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Children’s books, crafts and activities

Monkey Puzzle Activities

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This week we’ve been reading Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, also published under the title Where’s My Mom?  The story takes the lost little monkey through the jungle with the help of a friendly butterfly. They meet lots of animals along the way until eventually the little monkey is reunited with his family. Learning to put together and remember a sequence is an important skill and helps children to develop their own abilities to tell stories and recount events. We made a felt board so that Burt could act out the story as we read it and then play with the characters to retell the story in his own words.

I used to love fuzzy felt when I was a little girl (all those years and years ago) and there is no trick to it. Felt naturally has lots of fibres and when you put two pieces of felt together they gently grip so that they stay together but can also easily be pulled apart. Felt is ideal for a story board as even little fingers can easily move characters around and you can buy it in lots of vibrant colours fairly cheaply.

Wheres My Mom by Julia Donaldson ActivitiesTo make the Monkey Puzzle Felt Board you will need:

  1. Cereal packet or cardboard
  2. Sticky tape
  3. Felt (we used brown, white, light green, dark green, black, grey, blue, red and yellow)
  4. Glue
  5. Sharp Scissors
  6. Permanent Marker Pen
  7. Monkey Puzzle Felt Board Template (see link below)

First I made the felt board. I cut one side from a cereal box and then I lay it on top of a large sheet of bright green felt.

Monkey Puzzle Activities

Then, using sticky tape, I folded the excess green felt over the edges of the cardboard and stuck it down. I then put duct tape over the top to secure it. You can cover the back in coloured card if you want to be really neat but as you don’t see the back of the felt board I didn’t think this was necessary. By folding the edges over you should hopefully have soft, neat edges.

Monkey Puzzle Activities

Then, I cut out the shapes in the  Monkey Puzzle Felt Board Template. I found that it was easier to glue the paper template to the felt, cut around the shape, then carefully peel the paper off immediately before it dried and stuck to the felt. You do need to be careful doing it this way, as if you have very thin felt you can stretch it or damage it when you peel the paper off. Alternatively, you can pin the shapes onto the felt and cut around them.

Monkey Puzzle Activities

Once you have cut out the basic shapes you can use any off-cuts of felt to add details and features to your animals, or you could use permanent marker pens. For example, I added facial features to the monkeys and some colour to the snake with small shapes of felt, simply stuck on with a glue stick. For eyes I cut out circles of white felt and then drew a dot in the centre with a Sharpie. Don’t stick your characters to the felt board as the idea is that your little ones can move the animals around and create their own stories.

Monkey Puzzle ActivitiesTogether on the felt board they all look pretty cute and before anyone comments, yes, I do know that the bat is bigger than the elephant and I am fine with that!

Monkey Puzzle Felt Board

Here is the little monkey with Mum, Dad and Butterfly.

Monkey Puzzle Felt Board

We even made a little green bush with some gorgeous little caterpillars.

Monkey Puzzle Felt Board

We started out with the caterpillars glued to the bush, but Burt really likes playing with the tiny caterpillars, so we also made separate ones.

Monkey Puzzle Felt Board

Once your felt board is ready you can lay all the characters out and ask your child to add the characters to the board as you meet them in the story. Before you turn the page there is always a clue as to which animal is next, so as you read you can guess what’s coming up next, add it to the felt board and then see if you are right! It is also great to let your child play with the felt board independently and retell the story in their own way. Make sure they have time without the book to play too and make up their own stories.

You can read more about the story that inspired us Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler or discover some more crafts and activities linked to the book.

Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson Activities

Have you been inspired by a book to craft, go on an outing or do an activity this week?

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Comments

  11. What a fabulous idea Kirsty! I love fuzzy felt (well did as a child!) so we must get some. Monkey Puzzle is a huge favourite too. These look brilliant, you’re a wizard when it comes to craft!
    Charly Dove recently posted…Frosty morningsMy Profile

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    • Thank you. Doing an activity based around a book is a great way to reinforce the story. I’m glad you are enjoying the crafts and the books too x

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    • It is a great activity Claire and the kids love guessing and choosing the right animal and popping it on the felt board. Plus the animals look so cute x

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  25. Absolutely brilliant! I love this idea. This has got me thinking about how I could use this with all sorts of our favourite stories! Thank you! :-)

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  38. What a brilliant idea! I love that book, and used to read it to my eldest ALL the time :)
    It looks like an excellent activity, and I am sure young kids would absolutely love it!
    Orli D recently posted…Food for MarchMy Profile

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