None of the snake books we read were truly amazing, but some weren't bad.
Snakes! by David T. Greenberg was a huge hit with my children. I thought it was disturbing.
My children also really liked Class Two at the Zoo by Julia Jarman much more than I did.
Amazing Snakes! by Sarah L. Thomson was a great intro to snakes. It is an early reader so the text is limited--perfect for my younger children.
The rest of the books my son Cowen loved, but the other children didn't as much. I think it is because all the snake books discuss the same things--the expandable jaw, for instance. Miriam was done with snakes after the first three books but Cowen wanted me to read every single snake book I brought home from the library. I indulged him because although I find snakes creepy, I don't find snuggling up to my son creepy.Cowen's favorites include Animals of the Rainforest: Anacondas by Christy Steele.
He also liked Sea Snakes by Colleen Sexton.
And Taipans by Doug Wechsler.
After reading through the snake books, we made a snake. This is a great craft. It requires you to save a great many toilet paper rolls, but it is worth it.
First, cut the toilet paper rolls in half. Then divide the halves amongst your children. I wanted the kids to have plenty of time to paint so they made rather long snakes. Cowen wanted to make an anaconda. It required a lot of sections.
Then, let the kids paint the toilet paper rolls however they want their snakes to look. None of my children made a pattern but I'm sure older kids would have.
Then we attached the pieces together with yarn, added googly eyes (those things are invaluable) and a forked tongue (that my hubby made). Voila! A fantastic snake.
You can find the directions here. You'll notice we didn't follow the directions. I thought using construction paper was way too fussy. We did, however, tie the snakes together with yarn on the top and bottom of each tube. That helped keep it from getting all tangled together.
First, cut the toilet paper rolls in half. Then divide the halves amongst your children. I wanted the kids to have plenty of time to paint so they made rather long snakes. Cowen wanted to make an anaconda. It required a lot of sections.
Then, let the kids paint the toilet paper rolls however they want their snakes to look. None of my children made a pattern but I'm sure older kids would have.
Then we attached the pieces together with yarn, added googly eyes (those things are invaluable) and a forked tongue (that my hubby made). Voila! A fantastic snake.
You can find the directions here. You'll notice we didn't follow the directions. I thought using construction paper was way too fussy. We did, however, tie the snakes together with yarn on the top and bottom of each tube. That helped keep it from getting all tangled together.
While studying snakes is not really my "thing"--it wasn't too bad. Just mildly bad. :) Hope you enjoy it!
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