Hello, everyone.
One of our favourite things to do in the Beech class is to read a story together. We have even participated in an SQA unit that is based around exploring fictional stories and the characters within them.
We choose a book for us all to read and offered some suggestions of activities to try out! The fun activities will be based on the main character of the story! This week’s story is called ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’ by Giles Andreae – you may have heard of it!
Have a listen to the story HERE then, if you like, try out some of the activities below! Feel free to post any photos or comments on this blog to let us know how you got on. 
Task 1. Explore heights using non-standard units!
*Activity recommended if you have a garden* Giraffes can grow to be about 19ft tall! To see what that looks like, mark out a starting point at one end of your garden and take 19 (count out loud together!) steps in a straight line and mark the point where you finish. Take a step back and check roughly how tall a giraffe is! If you enjoyed this, why not find out the height of other animals in the story and compare their sizes!
Task 2. Check out a LIVE FEED from a real zoo. Here are some links to zoos that have cameras in their giraffe enclosures. Look at how the giraffes move. What are they getting up to? What kind of food do they eat?
Task 3. Become a researcher! Work with an adult to find out the answer to the following questions that you might on an animal fact file:
- How tall to giraffe’s grow?
- What colour is a giraffe’s tongue?
- What colour is a giraffe’s skin?
- Do all giraffe’s look the same or different?
Task 4. The word ‘giraffe’ begins with the letter ‘G’. Here is a fun craft activity you could try that lets you explore both the letter ‘G’ and a giraffe pattern.
Templates can be found online.
*Bonus literacy task* – Why not have a ‘G’ scavenger hunt? How many things can you find around the house that begin with the letter ‘G’?
Task 5. Life-skills, sensory and fun!
Here is a link to a zoo animal game on Twinkl which you can download and play. How many animals did you guess right?
Here is a link to the wonderful Singing Hands duo, Tracy and Suzanne. They are reading and signing the story ‘1, 2, 3 To the Zoo’ by Eric Carle. Have a listen and try to count how many giraffes you can see!
Below are links to playdough recipes. Work together to make the dough then try to roll out the different shapes of a giraffe. E.g. A round body, a long sausage-shaped neck and long thin legs.
Non-edible – https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/playdough-recipe
Edible – https://rainydaymum.co.uk/how-to-make-edible-playdough/#wprm-recipe-container-28288
Remember – all activities are simply suggestions and completely non-obligatory.
Take care, guys Missing you all.
