Edward the Emu…Animal Charades (DIY games for kids)
This post originally appeared February 2012.
“Edward the Emu was sick of the zoo. Â There was nowhere to go, there was nothing to do.” Â I could recite the entire story to you right here and now.
I adore Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles and Rod Clement.  I also adore the super easy Animal Charades game I made to go with it.  Yippee for great duos.
Games for kids ~ Animal Charades
Edward the Emu is a fun story about an Emu who wants to be someone new. Â He travels through the zoo searching for an animal with a more exciting life than his own. Â Edward behaves just like the animals he is rooming with.
Making these cards was so easy… the kids were not interested in helping so I made them myself… but they could have done them with no problem.
I grabbed some zoo magazines and clipped pictures of several animals. Â (If you don’t have any zoo magazines, just print some pictures from online.) Â I was looking for smaller pictures, about 1 – 2 inches.
Then…
1.  Cut construction paper rectangles to use for the animal cards.
2. Â Glue one animal picture on each card.
3. Â Write the name of the animal below the picture (great pre reading practice!)
4. Â Use contact paper to cover the cards… if you want.
5. PLAY!
Animal Charades was so much fun we played it over and over.  (No pictures because I was laughing way too hard to hold the camera steady.)
To play Animal Charades
1. Â Pick someone to go first (or if you have a Little M… let her dictate the order.)
2. Â Look at the card… don’t let anyone see.
3. Â Act out the animal while everyone guesses.
That’s it.  So much fun.  We played so many times that I added a variation.  We brought out the drawing board and drew the animals instead of acting them out.  It was equally fun… and funny. 😉
What are your favorite DIY games for kids?
This post is a part of the Literature Lesson Plan.
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I love this ideas for the animal charades. What a great idea foran indoor winter activity. Thanks for the ideas!
You are welcome! I would love to know if you try it!
Thank you! I have this book in the classroom and love it! This is a fabulous activity to add with the story. 🙂
Isn’t it great! I bet Animal Charades would be so much fun in a classroom!
This is such a fun idea!!! I’m definitely doing this!
Jillian, This would be perfect for the collaborative Pinterest board I started on Learning With Literature. If you’d like me to add you as a pinner, just let me know. http://pinterest.com/creeksidelearn/learning-with-literature/
It’s a great way to share learning ideas and increase blog traffic.