Monkeys In The Rainforest

Reprinted from The Wild Times Teacher Connection v1n1, Fall 1995.

Editors Note: This activity is ideal for young children in movement or physical education class. It is a wonderful cross-curricular tie to the article on black lion tamarins. If you are fortunate to be near a zoo with a primate collection, this activity will provide a wonderful way to help your students synthesize their experience of observing the monkeys in the zoo.

Children are naturally curious about the behaviors and lives of animals. They are especially attracted to monkeys, their antics, and energy. Children have a great capacity for empathy and sense of connection to the animal life around them if given the opportunity.

At the School For Children, young children, ages 4-7, participate in a creative movement unit on the habits of monkeys and their struggles to survive in a world where their dwelling places are shrinking. The three or four lesson unit begins with storytelling about a group of monkeys living together in a rainforest. Children see pictures of several species of monkeys and learn the social meaning of different facial expressions and gestures. They also learn about their feeding, sleeping, and grooming habits.

After this initial discussion, a cluster of five to seven chairs is arranged in the middle of the movement room to represent the trees where the monkeys dwell. The monkeys begin their day with a search for food. Movement qualities are explored as children reach and leap. They leap out as if leaping from branch to branch and scuttle along the ground to gather food from below. All this is accompanied by music from the rainforest cultures around the world. The cue for returning to treetop homes is when the music stops. The entire group of children (l0-l4) must find space on or under the chairs. One day, Seth (6 years old) instructed the group on proper grooming that he had observed on a trip he had taken with his parents to observe monkeys in their natural environment. He demonstrated the purpose and way to do it with a friend. Afterwards, the group decided to groom when they returned to their "chair forest".

As the scenario progresses, the teacher removes more chairs as nearby villagers need the trees for building homes, clearing for fields, and fuel. Each time the monkeys return home, conditions become more crowded. Finally, they are down to two chairs for the entire group of "monkeys". This presents a great challenge for cooperation and developing strategies to cope. Many times, the children want to add to the scenario by finding ways to scare the people away who take their trees.

After this initial structured activity, children are invited to create their own scenarios based on what they've learned and observed in movement class. Each child is given a chair and a soft cloth to use to create a habitat. Children are given the choice to live alone or in a group.

The variety of groupings and dwellings that have evolved from the childrens' imaginations has been very rich and inventive. Music is the cue to rouse monkeys from sleep and begin their day of foraging, playing, and interacting with one another. As the music fades, the monkeys return to their homes for grooming or sharing food.

Children often share their scenarios with the rest of the group and frequently request this activity.

I believe that children have great satisfaction in working out what they know about monkeys through their own bodies. Reinterpreting and reinventing knowledge and ideas through imagination gives children the opportunity to experience learning in a personalized and expressive way.

This activity seems to hold endless fascination and possibility for children to work out group relationships, along with the excitement and joy of moving to music, and the connection to a favorite animal.

by Roberta Altman

Roberta teaches movement at the Bank Street School for Children and Midtown West, in New York City, NY.

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