June 2009-Crafts of the Month- June is Zoo Month
 Before or after your trip to the zoo, have the children recreate the various animals  they say in the zoo!

ZOO SCENES



Materials Needed:

Clean foam meat tray
Paint (acrylic)
Paint brush
Scissors
Markers or crayons
Construction paper
Glue Stick
Yarn or string
Cookie cutters in animal shapes or stencils in animal shapes

Directions:

Trace around the cookie cutter onto the construction paper.
Color in the animal.
Paint a background for the animal onto the foam meat tray.  Let dry.
Cut out the animals from the construction paper.
Glue the animals onto the tray. Let dry.
Cut slits 1 inch apart on the top and bottom of the meat tray.
Starting at one end of the tray, weave the string or yarn from the top to the bottom and then the bottom to the top to create the bars of the zoo cage.
Knot string on the back of the "zoo cage."

This craft is a real bilateral control activity for the hands--from cutting out the animals to stringing up the cage.  The children will use a lot of pinch motion in this craft activity.



Also see our September 2008 hand print animals as another idea for Zoo Crafts.  The children really enjoy using their imaginations to turn the hand prints into animals they saw at the zoo!