Our Reception children have been on an exciting African safari adventure this week!

We have been learning about the amazing animals that live in Africa and comparing them with the animals we are more likely to see in the UK. The children enjoyed sorting different animals into UK and Africa groups, discussing where they live and what makes them special.

In our creative area, we explored the beautiful patterns found on African animals, creating our own animal pattern artwork inspired by animals such as giraffes and zebras.

During our maths learning, we practised counting collections of African animals, helping to develop our ability to count beyond 20. 

We also became animal experts! 🦒 We discovered lots of fascinating facts about giraffes, including:

• They can sleep standing up.
• Their long necks help them reach tasty leaves high up in the trees.
• Every giraffe has its own unique pattern of patches.
• They only sleep for short periods of time.
• They bend their knees to drink water from the ground.
• They can run at speeds of around 35 mph!

We were equally amazed by elephants! 🐘 We learned that:

• They use their long trunks to spray water and throw mud over themselves to help keep cool down.
• They are the largest land mammals on Earth.
• Their enormous ears help them stay cool and communicate with one another.

It has been wonderful to see the children's curiosity grow as they explored the incredible wildlife of Africa through stories, art, maths and discussion.