Giraffes Can't Dance? Our Giraffe Puppet Crafts Can

In connection with momstown's luau education theme last month, we learned the hula dance, the limbo, and practiced other "tropical" dance moves such as the swimmer, complete with the requisite nose plug twist.  After all, what is a luau (or any kind of good party) without a little dancing? 

In keeping with the tropical dance theme, our Scholastic Canada sponsored Tales for Tots book of the month was Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees.  Giraffes Can't Dance is an adorable story about Gerald, a giraffe who wants to participate in the annual jungle dance.  Gerald does not seem to be a natural dancer, and the other animals in the forest tease him until he leaves the party.  On the way home, he encounters a friendly cricket who encourages him to see the music and beauty in everything around him, and to dance to the beat of his own tune.  Gerald takes the cricket's advice, and as he begins to dance for the pure joy of it, the other animals take notice and realize that Gerald's unique dance skills make him especially talented and special. 

Told in lyrical rhyme with funny words like "boogie" that are sure to make preschoolers laugh, Giraffes Can't Dance has been a hit both at my house, and in our group. The text easily held the attention of all of the kids in our group.  The accompanying bright, colourful, comical and detailed illustrations add an extra layer of interest to the book, and would be perfect for all sorts of learning at home. C. (26 months) and I have enjoyed activities such as spotting the hippopotamus, or counting the number of rhinoceroses on a page of the book.  These qualities alone make it an excellent choice for any home library, but I especially appreciated the valuable message of the book: that differences are something to be celebrated, and that each of us has own own unique and special set of skills and talents. Grace (and mom Andrea) were the lucky winners of our book this month: fitting since Grace had just celebrated her second birthday a week earlier, and is set to become a big sister shortly. The book was certainly enjoyed and appreciated by its recipient: 

Books and crafts go hand and hand at momstown Calgary, and so to accompany our dancing giraffe story, we made our own dancing giraffe puppets.  This project is perfect for almost any age range from babies to kindergarten kids and beyond.  Babies can use finger paints to add the spots on the giraffe, while preschoolers and older children can practice cutting and gluing, and explore their creativity by creating more complex designs on their giraffes, and staging puppet and dance shows with them after.

Here's what you need to make your own toilet paper tube giraffe puppet:

• an empty toilet paper roll tube
• yellow construction paper (or paint)
• brown paint (or brown construction paper)
• googlie eyes
• 2 small pieces of brown pipe-cleaner (or brown construction paper)
• brown or black marker
• scissors and glue or tape

1. Trim a piece of yellow construction paper so that it is the same length as the tube, and covers the tube completely when it is rolled around it.  Glue or tape construction paper to tube:

2. Draw the giraffe's head on a separate sheet of yellow construction paper.  Glue on googlie eye, and use a marker to add a nose and mouth. Cut out and glue to top of paper tube: 

3. Cut an ear shape out of a scrap of yellow construction paper, and glue or tape to the backside of the giraffe's head. Twist the top ends of each pipe cleaner around a few times to form the bumps on the giraffe's horns.  Attach the pipe-cleaner horns to the back of the giraffe's head with tape or glue.

4. Dip your finger into the brown paint, and add dots all over your giraffe. Alternatively, for a less messy option you could cut spots out of brown construction paper and glue those onto the giraffe.

5. Once your giraffe is dry, insert a few fingers (or, if you have really small hands, your whole hand), into the bottom of the paper tube, and let your giraffe dance just like Gerald!