Rabbit Tracks: A Spring Science and Art Activity
Rabbit Tracks
As part
of our study of rabbits, we examined the way rabbits move through
their environment as well as the evidence they leave: tracks. I made
a rabbit track stamp out of cardboard, some glue from the glue gun,
and a dollar store sponge. This activity turned out to be lots of
fun and pretty simple, although some small setup is required the
night before.
To do
this activity, you will need:
- a computer
- corrugated cardboard
- a sponge (soft, not scrubby)
- scissors
- hot glue/glue gun
- construction paper
- paint
- container to put the paint into
To make
the stamp, you will need to first look at some rabbit tracks. If you
don't have a yard full of bunnies, you can check them on the internet first. I found this interesting page which differentiates squirrel tracks from rabbit tracks.
I didn't use a template to make the tracks. Instead, I cut the
sponge width-wise at about the 1/3 point. The smaller piece is for
the front paws and the larger piece will be the back paws. I cut the
larger piece in half, lengthwise this time. With the scissors, I
shaped the two long rectangles into long ovals. For the front paws,
I cut the remaining smaller portion roughly into squares. Then I
shaped them into two circles. While your glue gun is heating up, you
can get the cardboard backing set. Arrange the four pieces into a
track you like and then cut the cardboard to that shape. I placed
the back feet in back roughly evenly and then staggered the front
paws in the front and slightly centered. You could play around with
the arrangement though, even making a few different paw tracks for
different kinds of animal movement.
In the
morning before the activity, we looked at pictures of rabbit tracks
online. We talked about differences between the front and back paws,
how rabbits move, and the conditions necessary for rabbit tracks to
form in nature (snow or maybe mud). Little M. suggested that we
watch some videos of rabbits hopping on YouTube, and I thought that
was a tremendous idea. Although, if you have rabbits in your
backyard, it would be great to go out into nature and look at the
real thing!
I gave
Little M. her choice of construction paper, then I poured a few
different pastel paints into a container (I used a Chinese food lid).
I invited her to dip the stamp into the paint and press it into the
paper. It stuck to the paper a little bit, so I had to hold the
paper down while she stamped. We ended up taking turns back and
forth pretending that we were bunnies hopping on the page.
This
activity could be useful in a Easter theme, rabbit/bunny theme, or an
animal track theme. We had so much fun, and I hope you and your
little student will too!
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