Did you know that September 22 is National Elephant Appreciation Day? It is a good opportunity to introduce young children to the world’s land animal! Try some of the elephant appreciation activities with kids:
- Elephant Weight – Tell children them how much a baby elephant weighs (200 pounds). Weigh each child, record their weight, and see if it would take the whole class to weigh as much as a baby elephant.
- Pass the Peanut – Tell the class that they are going to pretend to be elephants. Give each child a sock to put on his or her hand (this is their trunk). Have children sit in a circle and give one child a peanut (a real peanut or a packing peanut if there are allergies). Have the children pass the peanut from person to person until it comes back to the start. Use a timer to see how long it takes and then do it a second time to see if they can beat their time.
- Paint like an Elephant – Elephants have been know to paint using their trunks, so challenge your kids to hold a paintbrush in their sock trunks (from activity above) and create a picture.
- Paper Plate Elephant – Directions can be found here: http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Paper-Plate-Elephant.html
Elephant Facts:
- Elephants are large animals.
- There are two types of elephants – African and Indian.
- African elephants are larger than Indian elephants, they have baggier skin and bigger ears, too.
- Elephants live together in families. Several families living together form a herd.
- The leader of the herd is usually the oldest female, called a matriarch.
- Elephants eat plants. They eat a lot of plants!
- They eat leaves, grass, hay, tree bark, and fruit
- Elephants flap their ears to cool themselves.
- Elephants spray water on their skin.
- The wrinkles hold the water, which helps to cool them.
- Elephants live for eighty years!
- Elephants have four teeth and two tusks.
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