Presenter Liz Kitchen with songs, rhymes and a story set at the animal fair.
Suggestions for use in the classroom
Listening for individual sounds
Encourage the children to listen to the sounds that play throughout the episode. Listen carefully, do you know what the sound is? What can you hear? What does it sound like? Can you add actions to the sound? Listen all around: jungle sounds. Individual sounds: snake, elephant, monkey
Rhyme/song
I went to the animal fair,
The birds and the beasts were there 鈥
The big baboon by the light of the moon.Was combing his golden hair.
The monkey fell out of his bunk,
And slid down the elephant鈥檚 trunk,
The elephant sneezed and fell on her knees,
And what became of the monkey, monkey, monkey鈥
Once children are familiar with the song, add actions (e.g. cow: use hands to suggest horns; sheep: hand movements around body to suggest wool; pig: move hand around nose for the snout).
Story - Maisie鈥檚 so lazy she drives us crazy
Once upon a jungly time鈥 If possible, to hold attention, show appropriate pictures of the animals. Or bring in a bag and produce a soft toy of each animal (remembering that the lion needs a tie!). A real coconut and log to illustrate what elephant juggles with would be even better. When children have had a chance to sing (and hopefully learn) the song, return to the story. Encourage the children to mime the actions: baboon singing Pavarotti-style; elephant juggling; monkey sleeping.
Follow-up ideas
- Make jungle pictures or a jungle collage (e.g. cut out leaves and creepers)
- Small world play with jungle animals
- Jungle role-play area (expand the freeze to make a green canopy, with hanging creepers)
- Practise moving like different animals (e.g. snakes slither, elephants plod, tigers creep)
- Make your own concert, with children choosing how or what they will perform
- Make an 鈥榓nimal fair鈥 frieze.
See the Teachers' Notes (pdf) below for more suggestions.
Song video: 'The animal fair'
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