Warm-up Activity:  Explorers Game
The teacher models the following movements whilst playing the tambour and repeats as required:

• Slow steady beat = big careful steps. We are explorers walking carefully in the rainforest.
• Rapid quiet beats = small steps on tiptoe. We are creeping up to see a sloth hanging in the tree.
• Loud double beat = running. We are being chased by a jaguar!

Main Content:
Taking one verse at a time of the "Down in the Rainforest" rhyme teacher and children decide upon and then practise movements appropriate for each rainforest creature.

For the penultimate verse one child is chosen to be the forest clearing machine. The remainder of the class form a circle and stretch their arms up high to represent a forest of trees. The “machine” travels round the outside of the circle cutting down the “trees” who fall down to the floor. The children then sit in the circle to chant and clap to the rhythm of the remainder of the rhyme.

Now repeat the whole rhyme again without pausing between verses to make a "performance" of the whole dance.

Cool Down: Sleeping Jaguars
The children lay down very quietly and still in the play space. The teacher taps individual children on the shoulder to tiptoe quietly to the class line.

Product:

The children will produce a Rainforest Dance which can be performed and recorded as required.

You can use this lesson to work towards an Eco-Schools award Click here to learn more