Zebra

The zebra is a wild animal of South Africa, closely related to the wild ass and the horse, and having habits similar to those of the latter. It is grayish or cream-white in color, and is conspicuously marked with dark stripes on head, legs and body. 

       In Africa zebra-hunting was once a popular sport. Native people once ate the flesh of zebras and used their hides for leather and as rugs. Until recent times great herds of zebras were common in Southern Africa; today the animals are rare. The zebra most frequently seen in Africa and in menageries.

Learn More About Zebras From The Web:

• Habitat loss and competition with livestock threaten plains zebras
• 17 Things You Didn't Know About Zebras

A paper jointed zebra toy for students to print, cut and assemble.

How to arrange objects according to size?

Animal stacking blocks for
 developing seriation skills.

       Arranging objects or pictures according to size is important for cognitive development. This process is referred to as seriation skill in the early learning classroom environment. There are a number of advantages for learners who excel at this skill:

• Students are better prepared for learning mathematics such as: the order of numbers, fractions, addition and subtraction.
• Processes in logical thinking become developed, such as: predicting outcomes, understanding relationships between objects, and making assumptions that can be analyzed.

       Toy companies have been making products for babies for years that encourage even infants to practice seriation skill sets. I've included photos here of an animal box set that I keep among the toys in my home.

• Basic Math Skills in Child Care: Creating Patterns and Arranging Objects in Order
• Making the Most of Math in Early Childhood by the University of Nevada (PDF)
• Teaching Preschool Math - Learn All About It!

My alphabet, animal stacking blocks are stacked according to size.

These elephants with big tusks and long trunks were fun for little ones to arrange from large, to larger, to largest etc...

         Above and below are black and white prints of elephants and rhinos of varying size that I printed, cut and laminated for my classroom several years of ago and these are still in great condition. The laminated surfaces allowed me to wipe them off with a cleanser of some sort before using them over again during many different class periods. Pre-k teachers can make multiple sets of images such as these for youngsters to line up in order of size with only a bit of pocket change.

Students practiced arranging rhinos according to size in my classroom several years ago.

       Below are wild animal clip art samples that visitors may use to make their own personal sets like the projects shown above. Pull the clip art into a Word Document and shrink or enlarge the beasts in order to have prints like the ones you see in my examples. I managed to print six different sizes using standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch typing paper. Start with the largest size and then scale the images down by dragging the corners of each image down to a slightly smaller version of the same image.

A tufted ape clip art image.

A giant sea turtle clip art image.

A striped zebra clip art image.

       "A preschool student stacks cups to organize them by size. View more at earlymath.erikson.edu
       Focus on the Child videos are taken from one-on-one interviews with individual children. The interviews are designed to elicit evidence of children's mathematical thinking. They are not teaching episodes or formal assessments."

Restored Antique Alphabet Prints

      These restored antique alphabet prints would look charming in a child's nursery/bedroom or a homeschool classroom. I've cleaned and restored them for your next alphabet craft. Enjoy and read the Terms of Use before printing them out.

The above image for pinning please.

A was and Apple, an Archer, an Arrow. B was a Bird, Bear and a Barrow.

C for Cat and D for Dish, E for an Elephant, F for a Fish.

G for Goose and Ha for Ham, I for an Inn and J for Jam.

K for Kite and L for Light. M for the Moon and N for Night. O for Owl and P for Prattle,
Q for the Queen and R for Rattle.

S for Ship and T for Tap, U for an Urn and V for Vat. W for Windmill, for Watch & Wren,
 X stands in English for no word but ten.

Y is for Yew, for Youth and for Yeast, Z is for Zebra a beautiful beast.

More Restored Alphabet Print by Kathy Grimm:

• A Bible Alphabet from Thrifty Scissors
• A Noah's Ark Alphabet at Easter Egg Crafts
• Animal Alphabet Flash Cards at The Crayon Palace