Speak with your students, and ask for their help in creating an African savanna. Explain what it is, what it features and then provide reading material for them to research the environment. Show them pictures online or in magazines such as National Geographic.
Gather the things you'll need for the project. Set up an arts and crafts area of the classroom by joining tables into a large flat area.
Ask the kids to make elephant grass. This is long grass traditionally found in the African savanna. Cut long thin strips out of dark green cardboard, and then gather them together into clumps. Secure at the base using string, and then place the elephant grass along the edge of the room.
Create three or four Senegal Gum Acacia trees. First, print a picture of the leaves of the Senegal gum tree from blueplanetbiomes.org. Then, have the kids copy this onto the cardboard using the green and brown paints.
Cut around the leaves and attach them to the wooden pole using string. Simply make a hole on one end of the leaves using the point on the blade of the scissors. Thread a 10-inch length of string through the hole, and tie it around the diameter of the wooden pole.
Paint animal faces on the children with face paint so that they can be part of the savanna in the classroom. Paint a variety of creatures including elephants, lions, water buffalo and tigers to bring the room to life.
Add a large water hole in the corner of the classroom. Get a large plastic container and fill it with water.
Blow up the balloons and turn them into hippos. Do this by lightly covering the balloons in grey paint. Add specks of paint for the eyes too. Float them around in the water hole.
Clear away the arts and crafts table, and put educational magazines on the desks to inform the class about the African savanna they have created.