International Day for Biodiversity Puppet Art for Kids
May 22nd marks the International Day for Biodiversity. Even though “biodiversity” may sound like a tough subject for young children to tackle, your little learner can still observe this special day. And bonus, they’ll get the chance to engage in ecological education activities.
What can you do to help your child celebrate, and understand, biodiversity? Check out this puppet-making/pretend play idea. It’s an easy way to introduce basic concepts, while helping your child learn about the environment right around them.
Materials
- Paper bags (lunch-sized)
- Clear-drying school glue
- Markers
- Craft feathers
- Craft felt
- Scissors
- Yarn
How-To Steps
- Go outside and take a look at the biodiversity in your neighborhood. Before getting global, start this concept locally. It will help to make the idea of biological diversity concrete for your young child. Note the different types of animals, birds and bugs that your child sees. You can even take photos of them to reference later.
- Place a bag on a flat surface, with the flap facing up and to the top. Have your child pick one of the living creatures that you observed outside to recreate on the bag — as a puppet.
- Draw the animal’s face onto the flap. Your child can use markers to do this.
- Decorate the rest of the bag/puppet. Your child can draw features onto the bag or glue feathers, yarn or felt to it (creating textures).
- Repeat the puppet-making, creating a variety of creatures.
- Create your own dramatic pretend puppet play that features the diverse creatures in your area.
