How the Kangaroo got her Pouch

This week we’ll be heading off to Australia for the story of how the kangaroo got her pouch, featuring a young Joey who just INSISTS on being carried all the time… 

Here are some ideas linked to the story..

Play:

• Have you got any balloons? or tennis balls? You could  have some kangaroo hopping time trials around the house – good exercise too! http://www.partygamespond.com/kangaroo-jump/
• Mak some pouches for your stuffed animal toys.
• This Australian animal movement dice might be simple fun: https://mothernatured.com/printables/wildlife-movement-dic/

Arts and crafts: 

• This looks VERY fiddly to cut out, but I’m going to give this folded kangaroo a go https://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/images-11/paper-folding-kangaroos-template.png and maybe get the kids colouring it and I can fold myself! 
• More kid friendly in terms of getting into doing, you could look at some Aboriginal art (maybe starting with this video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL6XL7tSAJg  then try doing some Aboriginal inspired dot-painting of our hands like this: https://artiswhatiteach.blogspot.com/2011/05/3rd-grade-australian-aboriginal-dot.html

Watching: 

• BBC Earth’s top 5 Australian Animals – bit of kangaroo boxing action to start, must warn you that it is a little bit violent thought…! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkeQLsoUE0
• Okay – this is a bit cuter and more relevant – not great quality video, but 3.5 minutes long and shows Joeys hopping into their mother’s pouches and some other weird kangaroo antics! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmp5D5PB9Sg&t=30s
• Eric Carle’s Kangaroo tale on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTgq16pnP08 (8.5 minutes) 

Reading:

• Here’s a written version of our story today: https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/how-kangaroo-got-her-pouch-0

Active:

• A Kangaroo Cosmic Yoga – yey! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGNHLzZhX6c

Educational (probably best for slightly older kids):

• Do a search for Australia on Twinkl for resources galore! 
• Also, I love a good ‘why something is the way it is’ story – can you write one yourself? Why does a dog wag it’s tale? Why does a cat meow? How did the hamster get such big cheeks?