- Monkey masks allow kids to enjoy coloring a picture and play pretend. To make, measure the size of the children's faces so you have an idea how large your drawings need to be. Draw a monkey face out on a piece of paper to make the monkey mask. Leave a large area for the children's mouth and eyes. Have the drawing photocopied onto paper sheets. Pass the mask out to the children and have them decorate and color in the monkey faces. When they are finished, collect them and cut them out. Glue a ribbon or string to each side of the mask. Have the children line up as you tie the masks to their faces.
- For a quick craft to illustrate snakes and to provide an opportunity to teach about reptiles, make snakes out of paper plates. Lay out paper plates and paint. Let the children paint the plates all kinds of colors and add different patterns, make sure they paint both front and back of the plates. When the children are done painting, set the plates aside and let them dry for an hour. At this time, tell them about snakes and reptiles. When the plates are dried start cutting into the plates, spiraling and turning the plate until you're about 4 inches toward the center of the plate. Draw two eyes and the shape of a snake's head in the center of the plate, pass out the snakes to the kids and let them play with their new serpent friends.
- Interact with kids in a whole new way by making a paper bag puppet. Make a pile of paper bags with at least one paper bag per child. Draw out different appendages and features of zoo animals onto colored construction paper. You could make black stripes for zebras, spots for leopards, a gray trunk for elephants and pink feathers for flamingos. Cut out the different animal parts and place them in a pile next to the bags. Let the children use the animal parts to build their own paper bag puppets by glueing the different parts to the bags. Let them think of different ideas and guide them to the matching parts. When the puppets are done, let them put on a puppet show displaying their new animals.
- You can get crafty while teaching kids about zebras. Find photos of white horses online and print them out on plain computer paper. Draw stripes in different sizes and shapes on a sheet of black construction paper. Cut them out and place them in a pile. Let the children use the black stripes and glue them to the horse print outs, making their own custom zebras. Bring it to the next level by letting them use different color stripes to make rainbow zebras.
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