The mixed-up friends craft serves as an icebreaker to help new students get to know each other. Begin by taking full body pictures of every student in your class. Provide each student with five images of five different classmates. The students will then cut out each person to mix and match their classmates’ body parts. When finished, each student presents their mixed-up classmates while the other students try to guess which parts match which student in the classroom. The teacher may then hang the pictures up for display around the classroom.
Printouts are available of the “Mixed-Up Chameleon” which allow students to mix and match different animal parts with a chameleon body. Print out the images of the chameleon (see Resources) with different animal body parts such as an elephant’s head and a flamingo’s legs. Provide each student with the animal parts and construction paper to serve as the background. Have each student create their own mixed-up chameleon and then present them to the rest of the class. Teachers can display the students' projects around the room with other artwork.
After reading “The Mixed-Up Chameleon,” have the students create pictures of animals using different types of camouflage abilities. Provide students with cutouts in the shapes of various animals such as an elephant, horse and lion. Next, give each student construction paper in the color of various animals and have the students place the cutouts over the construction paper backgrounds. Allow the students to come up with different combinations, such as an elephant with zebra stripes. After the activity, explain how animals such as the chameleon use camouflage to evade their predators while in the wild.
The main story in “The Mixed-Up Chameleon” is how the main character wishes he could be a different type of animal. Have the students close their eyes and imagine themselves as a different type of animal. Provide a picture of a boy or girl to each student. Give the students old magazines and other available pictures of animals. Instruct the students to cut out the different body parts of animals and glue them to the pictures. Each student must create a name for her new human/animal hybrid and present it to her classmates.