Integrate math into your monkey-themed curriculum with the classic chant, "Five Little Monkeys." Create pieces for a flannel board to correspond with this chant by printing out images of five monkeys and backing them with felt. Number each monkey one through five and arrange them on the board in numerical order. With each verse of the rhyme you and your students chant, remove a monkey from the board. After all of the monkeys have been removed from the board, ask students to help you put them back on the board by telling you which number monkey should go first, which should go second and so forth. Through this activity, students will practice counting to and from five.
During your monkey unit, discuss the habitat monkeys live in for a science activity. After you've discussed where monkeys live, encourage your students to illustrate pictures of monkey habitats. Provide children with construction paper, scissors, glue and crayons. Have them use the craft supplies to make jungle-like pictures, complete with trees, vines and monkeys. After students have created their pictures, invite them to share them with the class.
Turn paper plates into monkey masks. Cut eye holes in paper plates and distribute the plates to students. Instruct children to color the plates brown with marker or crayon. Have them also make a mouth and a nose on the paper plate with a marker or crayon. Cut two half circles from brown construction paper and glue them to the top of the paper plate as ears for the animal. Punch a hole in either side of the plates and string a piece of yarn through each hole. Use the yarn to tie the masks onto children's faces.
Provide children with gross motor development with this monkey activity. Talk about how monkeys move. Have students put on the masks they made in the previous activity and act out their best monkey moves. Encourage them to walk on all fours, to pretend they are swinging from vines and to jump around like monkeys. Invite them to make monkey sounds as they "monkey around" the classroom. In addition to promoting gross motor development, this activity also encourages creative thinking and imaginative play.