Activity 3: Rainforest Life
Part of Love Surrounds Us, Grades K-1
Activity time: 20 minutes
Materials for Activity
- A large cardboard box, such as an appliance container
- Leader Resource 2, Amazon Animals
- Construction paper - green, and a variety of shades of brown
- Crayons and markers
- Scissors, including left-handed scissors, and glue
Preparation for Activity
- Set up the box so it stands by itself. Using a marker, outline a tree trunk. Do not go all the way up; leave cardboard at the top to make a rainforest canopy.
- Cut brown construction paper into rectangles about 4x5 inches. Make enough to cover the "trunk" of the tree.
- Cut green construction paper into "bunches" that look like leaves on a tree. Have enough bunches of leaves (make them look like green "cloud" shapes) to cover the upper part of the box: the rainforest canopy.
- Print out one or more copies of Leader Resource 2, Amazon Animals. Cut the animals apart. You will need at least one animal for each child.
Description of Activity
Participants make a rainforest tree and populate it with animals that depend on the tree.
Tell participants they will make a rainforest tree and populate it with the animals that live there. Pass out the brown rectangles to participants. Depending on the size of the group, each participant may receive more than one rectangle. Ask participants to glue the rectangles on the cardboard box, inside the outline of the tree trunk. The different shades of brown will give the trunk a bark-like appearance; have participants glue them randomly within the outline.
Then, distribute green leaves and ask participants to glue them on the cardboard along the top, to make the treetop. Tell them this is the rainforest canopy.
Once the tree is completed, pass out animals so that each participant has one animal. Duplicates are fine. Invite the children participants to glue their animals to the part of the tree where those animals live. Ask:
- What would these animals do without this tree?
- Why is important to have these animals on the earth?
Including All Participants
For younger participants or participants with physical limitations, ask other participants or leaders to help place items where they belong.