe place in the playground if there is enough grass for them to eat and some shade from
plants or trees. If the playground is not enclosed by a fence, the tortoise may escape. Make sure that any enclosure is
large enough and that the tortoise(s) have enough food and water at all times.
2. A chameleon can be brought to the playground on a stick and placed on a suitable plant where the children can
observe it. Do not try to keep it enclosed in anything.
3. Fish can be kept in a proper fish tank. The fish, tank and food will probably have to be bought at a pet shop. They
need the right kind of food, and the water has to be partly changed regularly (if it is not aerated). Also ask for
information on the care of fish at the pet shop.

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IV: Animals: Small Animals
Observing Small Animals: Tadpoles
Objectives:
• To increase observational skills.
• To increase small muscle coordination.

Materials Needed:
• Net(s) for catching tadpoles and a large glass jar (make a net by fixing a piece of orange bag netting
onto a ware circle with quite a long handle)
• Stream, furrow or pond nearby where there are frogs and tadpoles

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Take a small group of children with you to look for tadpoles in a nearby stream, furrow or pond.
2. Prepare the large jar first. Put some sand and small stones from the pond or stream in the bottom of the jar, add
water and find a water weed or two to put in the jar.
3. Catch only two or three tadpoles in the net and put them into the jar straight away.
4. Place the jar in a cool place where the children will be able to look at the tadpoles swimming around.
5. Remember that tadpoles need air to breathe, so do not leave a lid on the jar. Feed them every few days on
grains of hard-boiled egg yolk.
6. As soon as the front legs begin to appear on a tadpole, it needs to be able to get out of the water, so a jar is not
very suitable. Either take the tadpoles back to the pond or stream or transfer them into a larger, flatter container
with some stones or small logs of wood in it that rise above the level of water.
7. Do NOT keep frogs in a jar or container. If the tadpoles live long enough to turn into frogs, take the frogs back to
the stream or pond.

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 Spot the Small Animal
Objectives:
• To encourage children to identify similarities and differences and to observe the details.
• To help children develop the perceptual skills of differentiating something from its background.

Materials needed:
• A large piece of thick cardboard from a large carton about 30 x 42 cm
• Poster drawing of woodland scene
• Separate drawings of the small animals in poster
• Small pieces of thin cardboard for the animal drawings
• Crayons, • Paints • Scissors
• Paste/Glue • Plastic contact or varnish (if available)
• Storage box

Preparation:
1. Color in the drawing of the woodland scene and stick it onto the large piece of cardboard. Use realistic colors.
2. Cut out the animal drawings and paste them onto small pieces of cardboard.
3. If possible cover all the pieces and the game board with clear plastic contact or paint with clear varnish to strengthen and
protect it.

BEGINNER:
1. Have the children identify specific animals in the big picture.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Tell the children to place a similar animal drawing on each of the animals on the game board until all the animals in
the picture are covered.
2. If a group of children are playing together they should take turns to find an animal in the picture and cover it with a
drawing of the same animal

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IV: Animals: Small Animals
Animal Homes
Objective:
• To learn the difference between different animal habitats.
• To help children identify animals and their homes.
Materials Needed:
• A large piece of thick cardboard (e.g. from a box)
• Drawing of 5 animals and 5 ‘homes’
• Crayons or paint, scissors, paste
• Wool or string, split pins, paper or hair clips or buttons
Preparation:
1. Color in and cut out the 10 drawings.
2. On one half lengthwise of the piece of cardboard, paste the drawings of animals.
3. On the other half of the board, paste the drawings which illustrate places where the animals live (see diagram).
4. Use a split pin, paper clip, hair clip or sew a button onto the board next to each picture.
5. Cut 5 pieces of wool or string about the length of the cardboard. Tie one end of each piece of wool/string around the
split pin head or button next to each animal picture.

Instructions:
BEGINNER: INTERMEDIATE: ADVANCED:
1. The child fastens the loose end of each piece of wool/ string next to the picture showing where the animal lives.
2. Make sure that the children understand what each drawing is of, especially the drawings of the homes. Help children
find the right home by asking questions e.g.
§ What is this animal? (pointing to the snake)
§ Do you know where the snake lives? Does it live in the grass or in the ground? That’s right, in a hole in the ground.
Now can you find the picture that looks like a hole in the ground?

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 Discovery Table
Objectives:
• To encourage children to explore and learn more about their surroundings.
• To develop language skills by encouraging children to share information.
Materials needed:
• Table or large flat box, smaller boxes
• Magnifying glasses, if available
Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Ask children to bring things related to small animals that they find in their surroundings and put them on a discovery
table, e.g. things that animals eat such as nuts and seeds, grass; feathers, an old nest or egg shells; a shed skin from a
reptile, tortoise shell.
**NOTE: It is important that children know that they must not disturb or harm small animals, e.g. they must not
take a nest from a tree or eggs from a nest. They must not bring live animals for the table.
2. Encourage children to talk about what they have brought, where they found it, what animals eat it, what they know
about the animals and their habits

INTERMEDIATE: ADVANCED:
1. Ask children to bring things related to small animals that they find in their surroundings and put them on a discovery
table, e.g. things that animals eat such as nuts and seeds, grass; feathers, an old nest or egg shells; a shed skin from a
reptile, tortoise shell.
**NOTE: It is important that children know that they must not disturb or harm small animals, e.g. they must not
take a nest from a tree or eggs from a nest. They must not bring live animals for the table.
2. Encourage children to talk about what they have brought, where they found it, what animals eat it, what they know
about the animals and their habits.
3. Children can also sort (classify) the different things into smaller boxes, e.g. all things to do with birds in one box; or
different kinds of animal food in each box.

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C. IDEAS FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

1. Take a walk in the neighborhood and look for community helpers. If possible have the children talk to them, asking

IV: Animals: Small Animals

them what they do, how they like their job, what their training was for the job, etc.
2. Take a walk in the neighborhood with the intention of finding a particular community helper. Focus on who you
will be looking for at Morning Meeting. Have the children search for the person on their walk. When they find
the helper, have the children watch what he or she is doing. Go back and “draw” what they have seen. For older
children, have them dictate a story about their walk. Put all of the children’s drawings together to make a book that
can be put in the Literacy Learning Center for “reading.”

Nature Walk
Objectives:
• To appreciate their environment.
• To practice visual and auditory discrimination.
• To stimulate oral expression.
• To practice new vocabulary.

Materials needed:
• None

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 Preparation:
1. During morning ring or group time the day before tell the children that they will be going for a nature walk. Ask them
what kinds of small wild animals live in the veld.
2. Explain that they might not see any small wild animals, except perhaps birds, on the walk, but that there are signs that
they are close by. Discuss the sorts of things that they will be looking and listening for, e.g.
§ listen for sounds of animal noises
§ look for different homes of animals, e.g. mole-hill, tunnels, holes, nests, dams
§ food that animals eat, e.g. seeds, worms
§ signs that animals are around, e.g. tracks, feathers, porcupine quills
§ birds and how they fly.

Instructions:
During the walk, encourage the children to walk quietly, look carefully and listen for animal sounds.
§ All stop and listen very carefully.
§ What noises can you hear?
§ What kind of animal makes these footprints/tracks?
§ What do you think lives in this hole? What color is that bird?

2. Pick up feathers, quills, and so on to take back to the playroom.

3. Talk-about: After you return, in group time, discuss the things you have seen and heard. Children could tell a story, e.g.
“Today I went for a walk and I saw / heard...” Each child completes the sentence.
4. Use pictures of the animals that the children saw, heard, found tracks of or any other evidence. Put the pictures up on
the wall or flannel board, and place things like feathers or quills next to the relevant picture.
5. Encourage the children to talk about the different small animals that were identified during the walk and about other
small animals that they know about. This will give the teacher an idea of how much the children know.
§ What did it look like?
§ What sound did it make?
§ What do you think lives there?
§ How do you think it is made?
§ Why do you think it....? (e.g. lives in a hole in the ground)

***Note: With younger children talk about only the animals that children have actually seen.***

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Extension:
1. Take children on walks to different places where they may see specific small animals, e.g. a river or dam (frogs, tadpoles, and fish), the
sheds (mice, bats) or a place with many trees or bushes.
2. Take children on walks to look for specific animals, e.g. a bird walk, or a walk to look for animal tracks (footprints) or animal homes

IV: Animals: Small Animals

(holes, nests, etc.).
3. Link these walks with special activities, such as looking for a tortoise (page 7-8), and/or with talk-about times in the following pages.

Catch the Snake’s Tail

Objectives:
• To improve large muscle coordination.
• To stimulate imagination.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
1. Children form a chain by each one holding the waist of the child in front of him/her. The child in the very front is the “head” of
the snake, and the child at the back is the “tail”. The aim of the game is for the head to catch the tail., but the tail tries not to be
caught. When the teacher says “go”, the head chases the tail. Once the tail has been caught, the child at the head can join the tail
end, and the next child becomes a head.

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 TOPIC V: ANIMALS: TINY CREATURES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The topic “Tiny Creatures” is about animals which do not have backbones. It focuses on insects and other tiny creatures such as
spiders, snails and worms that live around us – in the ground, under stones, in the grass, near water, on plants and trees, in the
air an even inside buildings. It extends children`s knowledge of animals but these are very different from farm animals and small
wild animals which all have backbones, even snakes.

One of the best ways for children to learn more about these tiny animals is through observation. Take children on walks in their
immediate surroundings. Almost everywhere you look you will find some sign of insects and other tiny creatures. Look under
plant pots, in cracks in the paving, on the walls, in the grass, on leaves, under stones.

Children should be encouraged to observe them in their natural surroundings most of the time, but some of these creatures
can be kept in the playroom in suitable containers and observed for a short period before returning them to their natural
environment. However, if you choose to keep them for longer periods so that you can find out more about them, you will have to
know something about their natural environment to be able to care for them properly and know how to feed them.

It is important for teachers to show children by example how to observe and respect nature. For example, do not touch, hurt
or kill insects unnecessarily; show children how to collect insects for observation without handling them (e.g. by using suitable
containers, use a spade to lift ants with soil, break the twig or leaf off with the caterpillar on it). Children should also learn which
ones can hurt them, e.g. bees and wasps sting; scorpions and centipedes are poisonous; flies spread disease.

The following information is provided for teachers to use when children are interested and able to understand it through their
own observations. Teachers` aim is to arouse children`s curiosity and to help them find things out for themselves. They should
not have to memorize many facts!

Insects – e.g. flying insects such as bees, butterflies, moths, flies, dragonflies, ladybirds, and crawling insects like ants, beetles,
crickets, caterpillars.
§ All insects have bodies that are divided into three parts. The front part is the head which has eyes and antennae (feelers).
The middle is called the thorax – the legs and wings are attached to this. They breathe through two holes in the thorax
called spiracles. The rest of the body is called the abdomen.

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 My Environment
§ All insects have 6 jointed legs (3 pairs) and if they fly, they have 2 pairs of wings (4). If you are not sure whether
something is an insect, count the legs.
§ A baby insect is often not at all like the adult. It may have to pass through several changes in its life-cycle. Insects lay eggs
which hatch into larvae (e.g. caterpillars, maggots, grubs). This change into pupae and the adults finally hatch out of the
pupae. This complete change is called metamorphosis.
§ Insects outgrow their body coverings which are usually hard (external skeletons to hold the body together). They shed
the one that is too small and grow a new, larger one.

V: Tiny Creatures
§ Many insects use their legs for more than walking – they use them for swimming, jumping or digging. Some have
forelegs that are adapted for grasping and holding prey (e.g. the praying mantis). Others have legs with hairs or suction
pads to help them walk on water.
§ Insects do not have a voice, but they do make sounds with other parts of their bodies. Some may hum or buzz by
vibrating their wings, others may squeak by forcing out air through their breathing holes. Or they may make a sound by
rubbing one part of their body against another part.
§ Many insects only eat seeds and plants, but some eat other insects or suck blood from humans and animals.
§ Insects provide food for people (honey, locusts) and other animals, and help to spread seeds and pollen (plants). Some
insects are pests (eat crops) or spread diseases.
Spiders and scorpions
§ Spiders and scorpions belong to the arachnid family which also includes ticks and mites. All arachnids have 8 legs (4
pairs) and no antennae (feelers).
§ Most spiders spin silk to make webs for their homes or to help catch insects for food; they wrap their eggs in a silk
cocoon.
§ Spiders help us by eating insect pests such as flies. Sometimes they chase the insects they will eat and spit sticky
material onto their victims. Other spiders wait in holes for insects to fall in.
§ Spiders only attack (bite) people if they are provoked or in danger. A few spiders are very poisonous.
§ Scorpions eat insects; they live under stones; they have a pair of pincers in front and a poisonous sting in their long tails.
§ Ticks and mites are parasites that live mainly on animals. Tick bites can make people ill (tick bite fever).

Worms (e.g., centipedes, millipedes, earthworms)

§ Centipedes are flat worms with many legs; they live under stones; they eat tiny creatures, and some are very poisonous.
§ Millipedes (e.g. songololo, but some kinds are much smaller) have round, hard bodies with hundreds of legs; eat plants.
§ Earthworms live in the soil and their tunnels help to drain and aerate the soil. This provides good conditions for plant
roots. They feed on decaying food matter, and are eaten by birds.

Snails and slugs (mollusks)

§ Snails have a shell to protect themselves, and slugs live underneath stones and in thick damp vegetation. They also have
feelers and eyes on the end of stalks. A snail produces slime which makes its movement easier.

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 WEEKLY PLANNING OVERVIEW – June, Week 4
V: Tiny Creatures
Time Type of Activity Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
9.00 – 9.15 Morning Meeting žžWelcome children žžWelcome children žžWelcome children žžWelcome children žžWelcome children
žžGreetings žžGreetings žžGreetings žžGreetings žžGreetings
žžWhat is the topic žžWhat is the topic žžWhat is the topic žžWhat is the topic žžWhat is the topic
this week? this week? this week? this week? this week?
žžCrawling Insects Flying Insects
žž žžSpiders & Insects žžSnails & Slugs p. 85 žžWorms p. 86
p. 81 p. 82 p. 83

9.15 – 11.00 Work Time – Learning Centers: Teacher organizes materials for children to work in centers of the child’s choice including:
Art Center, Block Center, Drama Center, Literacy Center, Manipulative Center while one or two Small Groups are working on
teacher-initiated activities.
Small Groups Insect Collection
Rock Painting p. 91
Spider Web Collage
Rock Painting p. 91
Spider Web Collage
Week 4 p. 89 p. 92 p. 92
11.00 – 11.15 Clean-Up

11.15 – 12.00 Outdoor Time Insect Hunt p. 100 Insect Keeper p. 96 Insect Hunt p. 100 Insect Keeper p. 96 Spider Web p. 105

12.00 – 12.45 Wash-Up, Lunch

12.00 – 12.45 Rest & Quiet Time Children who can’t sleep may “read” books.
Social games, story reading, finger plays, singing, dramatization of the books, reading the children’s books
žž
related to the topic.
14.15 – 14.30 Group Story Time Discovery Box: exploring sounds, tastes, smells, things found in nature and manufactured
žž
Movement game “Touch blue…”
žž
Asking questions about what did children find during Sense Walk
žž
Review of the day, sharing impressions of the day, discussion of the activities children have been involved in
žž
14.30 – 15.00 Closing Meeting
– which new things they learned and planning the next day.
Activities with Parents throughout the day Parents can assist in visiting the classroom and telling about their job/role
žž
Parents can assist children in making their postcards
žž
Parents can assist as volunteers in a field trip
žž

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 My Environment
A. IDEAS FOR THE MORNING MEETING

V: Tiny Creatures
Crawling Insects

Objective:
• To explore the similarities and differences between crawling insects by observing and
discussing their behavior.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
BEGINNER: INTERMEDIATE: ADVANCED:
1. Begin with related song, rhyme or movement activity. Perhaps they can crawl like ants.
2. Provide different kinds of crawling insects in jar and pictures children to look and compare the similarities and
differences. Note that they all have six legs and two feelers. Some have wings but they do not often use them. Many
have
hard body coverings, though they may look quite different. Talk about what they eat.
3. Ask the following questions to get the children to think about what insects do:
4. What do you think the ants are doing?
5. What do ants/stink bugs eat?
6. What would happen if they did not have feelers?

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 Flying Insects
Objective:
• To extend children`s knowledge of the life cycle of insects and compare various flying insects.

Materials needed:
• Dead or alive (in suitable containers) flying insects and things that are associated with them,
e.g., empty cocoons, honeycomb
• Pictures
• Pictures of the life cycle of the butterfly

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Have children look at pictures of insects and talk about the name of the insects. Discuss colors, wings, legs,
etc., other features they may notice.

INTERMEDIATE: ADVANCED:
1. Talk about the life cycle of the butterfly using the pictures. Encourage children to ask questions and share
what they have observed about caterpillars and butterflies.
2. Compare insects like butterflies and moths with other kinds of flying insects. Identify the similarities, e.g.
they all have 4 wings, and talk about some of the differences.
3. The children might be interested in learning more about bees which are also social insects like ants. Bees
provide honey which is good for people.
4. Children can imitate the sounds that different insects make, such as bees, crickets, cicadas, grasshoppers.
5. Ask the children questions about insects.
§ What is inside the butterfly`s eggs?

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§ Why do you think the caterpillar has so many different colors? What does it eat?
§ How does the caterpillar change into a butterfly?
§ What do you think the butterfly eats?
§ In what ways are flying insects the same?

V: Tiny Creatures
§ Why don’t people like flies?
§ Why and how do people farm bees? Where do wild bees make their homes (honeycombs)?
§ What do grasshoppers eat?
§ What sounds different insects make?

Spiders and Insects

Objective:
• To compare spiders, scorpions and ticks with each other and with other insects.
Materials needed:
• Dead or alive specimens (in suitable containers)
• Pictures

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Divide the class in half so that one group moves as the spiders, slowly stretching into wide spiders` web shapes
on one spot. The other children are the flies; they run in and out of the spider`s webs as music plays. When
the music stops, a “fly” is caught in a web if the child is between the stretched spider shapes.

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 2. After the game, talk about how the spider makes a trap with its web for flies and other insects. Talk about
where you would find these webs; whether children can see any in the playroom, and what happens to the fly
once it is caught. Tell the children about how the spider wraps its eggs in a cocoon made of silk (like a web).
Note that baby spiders hatch out of the eggs (no metamorphosis like insects).
3. Compare different kinds of spiders that children are familiar with. In what ways are they the same and
different? Children may not be familiar with scorpions, but they need to know what they look like because they
can harm them. They may have seen ticks on animals, and know that they suck blood (parasites).
4. Discuss the following questions with the class:
§ How does the spider make its web?
§ What do you think it feels like?
§ How do spiders help us? (catch flies)
§ How can scorpions hurt people, animals and insects?
§ What do you think it eats?
§ How can you tell that a creature is a spider/scorpion?
§ In what ways are they different from insects (8 legs)
§ Do they have feelers?

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V: Tiny Creatures
Snails and Slugs
Objective:
• To learn more about different kinds of animals.
Materials needed:
• Snails and slugs from the garden, empty shells
• Sheet of glass (or use a window, or glass jar)
• Some green leaves
• Warm water in a container

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Children could help to find snails and slugs by going on a quick hunt in nearby garden. They like damp places
with thick vegetation. Take suitable containers (a plastic bag will do).
2. Place the snails and slugs on the piece of glass (or in a jar) so that children can compare them. They can look
at them from underneath. They will be able to see the snail`s mouth. Talk about what they look like and how
they move.
3. Put the leaves out and ask children what they see and hear – if they listen very carefully they will be able to
hear it scraping away with its rough tongue. (If the snail does not want to come out of its shell, dip it quickly
into warm water and it will gradually appear).
4. If you have more than one snail you could have a “snail race”. Put out a lettuce or other green leaf and see
which snail gets to it first.

My Environment 85
 5. After the group time, two children can take the animals back to where they found them.
6. Ask/discuss the following questions about snails and slugs:
§ What is different about snails and slugs from any other creature?
§ What do you think the two pairs of horns are for?
§ How do they move? Do they move in the same way?
§ Why do you think they have no legs?
§ What would happen if the snail did not have a shell on its back? How do you think the slug
protects itself?

Worms
Objective:
• To compare different worm-like creatures with each other and with other animals.

Materials needed:
• Earthworms in a box of soil
• Dead and alive specimen of other kinds of worms in suitable containers, such as millipedes and
larvae (e.g. caterpillars, grubs, fly maggot, worms in fruits)
• Avoid live centipedes (fewer legs) – very poisonous
• Pictures

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Preparation:
1. Set up the earthworm box two days before so that they have had time to settle down and make tunnels.

Instructions:

V: Tiny Creatures
BEGINNER:
1. Begin with asking children to move like worms. Draw attention to those who are imitating a particular kind of
worm, e.g. an earthworm moves very differently from a caterpillar. Can they curl into a ball? Ask the children
why they move differently.
2. Perhaps the children can then worm their way to the earthworm house to have a look at what they do. Talk
about what they look and feel like and how they help things grow by aerating the soil.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Begin with asking children to move like worms. Draw attention to those who are imitating a particular kind of
worm, e.g. an earthworm moves very differently from a caterpillar. Can they curl into a ball? Ask the children
why they move differently.
2. Perhaps the children can then worm their way to the earthworm house to have a look at what they do. Talk
about what they look and feel like and how they help things grow by aerating the soil.
3. Talk about the various kinds of worm specimens and pictures. Compare their similarities and differences and
talk about what they eat, where they live, and so on. Note that only caterpillars change into something else.
Explain what a centipede is like (flat, many legs, lives under the stones) and that it is dangerous.
4. Ask these questions and any others you can think of about caterpillars and earthworms:
§ Why do you think that caterpillars roll themselves into a ball? Do caterpillars have legs?
§ In what ways are earthworms the same/different from caterpillars and other animals?

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 Insect Guessing Game
Objectives:
• To use their memory.
• To learn guessing techniques and putting together ideas.
• To reinforce prior learning about insects.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Tell the children to listen very carefully to what you say and try to guess what tiny creature you are talking about.
E.G.
I have four wings and I fly.
You can find me near water.
I drink your blood! Who am I?

I have hundreds of legs.

I am black and shiny.
I curl into a ball when I am frightened.

I like eating flies.

I have 8 legs.
I wrap my eggs in a silk cocoon.
2. Do not use more than three ideas at a time.
3. Encourage the older children to take turns in giving clues for others to guess. They can also imitate
movements or sounds as part of your clues.

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 My Environment
B. IDEAS FOR THE SMALL GROUP ACTIVITIES

V: Tiny Creatures
Insect Collection
Objective:
• To encourage children to explore and learn more about their natural environment.

Materials needed:
• Magnifying glasses (if available)
• Boxes for sorting the items into

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Ask children to bring things they have found in their surroundings that are related to insects and other tiny
creatures. These might be things that insects eat old skins or dead insects and other creatures. It is important
that they understand that they must not harm or disturb living insects or their eggs.
2. Put the items on a special display table initially so that the children can examine them more easily. If available,
have a magnifying glass or two on the table.
3. Add pictures and books to the table which show pictures relating to what children have brought.
4. Encourage the children to talk about what they have brought and where they found it.

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 Dress-up Wings

Objective:
• To encourage children to use their creativity and memory skills in painting patterns that they
have seen on butterflies.

Materials needed:
• Large sheets of paper
• Strips of light cardboard paste or stapler
• Paint and brushes
• Scissors

Preparation:
1. Fold a large sheet of paper in half.
2. Measure the length of a child’s arm. Draw a wing shape to fit it, away from the fold.
3. Cut out the wing shapes through both sheets of paper.
4. Cut two narrow strips of cardboard and stick these onto the underside of each wing for the child’s arms to slot
through (or cut longer strips of card/paper and slits in the wings so that each strip can make a loop and the
ends stapled together). It may be necessary to make this section of the wings stronger with cardboard.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Children paint their wings and put them out to dry.
2. When the wings have dried, children can wear their wings and “fly” during outdoor play time.

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V: Tiny Creatures
Rock Painting
Objective:
• To create colorful creatures from the stones that children can find outside.

Materials needed:
• Stones • Twigs • Leaves
• Sand • Pebbles • Paint
• Brushes • Strong Glue • Masking Tape
• Bags

Preparation:
1. Take the children on a rock hunt in the neighborhood. Ask them to look for interesting shaped stones (not too
big – about the size of a child’s fist)
2. Put some masking tape on each stone and label with the child’s name. Collect the stones in strong bags.
3. The children wash the dirt off the rocks and dry them.

Instructions:
BEGINNER: • Note: Too difficult for younger children

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Set out the paint, glue and other materials with the stones that the children have collected. As each child
comes to the activity, she or he collects his or her rock.
2. Talk to the children about insects that they might have seen during their outing and encourage them to make
their own little creatures from the materials. Children should be free to create in their own way, but the
teacher can ask questions that will help the children, e.g. How many wings does your butterfly need?

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 Spider Web Collage
Objectives:
• To explore making web patterns in a collage
• To develop planning skills.

Materials needed:
• Paper, pieces of wool or string paste, scissors pencils, ruler, rubber

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Talk to the children about what a spider web looks like. Ask them if they could make a collage with the pieces
of wool/string to look like a spider web.
2. Do not show them how to do it and allow them to make other patterns if they wish.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Talk to the children about what a spider web looks like. Ask them if they could make a collage with the pieces
of wool/string to look like a spider web.
2. Encourage the children to plan in advance how they are going to make the web pattern. They can either lay the
pieces of wool out before putting paste on or draw the web with a pencil. What would be the easiest way to
put the paste on? On the wool or on the paper?
3. Do not show them how to do it and allow them to make other patterns if they wish.

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V: Tiny Creatures
Egg Box Caterpillars
Objective:
• To practice fine-motor skills to make and decorate a caterpillar.

Materials needed:
• Cardboard egg boxes • Twigs • Wool
• Colored paper • Material scraps • Buttons
• Paste/glue • Hole punch or a large nail • Scissors
• String or wool or sticks • Sticky tape • Markers or crayons

Preparation:
1. Cut the lower half of the egg boxes into individual sections (cups).

Instructions:
BEGINNER:
1. Put out materials and provide children with various art materials. Give each child a piece of paper and tell
them to draw /construct a caterpillar.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED:
1. Set out the egg carton sections with the other materials.
2. Ask the children if they can think of a way to make caterpillars from the materials provided. Encourage them
to talk about different ways of doing it. They can either link the sections with wool/string or sticks.
3. Children select their materials and decorate them as they want.
4. Help the children make holes in both sides of the sections (except for the head), either with a punch or nail
Threading wool or string through the holes will be easier if the end is hardened with sticky tape (or glue).

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 Observing Tiny Creatures
The best way to observe insects and other tiny animals is to watch them quietly in their natural surroundings, but some kinds can
be collected and kept in suitable containers for a few hours or days and sometimes longer.

Objectives:
• To provide opportunities for children to observe tiny creatures closely and talk about them.
• To stimulate children’s interest in nature.

Materials needed:
• Suitable containers in which to keep each type of tiny animal, which must provide the following:
— enough space in which to move,
— natural materials that are part of the usual surroundings in which the animal lives,
such as soil, stones or twigs
— shade and shelter, if necessary
— air to breathe
— enough food and sometimes water.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Always take great care when collecting tiny creatures. Try not to handle them directly, e.g. collect ants using a
trowel to pick up some soil as well; cut the twig with the leaves the caterpillar(s) are on; cover a flying insect or
spider on the wall with the jar and slide a piece of paper underneath it. Show the older children how to collect
some of insects and other tiny creatures.
2. Do NOT collect poisonous or dangerous creatures, like poisonous spiders, thick-tailed scorpions (small pincers)
or centipedes. Be very careful with stinging animals like bees, wasps or thin-tailed scorpions (big pincers).

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3. Do not put the containers in the full sun, especially if there are no leaves in it, although many tiny animals like
a warm place. Animals that live in the soil need damp leaves to keep them damp (or they will soon die).
4. Do not frighten the animals by shaking or banging the containers.
5. If you have a magnifying glass, the children can use it to examine the creatures. Show children how to hold the
glass in front of the eye - make sure that they do not hold the glass at arm’s length.

V: Tiny Creatures
6. Always return the small creatures to the place where they were found.

1. Few hours:
- Many kinds of insects, such as beetles, caterpillars, ants, flies, bees, snails, spiders and millipedes can be
collected in suitable jars and kept for a few hours for children to observe.
- A plastic or glass jar will be adequate if it is big enough. Punch some holes in the lid of the jar to allow air to
enter the jar (or tie a piece of panty hose over the open top - use for ants).
- Include some of the leaves of the plant which the animal was eating when found.
- Do not mix different kinds of creatures in one jar unless they were on the same plant.

2. Few days:
- It is very important that suitable homes and care are provided if tiny creatures are kept for a few days or
more. Children need to be aware of the shelter and food required by the creatures so that they may be
unharmed and returned to their environment. Provide water by putting a wet sponge in the jar (needed by
animals which do not eat plants).
- Snails can be kept in a jar covered with netting (orange bag), panty hose or a lid with holes in it. Give it fresh
leaves (preferably from the plant where you found it) twice a day (snails feed mostly at night, so make sure
there is enough) and clean out the jar every day or two Keep the jar in a cool place. Look at the two pairs of
horns on the snail’s face. The two long ones have eyes on the end; the other two are for feeling.

3. Observing Tiny Creatures for a Few Days

§ Earthworms are very easy to find - you can dig them up with the soil. Keep them in a strong box,
preferably wood because the soil must be kept damp. Cover it with sheet of plastic so that the children
can observe how the worms burrow (like the Ant Farm idea on page 8). Fill the box with damp soil - this
will also provide food. Keep the soil damp and do not keep the worms for longer than a few days.
*Ants, caterpillars and silkworms can be kept for longer periods. Ideas are suggested in the following pages.

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 Insect Keeper

Objective:
• To keep tiny creatures for observation.

Materials needed:
• Large plastic bottle (e.g. 2 liter coke bottle)
• Old stockings or panty hose
• 2 rubber bands or string, scissors
• Collection of insects

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Cut around the bottle just below the opening.
2. Cut out four “windows” in the sides.
3. Slip the bottle inside the panty hose.
4. Cut off the feet of the panty hose so that both ends are open.
5. Gather the stocking to one side at the bottom and fasten it securely shut with a rubber band or knot.
6. Fasten the top with a rubber band once the insect has been found.

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V: Tiny Creatures
Butterfly Sequence Cards
Objective:
• To develop thinking skills related to sequences.

Materials needed:
• 6 drawings of the life cycle of a butterfly
• Pieces of cardboard {e.g. from soap powder boxes)
• Crayons or paints, scissors and paste storage box

Preparation:
1. Color in the drawings with crayons or paints.
2. Stick the drawings onto the cardboard and cut them into cards. Strengthen the cards with clear varnish if this
is available - they will last longer.
3. Store the cards in a suitable box.

Instructions:
BEGINNER: • Note: Too difficult for younger children

INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED:

1. The child puts the cards together in sequence working from left to right, starting with the butterfly laying her
eggs until the new butterflies fly around.
2. Teachers can help children to understand the life cycle of the butterfly by talking about what each picture
represents and asking questions like:

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 § What do you think the butterfly is doing in this picture? (laying eggs)
§ What comes out of the eggs when they hatch?
§ Which picture shows the baby caterpillars hatching?
§ What are the caterpillars doing here? (eating a leaf)
§ What do you think is happening in this picture?

Ladybird Card Game

Objectives:
• To practice recognizing number sets up to ten.
• To encourage children to develop their visual perception and memory skills.

Materials needed:
• Pieces of cardboard (e.g. from cereal boxes)
• Ladybird drawings (10)
• Paint or crayons, scissors paste
• Storage box

Preparation:
1. Color in the drawings of the ladybirds (either all red with black heads or different colors that do not match the
dots) and stick them onto the pieces of cardboard.
2. Cut out the 10 cards and then cut each through the middle on the dotted lines. Make sure that all the edges
are stuck down, and cover with plastic contact or clear varnish (if available).
3. This game can be played individually or by 2 to 4 children as a group.

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Instructions:
All Ages:
1. First look at the cards together. Check that the children can match all the number sets correctly. Simplify

V: Tiny Creatures
the game at the beginning if necessary by using the first 6 pairs only (12 cards).
2. Mix up the 20 cards and spread them out face down on a table or on the floor. The first player turns face
up any two cards. If they match, she takes them and she turns up another two cards. If the cards do not
match, the same child turns them face down again in exactly the same places.
3. The next player then has a chance to turn over any two cards. As the payers see the different cards being
turned up, they can remember where a particular card is and this helps them, to find the other half.
4. They continue until all the pairs have been found.

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 C. IDEAS FOR OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Insect Hunt
Objectives:
• To introduce the topic on tiny creatures and to find out what children already know.
• To develop children`s observational skills.
Materials needed:
• Drawings/posters and pictures of different tiny creatures
• Magnifying glasses
• Suitable containers to collect live specimens
• Walk poster

Preparation:
1. Before you go on the walk, put out a trail of food, e.g. jam or old bones. This will attract insects so that children
will be able to observe them at work as they find the food and carry it off.

Instructions:
All Ages:
1. Tell the children that they will be taking a walk to look for insects and other tiny creatures. Ask questions about
what creatures they may find on the walk and where they might look for them.
2. Talk to children about how easily these insects can get hurt, e.g. butterflies’ wings are very fragile and insects’
legs can easily be broken. Children should not touch the things they find. They need to approach these
creatures very quietly so as not to scare them away. Also talk about creatures that may sting or bite if they are
frightened, e.g. a bee or wasp.

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3. On the walk look for ants and anthills. Observe the way ants are working and discuss the different jobs they
are doing. Look for eggs of insects under leaves (again be very careful that you do not harm any creature). You
might find a variety of animals under stones or the bark of trees. Talk about why they need to hide under the
bark or under rocks and stones. Look for shed skins of insects.

V: Tiny Creatures
4. Children can examine ants and caterpillars with a magnifying glass. Ask questions to help them observe more
carefully, e.g.
§ What is it called?
§ How many legs/wings does it have?
§ How do you think it feels to touch? What color is it?
§ What do you think it eats?
5. Show the children how to carefully collect a few harmless specimens in suitable containers without hurting
them to take back for observation and discussion in the playroom.
6. After you return, in group time, encourage the children to talk about what they saw on the walk. Have pictures
available so that children can identify the creatures that they saw. Put the pictures up on the wall or on a
flannel board. Display the things that were collected and talk about them too.
7. Encourage the children to tell you what they know about the different creatures so that you know what to
build on in the following talk-abouts. They can also talk about insects and other creatures that they have seen
elsewhere. Focus on finding out what the children already know, rather than telling them things.
8. They can also look at the walk poster and identify the tiny creatures in it, and the ones they have talked about
before (which have backbones).
§ What sound does it make?
§ Why do you think it lives there?
§ What would happen if it...(e.g. had no wings)
§ Where have you seen one like this before?
§ Why do you think...(it has so many legs, eyes)?

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 Bees Fly
Objectives:
• To increase categorization skills.
• To use prior learning to reinforce concepts.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
1. The teacher stands facing the children. She calls out bees fly and she flaps her arms as if she is flying. Children
do the same because bees do fly. She calls out butterflies fly, moths fly, ladybirds fly and so on, and she and the
children flap their arms. When she says the name of a creature that does not fly, e.g. snails fly, she still flaps
her arms, but the children must not flap their arms. They must stand still.

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V: Tiny Creatures
Tiny Creatures Moving
Objectives:
• To reinforce auditory skills.
• To encourage imagination and creativity.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
All Ages:
2. Adapt a story or tell your own. Each child chooses his or her own movement, and moves freely. The teacher
encourages them to think for themselves about how they can dramatize with their actions. Here is an example
of a story which you can tell or adapt to suit your own situation:

3. Listen to the music and do what it tells you. All the creatures are invited to a party. The ants come marching
(drum plays a march)... the beetles come running (drum plays quickly)... the snails crawl slowly (drum plays
slowly)... the grasshoppers come hopping (drum plays quickly)... How do the spiders walk?(The drum stops) -
yes, the spiders stop to look all around them from time to time. The bees come buzzing; flying so fast that you
can hardly see their wings. Let’s see if you can do that.

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 How Insects Change
Objectives:
• To use imagination and creativity.
• To reinforce concepts.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:
1. Children dramatize (mime) the story of the life cycle of the butterfly. They begin as eggs (children make
themselves into tiny balls). Then the caterpillars hatch out of the eggs and eat and eat until they get too big
for their skins (how can the children mime ‘shedding their skins’?) The caterpillars continue eating and moving
along the plant stalks and leaves (children move like a caterpillar). A bird comes along and they curl up in a
ball. When they have eaten enough, they tie themselves to a stalk (stand up with arms around the stalk) and
turn into a cocoon (they must stand very still). Finally they come out of the cocoon as a butterfly and fly about.

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V: Tiny Creatures
Spider Web
Objectives:
• To improve large muscle coordination.

Materials needed:
• None

Instructions:

1. Choose one child as the spider and have he/she stand with her back to the rest of the children.
2. Tell the other children stand at the other end of the room. Tell them to start walking, counting their footsteps
aloud: 1-2-3-4-5. When they reach 5, they must stand still. The spider turns around quickly, and tries to catch
someone moving. Anyone who moves must join the spider in her web. The spider turns her back again and
the children count again and move forward. If one of them can touch the spider while her back is turned, then
that person becomes the next spider.

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