February 15 is Hippo Day. Here in Cincinnati, our unofficial mascot is Fiona the premature hippo. She lives at the Cincinnati Zoo and had it not been cold, we would have made the trip to visit her. I will include a picture at the end of the post of Jude with Fiona last summer when Jude was a baby.
To celebrate, we listened to hippo sounds. I love hippo sounds. If you asked any of my friends or their children what a hippo sounds like, they would be able to tell you. It's a noise I love to make. If you aren't sure what hippos sound like, here's a link.
I also made Jude a hippo habitat play tray. Jay and I were babysitting the cousins, so they played with us. I want to start introducing Jude to habitats early because I think its a nice way for him to understand more about an animal and experience a little about where they are from. I used shredded cucumber for grass and water. The hippo lives both in water and on land, so I made both for Jude to use to explore with his two wooden hippos.
Athena is my star student during play sessions. She told me that her hippo was swimming, and when I told her they don't swim but actually glide, she began gliding her hippo around. Athena asked a lot of questions when we played about where hippos live and what they are like in the wild. She really helps drive the conversation. She is a curious little girl and I love it!
After Jude went to bed, the four older kids watercolor painted hippos. I used a cardstock hippo to trace onto watercolor paper then let the kids use foam brushes to paint the hippos. They made a beautiful purple and blue mess. I cut the hippos out when they dried.
We finished out hippo day by making sun catcher hippos with just the two older children (Linc and Athena). I traced the hippo onto a laminate sheet and we filled the shape with tissue paper. I let them both cut their own tissue paper and place it. We laminated it and then I cut the shape of the hippo out. I cannot wait to put them in the playroom window tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment