Animal Homes is a nature award. The purpose of this award is to teach your Eager Beavers about animals in general and one animal, of your choosing, in specific. Our Beaver Puppet (Bucky) enjoyed co-teaching this award. I’ve included her conversations with the Eager Beaver teacher just in case your beaver puppet needs a little inspiration.
Story: Animal Homes
Of the pile of books I checked out from my library, two stood out as especially wonderful. I like them both so much, I couldn’t choose just one! (The second book is at the end of this post.) A book is not required for this award, however, if you can fit one in, it will add value to your meeting. Animal Homes by Shira Evans is filled with full color photographs. There is only a small amount of text on each page making it a fast read.
Craft: What is a Home?
Fulfills Requirement # 1-2
Teacher: What is a home?
Bucky the Beaver: I live in a beaver lodge on a lake. Do humans live in a cozy pile of sticks?
Kids: noo
Bucky the Beaver: Where do you live?
Draw and color a picture of your house.
All you need for this simple craft is a piece of paper and some drawing utensils – and a creative kid, of course! However, I do have a printable for this activity for you. Before you set the kids loose to draw their home, have a short conversation about what a home is (to fulfill requirement #2).
Game: Animal Search and Match
Fulfills Requirements # 3-4
Teacher: Animals have all kinds of different homes! Does anyone know how animals know how to build their home?
Bucky the Beaver: I know! I know! God gave me the knowledge and understanding of what kind of home I need and how to build it. Kinda like how he gave human babies the knowledge and ability to cry!
Teacher: That’s right, Bucky. There are pictures on the table of five different kinds of homes. Some of the homes were made by the animal who lives there, one was made by humans, and one isn’t what we typically think of as a “house”!
Teacher: There are animals hiding around the room. Find one of each of the five animals and help them find their home.
I hid pictures of animals around the room for the kids to find and return to their homes. I printed one set of animals per Eager Beaver and one set of homes for the class to share. The printables are in the pdf at the end of this post.
Watch a Robin
Fulfills Requirement # 5a
For requirement #5, you can choose any animal you’d like. The recommended animal is the Beaver, for obvious reasons! However, since we just learned about beavers and their homes, I chose a different animal. I found a very short video of a robin for the kids to watch.
Craft: Color a Robin
Fulfills Requirement # 5b
This simple coloring page is in the printable pack at the end of the post.
Craft: Make a Nest
Fulfills Requirement # 5c
Some animals build their nests out of objects they find. Birds often weave in pieces of plastic, gum wrappers, yarn, grass clippings, leaves, and twigs to make their homes.
The nest craft is from the Eager Beavers Leader’s Guide. The nest is in the back of the guide and ready for you to photocopy. I cut short pieces of yarn in several shades of brown – “twigs”, in green – “grass”, and in bright random colors – “plastic”, “gum wrappers”, “leaves”, and yarn. Most of the yarn is brown since most of the nest would be made from twigs. We spread white glue on the nest and added the yarn to it. We encouraged the kids to cut the yarn into smaller pieces (My short pieces were way too long and this is an excellent opportunity to practice scissor skills.)
This is really a “process” craft. The end result will likely be kinda messy, and the best part of the craft is the doing part. Please don’t stress about the end result. Our Eager Beavers got really into this craft and took most of a meeting to create their nests. I have included a photo of a bird’s nest in the printables to show the Eager Beavers a nest before they begin creating their own.
Story: Where Do I Sleep
I am completely charmed by Where do I Sleep?: A Nature Lullaby by Jennifer Blomgren. The rhyming text is a delight to read aloud. Each verse is written from the perspective of a baby animal. Andrea Gabriel’s illustrations are calm and peaceful. I love the wide variety of animals mentioned in this book from sea anemones to bats to eagles and puffins.
Animal Homes Award Printables
What animal do you choose to learn about when you teach this award? I’m so curious what other clubs do! Please leave a comment and tell me about it.