Cut armholes and a head hole in paper grocery bags. Place paint, crayons and markers on a table. Have the students decorate the grocery bags to make jungle safari vests. Have children use their hands as models for a second activity. Hand out a picture of a different jungle animal to each student. Lay out fabric remnants, different colored construction paper, paint, crayons, scissors, glue, dry leaves and grass on the floor or a table. Ask the children to trace one hand on a piece of white paper. Direct them to use the art supplies and materials to turn their hand into the animal in their picture. Encourage them to study the features and markings of the animal and use the grass and leaves to create the animal's habitat.
Gather the children into circle and sing a round of jungle-related songs, such as "I Went to the Jungle One Day," "Five Little Monkeys in a Tree," "I'm A Lion" and "Tigers and Lions." Use movement and sound effects to act out songs and have children mimic you as sing. For example, in the song, "Do You Know the Jungle Animals," you can role-play a snake, chimpanzee, wildebeest, crocodile and mountain lion. Take pauses in the song and use sound effects. Have children fill in the blanks in the song, "Down in the Jungle," when asked what animal they'd like to meet. Hand out empty oatmeal boxes with lids to serve as drums. Tap on the drum to accent a song. Ask the children to follow your tapping rhythms.
Sit the children down in a group and read jungle-related storybooks. Start with Walt Disney's "The Jungle Book" and introduce students to Mowgli and the story's colorful characters, which include Indian python Kaa, Baloo the fun-loving bear and King Louie and his band of monkeys. Choose books that have different animals as protagonists, such as "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth," "The Giraffe who Cock-a-Doodle-Doo'd" and "Roar," to make children aware of the biodiversity in a jungle. As they grow more familiar with the stories, turn the reading hour into a drama project. Ask the children what character they want to be in the story, and then ask them to act out their characters when you read the story again.
Spark the imagination of your students by going on a jungle safari. Have them draw different animals and then hang their pictures around the classroom. Give two toilet tubes to each student to make binoculars. Ask them to prowl around the room and find jungle animals. Create an obstacle course with tree branches. Dangle jump ropes over chairs as vines. Ask your children to navigate through the "jungle."