Book Club: Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill

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We are talking about flamingos as part of our art study, so we picked out Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill by Jamie Harper from our library.

While the book's real focus is Fire Safety Week, it also provides lots of information regarding the different animals in the classroom and their reaction to danger.

I think my daughter's favorite pages were those that discussed primary versus secondary routes because there was a map with a legend. She wanted to find each location on the map before we continued the story.

The book talks about pandas, elephants, birds, alligators, flamingos, proboscis monkeys, koalas, hognose snakes, pigs, octopi, and three-banded armadillos.  For example, the author provides details on how the koala howls and wails when they are upset and startled pigs run and hide when they are frightened.

Among the fire safety tips included is that of "Stop! Drop! and Roll!" My children enjoyed us taking a break from reading the book and acting it out on the floor.

Flamingo Activities 

Flamingos are really interesting birds due to some unique features.  They are not born pink but instead gain the pink color to the feathers due to the food they eat. The pink color comes from beta carotene, a red-orange pigment, that is found in high quantities in the food that flamingos eat: shrimp, algae, plankton, and larvae found in the wetlands. 

Another unique feature is the design of the flamingo's beak. The curve of their beak and neck allows them to dip their beak into the water and mud scooping up water, mud, shrimp, algae, and other possible foods.  They have a built in filtration system which allows them to remove the water while keeping the food in their mouth. They are filter feeders similar to whales who use their baleen to capture shrimp in their mouths. The flamingos use their lamellae, thin platelike structures, to filter their food. These structures are found lining their mandibles.

Beads and Buttons Craft 

Materials 

• Cardboard (I used recycled cereal boxes) 
• Image or drawing of a flamingo
• Scissors
• White glue
• Craft glue
• Red, white, pink paint
• Paintbrushes
• Pom-poms
• Buttons
• Beads
• Crayons 

Steps 

1. Gather your materials. We made our own flamingos with mixed media.

2. I drew a profile of a flamingo on cardboard and cut it out.

3. Paint your flamingos pink.

 4. After they were dry we glued pom-poms, buttons, and beads onto the flamingos.

Flamingo Mask 

Materials 

• Cardboard
• Flamingo mask 
• Craft glue
• White glue
• Scissors
• Paintbrushes
• White, red, pink paint
• Crayons 
• Feathers 
• Markers 

Steps

1. Gather all the materials.

2. I found a flamingo mask on MaskSpot.com and traced it onto cardboard.

3. We painted the masks pink using things other than just paintbrushes.

4. After the masks were dry, I cut out eyes, so they could be used as masks.

5. We drew the beak using markers.

6. My children then glued on their feathers.

7. After the glue has dried, the masks were ready for my children to play with them.

In a future post, I will share some craft ideas for teaching about Fire Safety.

Fire Safety Week Resources 

Sand In My Toes' Busy Hands: Fire Truck Shape Craft 
My Mommy Style's Letter of the day: F is for Fire
The Stuff We Do's Fire Safety Week
Homechool Preschool's Fun and Fabulous Firefighter Printables for Preschoolers

Flamingo Resources 

Glued To My Crafts' Handprint Flamingo Painting 
Glued To My Crafts' Popsicle Stick Flamingo
Crafty Morning's Easy Handprint Flamingo Craft for Kids 

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