Swinging Monkeys

Our paper monkeys are busy swinging with their friends in the tree by our reading corner. 

Click here for a blackline master of our monkeys. We folded strips of paper to make the monkeys arms and legs, the folding encouraged use of those fine motor skills. Of course, colouring and cutting are always great to practise, and the tail is just a curly strip of paper that we wrapped around a pencil. Our swinging paper monkeys are hanging out with these alphabet monkeys.

We have also been reading this monkey poem. And we have been learning to write a report about monkeys. We wanted to be able to tell someone information about monkeys that they might not know. I encouraged the children to think of what sport a monkey would be great at (to relate our writing back to our Olympic Inquiry unit), most children compared monkeys to gymnasts, but one clever boy said that "Monkeys were like basketball players when they hang from a hoop".

Here are some of our reports:

Monkeys are animals. Monkeys eat fruit, they swing on trees. Monkeys scratch. Monkeys eat bananas. Monkeys have brown fur. Monkeys have brown furry arms and legs. They have black eyes. They scratch under their arms. Monkeys go high over the bars like gymnasts.

Monkeys are animals. They bite bananas. Monkeys live in zoos. Monkeys do poo’s. Monkeys would be good at gymnastics.

Monkeys are animals. Monkeys like to eat bananas and feijoas. Monkeys swing from vine to vine. Monkeys have brown fur and long arms and legs. They use them to hang on to things. They have black eyes and a long tail too. They live in the jungle and the zoo. Monkeys are good at gymnastics like people. 

Monkeys are animals. They like bananas and fruit. Monkeys have brown fur. They have sharp teeth. Monkeys are like gymnasts, because they are good at swinging.