Reptiles Rock
Description:
Children will make different reptiles with art materials. They will learn about environments that a variety of reptiles live in. Then they will create a diorama of the proper environment for their particular reptile.
Materials
Small round stones such as river rocks for each child
Construction paper
Paints
Crayons
markers
Plastic wiggly eyes (found in craft stores)
Glue
Shoebox for each child
Scissors
For younger children you may start off with a story book about reptiles. A good one is “The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book” by Jerry Pallotta. You will also need a few books about many different reptiles such as “More Reptiles Up Close” by David M. Nieves or “Eyewitness: Reptile” by Colin McCarthy. Any book at the children’s reading level that covers a large variety of different reptiles and their natural habitat will do.
You may let the children decide on a reptile included in the books, or you may assign each a reptile. Lizards and turtles make the best reptiles for this exercise (snakes are not as easy to make out of rocks.) Just make sure that you have habitat information on the reptiles chosen. If you do not have access to books, you may also print out information found on Reptiles Alive Animal Album
Click on a picture and detailed information about each animal will be displayed.
With art materials each child will make their chosen reptile out of a rock.
How to make rock reptiles
Cut out long rectangles or ovals with construction paper to use as legs. Legs are glued on the underside of the rock. Heads can be made with a triangle. Glue the very edge of the longest side of the triangle to the top edge of the rock. Tails may be made with really a long triangle glued like the head on the other side of the rock.
The rock reptiles may be decorated with paints, crayons, and markers. Eyes may be drawn on the heads with a marker or paints if you do not have googlie eyes.
Children must now find out what kind of habitat their rock reptile lives in. This could be the rainforest, wood forest, field, swamp, desert, or even the ocean. You may discuss particulars the particulars of each type of habitat with the class. A short guide to get you started on habitat discussion.
Some questions to ask for each habitat are:
Where do reptiles go when it gets to cold for them?
Where do they go to warm up?
Where can they hide?
Rainforest
Lots of huge trees, leaves do not change color, so many they block out the sunVery wet, hot, and humid
Not many plants growing on the ground
Wood Forest
Many different trees of different ages, leaves and seasons change
Lots of possible ground cover
Small meadows, streams
Not as wet or humid as the rainforest
Field
Lots of grasses, flowers, very few trees, possibly farmland
May be ponds or streams
Could it be windy here?
Change in seasons
Swamp
Ground is covered in water and mud everywhere
Trees, vines and plants grow out of the water
Very hot and humid
Desert
Hot during the day and cold at night
Very little water, humidity, and rain
Could have plants like cacti, and tufts of grass or scraggly trees
Or could mostly be sand and rocks
Ocean
Rocks and plants in the water
Very large place
Can reptiles live where the water is cold?
Only sea turtles and sea snakes live in the ocean
They must come to the surface to breathe
Now the children are ready to make a habitat for their rock reptile. Find out from the books where their species lives. Now decorate a shoebox as the animal’s habitat. Get creative with construction paper, paints or anything else.
Have the children keep in mind what actually exists in their habitat. Deserts don’t have a ton of trees and water, but swamps do.
They may even have fun thinking about the reptile’s needs. Do they need a rock to warm up on, a log to hide under, or a hole to hibernate in?
This is a great project to finish at home. Children can talk about what kind of reptile they made and where it lives. They may write about the reptile and where it lives and describe their diorama.