Welcome to our “Extinct Animal Week” – an at home camp filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to learning about animals that once lived on this Earth! For this day, we learned all about the famous Tasmanian Tiger – not to be confused with the Tasmanian Devil! Read on to check out a fun filled day of learning, reading, crafts, and activities all on the amazing Tasmanian Tigers!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 Our relaxed & learning fun day kicks off with an introduction to the day’s theme. Then, we move onto videos and themed activities (reading, writing – or story telling – time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments). Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
Tasmanian Tigers, not to be confused with Tasmanian Devils, have not been made into popular kid cartoons or movies, so it’s possible that your little ones are not as familiar with them If not, these sites are great for quick facts or intros.
- Facts for Kids about Tasmanian Tigers by Brisbane Kids
- Thylacine facts for kids by Kiddle
- 10 Incredible Tasmanian Tiger Facts by AZ Animals
WHAT TO WATCH
We find that mixing in a short video themed to our day is a great way to add some learning fun! We try to pick informative videos OR mix in a cartoon favorite (where they don’t even realize they’re learning). Below are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- Wild Kratts S3E26 Back in Creature Time: Tasmanian Tiger
- THYLACINE – Full history, Extinction, Sightings, De Extinction by All About Science
- What We Know About The Legendary Tasmanian Tiger by Insider Science
FOOD CRAFTS / SNACKS
What’s more fun than taking a break and having a simple snack??? Including the snack in your theme of the day! We find that our kiddos are more than happy to eat the snacks they create especially when they can arrange them into fun shapes and scenes!
For our snack of the day, we couldn’t find anything related to Tasmanian Tigers, but ended up snacking on a cereal with a famous (not Tasmanian) tiger on it – Frosted Flakes!
READING
It’s no secret that reading is an important part of learning, which is why we pick out a handful of books that are fun and filled with some learning tidbits. For our older ones, we have them fill out some worksheets (or let them create some of their own comics) to describe what they read and/or learned! These are a few we picked from for the day:
- The Magnificent Book of Extinct Animals by Barbara Taylor
- Tasmanian Tiger by Marion and Steve Isham
- Facts about the Tasmanian Tiger by Lisa Strattin
- The Dream of the Thylacine by Margaret Wild
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing is a great way to keep kids learning by both encouraging their creativity and thought process as well as helping them practice their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: EXTINCT, TASMANIAN TIGER, THYLACINE
If you’ve got older children, have them write a sentence or two up to a page or two (depending on their age). Encourage them to be creative AND give reasons for why they made certain choices. This was our writing prompt of the day (and we offered up some examples as well) but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- If you found a Tasmanian Tiger in the wild for the first time, would you call it a tiger? Do you think it looks more like a different animal?
- Tasmanian Tigers have pouches just like kangaroos for their young. Imagine being a baby Tasmanian Tiger snuggled in a pouch. What would go through your mind as your mother tiger went about her day?
CREATE & CRAFT
If you’ve got a crafty little one, a simple craft is a great way to keep them interested in the topic. While their creative juices are flowing, you can also chat about what they’ve learned so far or ask them what else they’re excited about learning!
For our crafts of the day, we gave them a few options that would help them enhance their pretend play or add in some of what they learned:
- Tasmanian Tiger Coloring Pages by Super Coloring
- Extinct Animals Coloring Page: Thylacine by Education.com
STEM & STEAM ACTIVITIES
While crafting and writing get their creativity and imagination flowing, we also like to add in an activity that gets them thinking along the lines of science, technology, engineering, or math! These engaging activities or experiments are a great way to keep them learning!
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for checking out our at home learning fun article! If you enjoyed this post, please let us know what you think in the comments below and/or follow us on Pinterest
Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of our Learn and Play: Animal Activities, Nature Camps, as well as our DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
