Get ready for aaaall the monkey crafts, snacks, and fun activities this week! Our theme is the jungle and my little monkeys certainly had a blast swinging through one last summery theme before “school” officially starts!
–“5 Little Monkeys” with puppets: Back before Covid, our amazing local librarian Miss Sue used to do a toddler story and song time and every week she sang the “5 Little Monkeys” with finger puppets- which the kids loved because she’d throw them off her fingers one by one as she sang the song. She also counted the monkeys each time to build counting skills, which I thought was great! I decided to bring this song home this week by making some monkey finger puppets out of construction paper and hot glue! To make them, you just cut 5 strips of brown construction paper as long as your finger and about 4 inches wide. Roll them up into a tube that easily fits your finger and hot glue in place. Fold the top down and glue it shut. Cut 5 tan ovals and glue them to the top for snouts (do monkeys even have snouts? Faces? Noses? You know what I mean!) Decorate them with faces and use them to sing “5 Little Monkeys” to your little. I’ve linked myself singing it on YouTube in case you don’t know how it goes…also my 3 year old was my videographer so bear with us! LOL Here are the lyrics as well! I’m sorry they look like a list…I can’t for the life of me figure out how to space them close together without the “list” dots!
- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed
- one fell off and bumped his head (throw a monkey off your finger)
- Mama called the Dr. and the Dr. said,
- “NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!”
- 1, 2, 3, 4 little monkeys (and so on….)
–Jungle obstacle course: The boys had so much fun with this- before they tore it all down with toy chain saws (c’mon guys, we’ve READ the Lorax! lol) I just strung green crepe paper down the hall like tangled jungle vines and had them climb through (which they did quite a few times!)
–Jungle explorer binoculars: These are mostly a mom project unless you have an older preschooler, but they’re cute and fun to play with! You just duck tape two toilet paper tubes together, hole punch the top center, string some yarn through so they can wear them around their neck (though you may want to skip that if your little is closer to 1) and let them explore outdoors, or in! We used them to go on a letter hunt with big brother around the house (I wrote upper and lowercase letters on post it notes and stuck them all through the living room and kitchen then we identified them as the boys found them).
–Barrel of Monkeys: Though toddlers aren’t quite coordinated enough to play the actual game, these are a great tool for fine motor and counting practice! I showed my little how to hook the monkeys together to make a chain and then let him try. We also practiced counting them as he put them back in the barrel (and dumped them back out) over and over!
–Painting on leaves: Go outside and get some large leaves- they don’t have to be tropical if you don’t live in a place where those types of plants grow, just big ones will do! Have your little explore with paint on the leaf’s smooth surface!
–Monkey and palm tree painting: Make the top of a palm tree with your little’s hand prints and green paint. Add a brown footprint to make into a monkey. Add details like the tree trunk, the monkey’s tail, etc. and you have one cute painting to show off!
–Jungle fruit smoothies: My kids both LOVE smoothies, so this week we made some using fresh fruits found on tropical trees! I added 1 mango, 1 banana, 1 cup pineapple, 2 TBSP chia seeds, a packet of pea protein and some orange juice to my bullet and blended for about 20 seconds. It was delicious and a great way to get in some extra fruit and fiber!
–Supply/shopping list:
- large leaf- real or cut from paper
- mango
- coconut
- banana
- pineapple
- Barrel of Monkeys game
- green crepe paper
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