The Rainforest
        Page 2
        In The Kitchen

        Banana Butter

        Mash 3 ripe bananas with a fork. Mix 3/4 cup peanut butter. Add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon shredded coconut, and 1/2 cup of raisins. Blend well. Serve on bread, crackers, or fruit.

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        Jungle Cake

        Cream together 1 cup each of margarine, sugar, brown sugar add 2 eggs; blend in 3 cups of flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon baking soda; fold in 4 sliced bananas, 10-12 oz choc chips, and handful of cashews; spread mixture in greased and floured 9x13 pan and bake for 350 for 40-50 mins. Sprinkle cake with brown sugar cool and serve.

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        Frozen Banana Snack

        Freeze bananas, when frozen remove and dip in chocolate and then dip in colored sprinkles.

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas
        Theme Ideas

        Classroom Rainforest

        We've turned our classroom into a rainforest by muralling (on cardboard) one wall of the room. We have added a cave (made from refrigerator boxes) and added real plants and vines.The remaining walls have been decorated with the children's art work from this past week. We put out at the easel all sorts of greens and at the end of the week added black and white. FABULOUS!

        ~Submitted by Donna from Queensland Australia

        Rain Forest Terrarium

        Materials: 2 gal or quart size glass jar for each child. Sand, soil, gravel (color) and a small lid to hold water. Bowls for mixing sand, spoons, Fern, moss, animals (plastic).

        Procedure:
        1. Cover bottom half of their jars with gravel
        2. Mix soil and sand together, 1-part sand, 4 parts soil.
        3. Place soil mixture on Gravel.
        4. Place ferns and moss in jar.
        5. Put water in small lid and set in jar.
        6. Place animals in Jar.
        7. Put jar lid on tight.

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        For Two Year Olds

        -watch movie Jungle Book
        -make safari helmets for children to wear on outdoor walk in the trees
        -put a watch me grow crocodile in water and watch it grow
        -go on jungle safari looking for bugs and birds
        -have ants on a log for snack (celery, peanut butter, raisins)
        paint cotton balls brown and let dry. have children glue cotton balls on a monkey pattern

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        For Three Year Olds

        -turn room into a jungle, paint windows, use boxes, make palm trees (use gift wrap tubes)
        -make parrots, chimps and crocs to add to jungle rivers and trees; don't forget foliage and beautiful flowers
        -play rainforest sounds
        -make zebra, monkey masks to wear
        -shoe box mural to depict jungle scene
        -make binoculars using toilet paper tubes and colored cellophane
        -view Jack Hanna's Jungle animal series
        -read WHO IS THE BEAST? have children draw or paint animals in the book; have discussion about some plants and animals that live and grow in the jungle
        tell about foods that come from the jungle (chocolate, fruit, nuts)

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        The Boa Constrictor Game - African Tag Game

        *designate space as home for the snake and choose a child to be the snake.
        *the snake must start at home. The other children run at the snake. The snake leaves home and tries to tag others. Once tagged the child must join the snake by holding hands.
        *the snake gets longer and longer. Only the snake and the last person in line can tag people.
        *if the snake falls apart, the children must all return home spot and rejoin.
        *when everyone is hooked together the game is over.

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        Swing, Swing

        Ask the children to stand in a circle and hold hands. While you recite the following poem, have them swing their arms up and down. "Little monkeys swinging in the tree, all hold hands and swing with me. Swing up high and swing down low, swing in the tree now don't let go! Swing, swing like I do, swing like monkeys in the zoo."

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        Rainforest Mural

        As a class activity, the children will be dipping their palms in green paint to make palm prints covering several large sheets of paper. Once dry, these will serve as a background for our class rainforest. As we learn about the rainforest we will add food, plants, and animals to our mural.

        ~Submitted by Tracy from Texas

        Rainforest Classroom

        Our kindergarten class does the rainforest every year and they do turn their room into one. They hang green crepe paper for the vines and attach birds, monkeys, butterflies and other rainforest species. They also bring in products from the rain forest for the kids-coffee, spices, tea, etc. I had them make up goodie bags made up of the products so that they could take them home. Some they could taste and others they could smell. It was really fun to watch them taste the strange thngs.

        ~Contributor Unknown

        *If you decorate the room to look like a rainforest, you could use some steam vaporizers. This will enable the children to understand more about the type of weather that is found in the rainforest.

        Make A Rainforest

        Create a rainforest mural. Procide a large piece of butcher or bulletin board paper. Use green, brown, and blue painys to paint the sky, a river, and lots of trees. While the paint is drying have the children make rainforest animals. They can make a macaw, pygmy hippo, and jaguar. Place the children's animal on the rainforest mural and display for everyone to see.

        ~Submitted by Gloria
        (The Red Umbrella, June/July/August 1999)

        Pygmy Hippo

        Stuff a small paper lunch bag with old newspaper and tape the top closed. Cut a toilet tissue roll into four sections. Attach a section to each corner of the bottom of the stuffed bag for legs. Cut two small brown construction paper ears and attach one to each side of the bag at one end. To make a mouth, paint the back of a small paper plate brown. After the paint dries, fold the paper plate in helf. The children can then glue four cotton balls inside the folded paper plate for teeth. Tape the folded paper plate to the top of the stuffed bag. To make eyes, cut two 11/2" white construction paper circles and two 1" black construction paper circles. Glue the black circles on top of the white circles. Glue the eyes over mouth.

        ~Submitted by Gloria
        (The Red Umbrella, June/July/August 1999)

        Try a Macaw Menu

        Talk about with the children that macaws like to eat fruit, seeds, and nuts. Then, in a large bowl mix together dried banana chips, raisins, shelled sunflower seeds, and sesame sticks. Have the children spoon some of the mixture into a zip-locked bag. Take the children outside and sit among the trees, and enjoy your macaw snack!

        ~Submitted by Gloria
        (The Red Umbrella, June/July/August 1999)

        Count the Spots

        The children can practice their counting skills as they add spots to the jaguar. Number index cards one - ten. Make a jaguar from yellow construction paper. Cut ten 1" spots from black construction paper. Turn the index cards faced down. Select a card and count out the indicated number of spots to place on the jaguar.

        ~Submitted by Gloria
        (The Red Umbrella, June/July/August 1999)
        Links!

        - A to Z Teacher Stuff
        Rain Forest Writing Paper - abcteach
        Rain Forest Crafts - abcteach
        Rain Forest Rap - abcteach
        Jungle (Rainforest) Animal Crafts - DLTK's Crafts For Kids
        Why Save the Rain Forests? - Teacher Guide
        Return to Page 1 of the Rainforest Theme!

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