T he Blind Man and the Elephant - India
The Elephant and the Dog – Bhutan
Fearing the Wind - Indiahttp://spiritoftrees.org/fearing-the-wind
How the Elephant Got His Tusks - Africa
The Tortoise and the Elephant - Nigeria
The Tortoise Captures the Elephant - Africa
KidsParkZ – Story starters, elephant shapes and more for young children. http://www.kidsparkz.com/elephants.html
Shape Book from ABC Can Teach
Elephant Puppet – For ages 3 and up. Easy craft.
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/zoowildanimals/a/blelecraft2.htm
The White Elephant – A play for acting out the Indian folktale along with curriculum information.
http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/preschool_themes/elephants/elephant_songs.htm
Animal Hokey Pokey – Featuring the elephant and animals galore!
http://www.songsforteaching.com/jackhartmann/animalhokeypokey.htm
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| The Pearl of the Elephant by Edmund Dulac c. 1920 |
While researching upcoming holidays I found out that September 22 is Elephant Appreciation Day. The Ashanti of Ghana relate that an elephant is a human chief from the past. When they find a dead elephant in the forest, they give him a proper chief's burial.
The founder of this celebration is Wayne Hepburn, of Mission Media. It began when he received a paperweight of elephants on parade from his daughter as a gift. To learn more about his mission visit his website . You will find information, crafts, lesson plans and more!
My friend's son Jadiel adores elephants and is a frequent visitor at the Buttonwood Park Zoo to visit Emily the Elephant. Recently, I bought him a pink elephant watering can for his small raised garden at my sister's house. When I gave it to him he hugged it close and said, "I love elephants!"
So here is my new blog post for the week, in honor of sweet, kind and caring Jadiel, and his love for these magnificent creatures.
The founder of this celebration is Wayne Hepburn, of Mission Media. It began when he received a paperweight of elephants on parade from his daughter as a gift. To learn more about his mission visit his website . You will find information, crafts, lesson plans and more!
My friend's son Jadiel adores elephants and is a frequent visitor at the Buttonwood Park Zoo to visit Emily the Elephant. Recently, I bought him a pink elephant watering can for his small raised garden at my sister's house. When I gave it to him he hugged it close and said, "I love elephants!"
So here is my new blog post for the week, in honor of sweet, kind and caring Jadiel, and his love for these magnificent creatures.
- The elephant is the largest land mammal in the world.
- Both males and females have tusks, but the males tend to be larger.
- The gestation period for a female elephant is 22 months!
- Other females in the herd are protective toward all newborn elephants.
- Baby elephants are always in the middle of the herd for protection.
- The cool themselves down elephants will pump more blood to its ears and flap them around.
- They have children up to fifty years old.
- The elephant's trunk has over 100,000 muscles units.
- They can live up to 70 years old or more.
The above information was found at the following website:
http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/about_elephants.htm http://www.travelbutlers.com/safari/wildlife-guide/elephant.asp
STORIES
And Elephants Did Fly - Southern Orissa, India
The Elephant and the Dog – Bhutan
The Elephant and the Mahout – Magadha/Ancient India
Elephant and Tortoise – South AfricaFearing the Wind - Indiahttp://spiritoftrees.org/fearing-the-wind
How the Elephant Got His Tusks - Africa
The Tortoise and the Elephant - Nigeria
The Tortoise Captures the Elephant - Africa
The Elephants Nose – India
Story-lovers.com – More elephant information than you can shake your trunk at!
BOOKS
The Best Kid’s Booksite – A list of books suitable for children, all featuring elephants.
http://www.thebestkidsbooksite.com/storydetails.cfm?TopicID=67
CURRICULUM
The Blind Man and the Elephant
(story above)
http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/lesson-plans/blind-men-and-elephant/
The Elephant Sanctuary – Two units focusing on the study of elephants offering teaching and learning activities for children grades K-8 consisting of 72 pages of instruction, background information, charts and graphs, activities, etc. http://www.elephants.com/curriculum.php
(story above)
http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/lesson-plans/blind-men-and-elephant/
The Elephant Sanctuary – Two units focusing on the study of elephants offering teaching and learning activities for children grades K-8 consisting of 72 pages of instruction, background information, charts and graphs, activities, etc. http://www.elephants.com/curriculum.php
KidsParkZ – Story starters, elephant shapes and more for young children. http://www.kidsparkz.com/elephants.html
Shape Book from ABC Can Teach
CRAFTS
Danielle’s Place of Crafts and Activities – Lots of fun, easy to make elephant crafts.
http://daniellesplace.com/html/ElephantCrafts.htmlElephant Puppet – For ages 3 and up. Easy craft.
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/zoowildanimals/a/blelecraft2.htm
READER’S THEATER
The White Elephant – A play for acting out the Indian folktale along with curriculum information.
RHYMES, SONGS AND FINGERPLAYS
Animal Rhymes
http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/animal-rhymes.htm
Perpetual Preschool – Elephant Songs
Perpetual Preschool – Elephant Songs
Animal Hokey Pokey – Featuring the elephant and animals galore!
http://www.songsforteaching.com/jackhartmann/animalhokeypokey.htm
POEM
Storyteller Susi
Wolf generously shared this poem with me; I share it here with her permission.
THE BLIND ELEPHANT
by Susi Wolf
There once was a female elephant
Who was strong and clever.
But one day
She became quite ill and even though
She recovered she was now blind.
Being a survivor,
She learned to walk slowly
Using her trunk as a guide for every step.
She taught herself how to eat,
How to cross rivers
How to be independent
Within her own world of darkness.
The other elephants noticed that
All the young elephants stopped following
Their own mothers and were now following
The blind female.
The herd grumbled among itself
About why the foolish youngsters would
Follow a blind creature
Until an old male spoke,
“Have you not noticed
How she moves
Through the forest with
Confidence and strength?
She walks with dignity and determination.
Who would not follow such a leader?”
And the other elephants were silent,
Letting their youngsters go.
Copyright, © February 2007, Susi Wolf
by Susi Wolf
There once was a female elephant
Who was strong and clever.
But one day
She became quite ill and even though
She recovered she was now blind.
Being a survivor,
She learned to walk slowly
Using her trunk as a guide for every step.
She taught herself how to eat,
How to cross rivers
How to be independent
Within her own world of darkness.
The other elephants noticed that
All the young elephants stopped following
Their own mothers and were now following
The blind female.
The herd grumbled among itself
About why the foolish youngsters would
Follow a blind creature
Until an old male spoke,
“Have you not noticed
How she moves
Through the forest with
Confidence and strength?
She walks with dignity and determination.
Who would not follow such a leader?”
And the other elephants were silent,
Letting their youngsters go.
Copyright, © February 2007, Susi Wolf
Karen Chace 2011 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled
by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either
electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written
permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you
wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or
Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and
personal integrity.
