Well what a year its been! I hope you are all keeping well and staying safe.
This is my first activities blog since lockdown 1.0 and as many of my followers know, in the meantime I have been running virtual animal visits to schools and scout groups named after my original blog "Ranger Stu's Virtual Zoo".
These have been popular and a great way for me to continue doing the job I love!
As we in the South East have gone into Tier 4 i thought I would provide you all with some activities for you and your children to do during the holidays.
This is Part 1 and will cover some Christmas themed animals that you may or may not have heard of.
Part 2 of Ranger Stu's Holiday Blog will feature animals that hibernate (which I'm sure we could all do a bit of after this year !).
Below are 3 animals that are Christmassy, after each animal is a related craft to keep you all busy! Enjoy!
The Elf Owl
The elf owl is the worlds smallest owl only about the size of a sparrow and no it doesn’t live in the north pole but the south USA and Mexico!
Its most well known for nesting in cacti ! (not very elf and safety conscious in my opinion!) but they will also nest in other less spiny trees such as sycamores.
Thankfully they are not endangered but their main threat is being eaten by other birds and habitat loss, particularly in California due to the deserts being built on for housing.
Elf owl craft
These little elf owls are easy to make, cute and can even be placed on your Christmas tree just like an elf owl in the wild.
All you need is...
Toilet roll tube
Paper
Glue or tape
Scissors
Crayons or paint
Draw your owl's yellow eyes, beak and wings on to paper. Colour in the toilet roll with crayons or paint.
Pinch together one end of the toilet roll, these will be your owls ear tufts!
Cut out your owls eyes beak and wings and glue or tape them to the toilet roll.
If you wish you can decorate them using buttons or sequins too!
Christmas Tree Worm
Christmas Tree Worms are found in tropical oceans around the world!
They are about 1.5cm long and are a type of worm that’s fixed in place to a coral or clam by creating a calcium carbonate tube around their body.
When its inside the tube it can protect itself by closing the entrance which has spines around the top!
Its named for its multicoloured spirals (called radioles) that are used to feed and breathe through as gills.
They feed by filter feeding in the water using these brightly coloured spirals to catch microscopic organisms!
Make your own Christmas Tree Worm!
I am 99.9% sure that this is the only Christmas tree worm craft on the internet! My children and i had a great time making these.
All you need is...
Toilet roll tube
Paper
Kebab skewer
Tape
Scissors
Crayons or paint
Draw 3 circles on coloured paper (we used three different sized tins), colour in each circle as funky as you like!
Colour or paint your toilet roll tube as this will be the Christmas tree worms tube that it lives in, you could even add the spines around the edge of the tube.
Cut out the circles and get an adult to put them onto the kebab skewer (we used sellotape to hold each layer up.
Then cut into the paper circles using the scissors (not all the way to the centre however!), these are your Christmas worms gills!
Then tape the kebab skewer to the inside of the cardboard tube and there you have it a Christmas tree worm!
Put a few together and you now have a Christmas tree worm colony!
Reindeer
Rudolph and his wild cousins are found in Arctic and subarctic areas of the world.
When not helping Santa deliver his presents around the world on Christmas Eve, they spend their time migrating to find food!
Unlike most deer, both male and female reindeer have antlers and male reindeer have the largest antlers in relation to their body size of any deer alive today!
Although most reindeer don't have Rudolph's red nose their nose and skull shape are specialised to warm cold air before breathing it into their lungs!
How cools that!
Reindeer Craft
Another very easy (slightly messy) but fun craft... reindeer handprint!
All you need is...
Paper
Felt tip pens
Brown paint
Googly eyes (If you have them!)
Paint your child's hand with brown paint and press down with an open palm onto the paper.
Once dry, draw on some antlers, hooves, eyes (or stick on those googly eyes!) and a bright red nose.
Instant Rudolph!
We tried our reindeer hand prints in two different styles which both seemed to work well!
If you would like to share pictures of your activities that you have found then you can post pictures of your activities to my Facebook and Instagram or you can post them in the comments section below.
Enjoy, take care and stay safe.
Ranger Stu
Want to enjoy more Ranger Stu content?
Why not take a look at Ranger Stu's Virtual Zoo, live animals visiting your classroom, scout group or organisation virtually!
The great thing about Ranger Stu’s Virtual Zoo is that this can take place at any school or educational group within the U.K. or even the world!
Find out more on the link below and get in touch today for availability and pricing.
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