A Mom's Quest to Teach: Farm Animals

Friday, October 30, 2020

Book Club: Make Way for Ducklings

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One of the books that has been included in several of our homeschooling curricula has been Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. While using StoryTime Treasures from Memoria Press, we read through the book with our son. Then, we had the pleasure of reading Make Way for Ducklings again with God's Creation from A to Z from My Father's World with our daughter. After reading the book multiple times, I decided we should make a cute craft to go along with it, too.

When you let the kids play with googly eyes, you see what happens.

The Story

Make Way for Ducklings takes readers on a journey with Mr. and Mrs. Mallard as they plan where they are going to live and start a family of their own. The book offers many opportunities for children to practice their reading and rhyming as they learn the names of the ducklings – Jack, Kack, Lack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack. Parents can also discuss the importance of following traffic rules when crossing the street.

Text: Book Club: Make Way for Ducklings; A Mom's Quest to Teach; craft ducklings photo; clip art of duck footprints

What About Ducks?

Ducks are very interesting birds to study. We are fortunate that there are several lakes within a short driving distance that we can visit to see them in person. In the past, I have worked with ducks while working in education at a city zoo.

Ducks live in both fresh water and salt water
Male ducks are called drakes, female ducks are called hens, and baby ducks are ducklings
Depending on what types of food a duck eats, they may have to dive deeper into the water
Ducks have been domesticated and kept on farms or as pets for more than 500 years
Ducks are raised for their eggs, meat, and feathers
Ducks' feathers have a waterproof quality to them – hence the saying, "Let it roll off you, like water off a ducks' back."
In many species of ducks, the males and females have different feather colors and patterns

Materials

Blue, yellow, orange, white, and black construction paper
Glue sticks and white glue
Googly eyes (optional)
Scissors
Feathers (optional)

Steps

1. Gather all of your materials.

materials for craft - scissors, construction paper & book Make Way for Ducklings

2. Lay out all of the materials onto the blue construction paper (you will only need have a sheet of construction).

3. Glue the body of the duck onto the blue construction paper.

putting glue onto back of duck's construction paper body

4. Glue on the head of the duck onto the blue construction paper.

gluing on of head and duck of construction paper craft

5. Glue on the eyes. You can use googly eyes if you or your children wish.

head and body and eyes of construction paper duck

6. Glue on the beak and add the nostril.

7. If you are adding feathers, you can add them for the wings or tail.

If you have any favorite duck-themed crafts or children's books, please share in the comments!

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Crafts: S is for Sheep

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After working in the Children's Zoo at our local zoo, I have grown to love sheep and goats. I had the privilege of helping to look after them for several autumn months one year. As we are learning about farms and farm animals, I thought creating a sheep craft would be a perfect complement to our lessons.

Materials

Steps

1. Gather all materials. If your children are older, they can draw or trace a large letter S as the body for the sheep. Help them cut out your shapes if they are semi-proficient or proficient with scissors.