Rescue the Animals

Activity Overview

Learning about our own impact on the environment at an early age is a powerful way to make the study of the natural world meaningful to young learners. This activity helps students see the real world effects of what happens when humans mistreat the planet. The activity is hands-on and gives the lesson a great real world connection while also aiding in the development of fine motor skills. Additionally, this activity lends itself well to working across many age groups. Older learners in your home or pod can act as mentors during this activity and help distill certain parts of the book and lesson.

What You Need

• The Mess That We Made by Michelle Lord on Epic

• Several animal figurines (if animal figurines are unavailable, substitute stuffed animals and scarves)

• Rubber bands or pipe cleaners

Steps

1. Before reading, take a picture walk through the book The Mess That We Made by Michelle Lord, illustrated by Julia Blattman. Guide your student to look at the pictures and verbalize observations about what they see. Discuss how the pollution in the ocean harms the animals. Point out how the community of people helps clean up the beach and bay at the end of the story and how the animals are happier and safer when there is less pollution in the ocean. Then, read the book.

2. Wrap rubber bands or pipe cleaners around the animal figurines or tie scarves around the stuffed animals. Explain how this represents the animals being entangled in pollution as displayed in the pictures in the story.

3. Guide your child to help rescue the animals by untangling them from the rubber bands, pipe cleaners, or scarves. Explain how untangling the animals represents how the animals feel happier and safer without pollution in the ocean.

Guiding Questions

• What do you see?

• Where did the garbage come from?

• How do the animals feel?

• How could we help the animals?

• What could we do to help keep our community clean and safe?

Extensions

• Decide as a family what kind of impact you’d like to have on your community. Together, help pick up garbage and clean up a local street, park, or beach.

• If your student is interested in continuing the discussion about how pollution harms the environment, read the book Plastic Soup by Judith Koppens, illustrated by Nynke Mare. Then, make a kite using plastic bags or other recyclable or non-recyclable items like the animals in the story!