Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

• Copy of story, "Lizard's Song"
• Optional: “Lizard's Song” coloring sheet, and crayons

Preparation for Activity

• Read and print out story, "Lizard's Song." Prepare to tell the story.
• Optional: Print the coloring sheet and copy for all participants. Place coloring sheets and crayons where children can use them when invited but will not be distracted beforehand.

Description of Activity

Gather participants where they can sit comfortably and hear a story. Say:

Wild animals build their own homes that are right for them. The story we are about to share is a Native American legend. It explains why each kind of animal must have its own kind of home.

Read aloud or tell in your own words the story, "Lizard's Song."

After the story, ask participants:

• Why did the bear like lizard's song so much?
• Why do you think the bear could not live on the rock?
• Why couldn't the lizard live in a den?

Then invite children to name their favorite wild animal and describe and/or name the animal's home. You may ask why they think the animals they name live in the kinds of homes they do.

Tell the story again, this time leading the children in singing the song with some of the new animal names and homes substituted for "lizard/rock" and "bear/den."

Including All Participants

Offer children the opportunity to color the illustration provided for “Lizard's Song” to engage different learning styles and to help children focus on or relate to the story. A coloring activity can be a "preview" of a story. It can work as a quiet activity to help children physically settle. You might use it afterward to help the group recall and respond to the story.