Monkey Puzzle

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Can Butterfly help Little Monkey find his mum? Yes, but only after a lot of trial and error as Butterfly misunderstands Monkey’s descriptions and leads him to all kinds of unsuitable animals.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Choose one of the animals on the word mat (see Resources below). Then, make up some clues for a friend to help them identify the animal that you are thinking of.
• Look at the different types of punctuation shown in the story. Could you use some of these in your own writing?
• Look at the use of speech marks in the story. Try using these to perform the story to an audience.
• Look at the rhyming patterns in the story. Can you make up your own rhyming couplets?
• Could you make up another page for the book, in which the monkey gives a clue to the butterfly, and the butterfly finds an animal who might be the monkey’s mum?
• Choose an animal and write a detailed description of it to help the butterfly find it straight away.
• Listen to the audio version of the story. Could you record your own performance of it?
• Can you write another story in which an animal loses its mum, and another animal helps it?
• Look at the words that the monkey uses to describe each animal. Can you think of any more?
• Think about the sounds that each animal makes… croak, squawk, hiss. Can you think of any others?
• Watch this video, in which the author discusses the story and acts it out!

Science

• Look at the creatures in the story and the illustrations. Could you write a report about one of them, describing where they live and what they are like?
• Look at the patterns and textures on the animals in the story. Investigate what camouflage means and how this helps animals.
• Look at the plants and flowers in the illustrations. Can you identify similar plants using reference books?
• Could you make a food chain using some of the animals in the story?
• The butterfly’s babies don’t look like him. Can you explain why this is? What does metamorphosis mean?

Computing

• Create a branching database including all of the animals found in the story.
• Use a paint program to design your own butterfly. Is there a symmetry tool that you could use?
• Look on the websites of local zoos. Do they look after any of the animals found in the story?
• Could you turn the story into a short film?

Art

• Can you make your own monkey jigsaw puzzle using the template provided?(see Resources below).
• Draw / paint a jungle scene using the illustrations for inspiration.

Geography

• Draw a map of the jungle and mark the animals that are discovered in the story.
• Look on a map and try to find habitats like the one found in the story.
• Investigate environmental issues linked to jungles and rainforests. How can people help to protect them?

PSHE

• Have you ever been lost? What should you do if you find yourself separated from your family?
• Look at the expression of the monkey throughout the story. How is he feeling?

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