Going On Safari!

It is a new year and a new unit in our homeschool world! We are having an absolute blast with this unit and I cannot wait to share it with you all. Our favorite day so far has been the "Game Reserve" lesson in which the kids pretend to go on an African Safari and spy out animals... So cute!

 

The first activity in this lesson is to sing a song about the animals we might see on an African safari. We wrote down our ideas first, and then sung a song to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell." This was an excellent time to talk about the animals that live in Africa, and animals that don't live in Africa. They were totally on board and so attentive during this part! I got a great video of them singing the song (please excuse my singing behind the camera).

Another activity had the kids making their own binoculars to "spy" the animals on their safari. The kids had SO MUCH FUN walking around and spying the animals and checking them off on the checklist. I had them wear the hats we made the day before and they carried their binoculars with them as well.  They actually asked to do this activity over and over again, and I was so bummed that I didn't laminate their checklists so they could be used more! This was another great time to challenge Jonathan in his reading as he was able to identify the animals on the list.

Mother Goose Time included a wonderful book called "Sock-Fari" in which the characters go on a search for some missing socks using their imagination that they are in a jungle safari. The kids loved the story and were able to read a few of the words in the book. So cute!

They also filled in their My Little Journals for the month. Jonathan and Hope wrote their names and drew a picture of a safari animal on the front. I especially love these journals because it provides such wonderful writing practice for the children. I also got the sweetest video of me helping Hope write her name.

Jonathan drew a giraffe :)

My children have already learned so much this year and I am so surprised at how much Hope is able to participate. She is one smart cookie! Jonathan is already beginning to read and is being challenged everyday to learn more and more about our world. I am so proud of them both!