The Human Body
Week 9
I am different than giraffes
The Human Body: We begin discovering the preciousness of our humanity by enjoying that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. In this block we explore how we were made in contrast to the grass, plants and trees. God has created us in ways that are unique to other living things.
Point to emphasize
God made the giraffes in a very interesting way but He made me wonderfully. (Discover the differences in physical appearance, anatomy, locomotion, and functions of physical features.)
References
Genesis 1:24, 30
Sample content and conversation with children
CLUE
Ask the children: I have an animal in mind, can you guess what it is? Start by giving them not-so-obvious clues: It has four legs, eats plants and tree leaves, lives in Africa, has a long tail, a baby is called a calf. If no one has guessed it yet, you can go on to more obvious clues: It has spots on its fur, tall, has long legs, long tongue, and long neck.
EATING
Giraffes eat leaves and plants, and sometimes grass. Their favorite is the Acacia tree, a very thorny tree. Ask the children what they all ate today. Try to get a variety of foods (fruits, cereal, nuts). Giraffes only eat plants and grass. Have the children go to the kitchen and grab something that they eat: a fruit, vegetable, crackers, etc. and show everyone.
Giraffe tongues are long, about 21” [that’s longer than a long ruler! Hold up a long ruler to show them. Or tell/show them it’s about as long as a newborn baby] and is bluish-purple or black in color. Have the children stick out their tongue to see what color their tongues are. Not black!
Giraffe tongues are tough so they can eat the thorns on the branches and it doesn’t hurt them. Our tongues are sensitive and we have a lot more taste buds so we can taste things and enjoy many different kinds of food. Have some food items nearby to hold up and show them, and ask them what each one tastes like: lemon – sour; cantaloupe – sweet; crackers – salty; hot sauce – spicy
You can show them pictures or a little video clip of a giraffe eating:
Pictures:
Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grvwgwJxnxo (tongue)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXLXq-ZRT-M (walking, eating from tree)
DRINKING
Talk with the children: How do you take a drink? We use a cup, a straw, or drink from the faucet. It’s easy for us, isn’t it? We use our hands and grab a cup so we don’t spill. We can also use a straw. And we sure don’t have to bend at the waist and stand with our feet wide apart to get water.
Show them a picture of a giraffe drinking:
Wow, look at how hard it is for giraffes to take a drink. But we can easily drink from a cup. Giraffe necks are about 6ft long! That’s about as tall as some people. [You can name some people they know who are about that height. Or you can say almost as high as your door–standard doors are 6’-8”.]
It would be hard to bend down to touch our feet if our necks were that long. [Get everyone to stand up and touch their feet and see how easy it is. They can even bend their knees to do it easier.] Giraffes are so tall it’s hard for them to bend to drink water. Thankfully, they don’t have to drink very often because they get water from the leaves they eat.
DISCUSSION
Aren’t you glad you’re not a giraffe? Aren’t you glad you’re a little boy/girl? You can drink water easily. You can bend and move easily, jump, hop, skip. You can eat and taste so many yummy food. God made you so wonderfully!
Suggested activities/games
FOOD
Have the children try different types of food. Maybe try a leaf – make sure it’s a safe type of leaf to eat, like cilantro or basil. We use certain plants for our food like in salads or herbs for cooking (basil, cilantro, rosemary), but we don’t just eat those by themselves. And definitely not the ones with thorns. Have the children draw their favorite food and then have them draw a giraffe eating leaves from a tree.
DRAW YOURSELF
Get a large life-size piece of paper (or cardboard or carton, whatever you have) and ask the child to lay down on the floor. Have an adult or another child trace the child’s silhouette on the paper. You can cut it out and fill it in with eyes, hair, sweater.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Pick one person to be the “leader”. The leader will do motions that everyone will have to follow. Motions can be: patting your head, marching in place, bowing at the waist, waving your hands, etc.
Do some stretching or other exercises such as:
-
- Stand, bend, touch your toes
- Sit criss-cross applesauce
- Raise your hands up in the air
- Jump up and down
- Wiggle side to side
Suggested songs:
Never Forget that It’s God Who Created You
Suggested hand and body motions for the song above:
- Never forget! – wave your index finger in front of your body like saying “no”
- That it’s God who created – put hands into fists and alternately put them one on top of the other as if to build something
- Wonderful – clap your hands in front of your body then make a big circle from above your head, circling outwards then down
- Creator – same as “Who created you”
- Arms that bend – bend your arms (as if to flex your biceps)
- Knees that bend – bend at your knees
- And a back that bends right over – give a deep bow, bending at the waist
- Toes that wiggle – stick out a foot and wiggle your toes
- Hands that tickle – air tickle with your hands in front of you or tickle someone next to you
- And a mouth that giggles – cup your hands around your mouth as you sing, “hee hee hee”