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Animal Spots and Stripes

After observing and discussing illustrations in a book about spotted and striped animals, students create their own animals with stripes and s

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

Steps

  • Step 1

    Read a book about animals with spots and stripes. Two good examples are "Animal Spots and Stripes" by Britta Teckentrup and "Stripes and Spots" by Dahlov Ipcar. Ask students to identify some shapes they saw in the book - rectangles (stripes), circles (spots), ovals (body) squares (maybe the nose), triangles (ears).

  • Step 2

    Have children create a spotted or striped animal using construction paper. They can use blunt tip scissors to cut rectangular strips of paper in various sizes that can be used to form the grass, the sky, the animal's legs, or something else they wish to add to a shape collage. They can cut or tear other shapes as circular, triangular, and oval parts for the body, head, ears, nose, etc. Ask them to draw the animal's stripes and/or spots. They can draw background items, such as plants, trees, the sun, etc.

  • Step 3

    Have the children present their creations. Ask them to point out the shapes they used and discuss where their animal lives, what it eats, and what it might see in its environment.

Standards

LA: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

LA: Develop real and imagined narratives.

MATH: Describe, compare, quantify, and classify objects by attributes. Sort objects into categories.

MATH: Look for and create constructed or natural structures and patterns.

Adaptations

Ask students to create and present a story about their animal.

Challenge children to find and name some shapes they see around them, both indoors and outdoors - a square book, a round clock, a rectangular brick, an oval leaf, etc.

Read "Animal Hide & Seek" by Dahlov Ipcar. Talk about the animals' habitats and then see if the children can find the animals hidden in the subsequent pages.