Categories: LIFESTYLE

Marvelous Monkey Lesson Plan Ideas for Pre-K Teachers

Have you been asked to pen a monkey themed lesson plan for your Pre-K students? Are you in need of a few ideas to help fill in your current list of activities? If so, you may want to check out the following suggestions:

Geography

Why not begin the unit by placing a map of the world onto your classroom’s bulletin board and using pictures of various monkeys to mark where they may be found. For example, you could place pictures of howler monkeys and pygmy marmoset monkeys on the shape of South America. The kids may find both species of monkeys interesting because of their unique characteristics. One is very loud and the other is very small.

Science

Continue the discussion by explaining the basic characteristics of the monkeys that you placed onto the map. You could talk about the animal’s diet, life cycle, method of ambulation and anatomy. The Enchanted Learning website has a diagram of a howler monkey’s basic anatomy that you may find beneficial in that regard. Color photos and additional information about howler monkeys is also available on the National Geographic Kids website. As far as the pygmy marmosets go, you can find information and color photos about them on the PBS Nature and Bronx Zoo websites.

Of course you could also take a moment to talk about the monkeys that have participated in NASA’s space program over the years. You can find information about those animals posted on the NASA History and NPR websites. There have been various children’s books written about the topic as well. However, most are geared towards an older audience. One of them is Richard Hilliard’s book “Ham the Astrochimp.”

Physical Education

Once the children learn about how monkey’s balance on branches and ambulate, you may want to have them engage in a physical activity. One great way to do that is to place a strip of duct tape onto the floor. Then ask each child to pretend that they are monkeys and the tape line is a branch. Next, let each child walk, hop and jump along the length of the tape line. Remind them that it is a branch, so their feet must stay on the tape line. Otherwise, they could fall to the jungle floor below.

Language Arts

Lastly, you may also want to teach the children how to write the letter “m” and the word “monkey.” The First School WS website has basic letter “m” handwriting sheets that you could use for such an activity. The Twisty Noodle website is also an excellent resource. It has a series of monkey themed handwriting worksheets that will help the children write the word “monkey” as well as entire sentences. Examples of entire sentences include “I Saw a Monkey at the Zoo” and “The Mother Monkey Has a Baby.”

Afterward, you may want to use pictures of various monkeys as part of an “opposites” activity. For example, you could compare a pygmy marmoset (small) to a mandrill (large). The Scholastic website has a Flash Card Maker program that you could use to make the cards.

Source: Personal Experience