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Kind Kangaroos
(God's Animals)
by Sandra Harris

Mother kangaroos do their best to keep their babies safe and healthy. So young kangaroos trust their mother to care for them. This lesson explores the concept of honoring our parents.

Characteristic: respect for parents

Bible Verse: “Honor your father and mother.” Ex. 20:12, Deut. 5:16, Matt. 15:4, Eph. 6:2 See also: A wise man makes his father happy. But a foolish man makes his mother sad. Prov. 10:1

Concepts:

Kangaroos are native to Australia and New Zealand. There are about 120 species and subspecies. Some are only two feet tall while others grow as tall as six feet. The kangaroo rests on its large tail. The tail also serves to balance the kangaroo when it jumps.

The kangaroo is a marsupial or pouched animal. The mother has a fur-lined pouch in the front between her hind legs. This is where she carries her baby. When a baby kangaroo is born, it is only one inch long and about as thick as a pencil. That’s pretty small! The baby, called a joey (whether it’s a boy or a girl), lives in its mother’s pouch for the next six months. When the joey is about as large as a medium-sized puppy, it begins to venture out of the pouch.

Mother kangaroos mean a lot to the joeys. Joeys look up to their mother as the strong and helpful one when they need something. When there’s danger, the mother kangaroo can pick up her baby with her mouth and drop it into her pouch while she’s running.

The Bible tells us at least four times to honor our father and mother. Parents do so many things for us. We should be careful not to do things that hurt our parents or make them sad. When we need help, we should look up to our parents as people who are strong and wise and able to help us.

Center Activities

Manipulatives: As children build and make things, talk about some of the things parents build, make or often buy for their children (home, clothes, food, etc.). Do we honor them for all of the hard work they do for us? (You might need to discuss how parents must work to buy things.)

Dramatic Play: As children play house, encourage them to take turns pretending to be parents. Introduce some common problems for them to deal with, such as “Susie won’t go to bed” or “Tommy’s fighting with Billy” or “Jenny is stomping through the garden again.” Use these as a basis for discussing ways we can honor and dishonor our parents.

Craft: Kangaroo Magnet

Trace an outline drawing of a large kangaroo (facing forward) and a baby kangaroo onto cardstock or recycled cardboard; cut out. (Click here for a coloring sheet if you need one.) Have children paint or color the kangaroos; allow to dry if necessary. Cut out squares of fabric the appropriate size for the kangaroo’s pouch. Put tacky glue on three edges (wrong side) of the fabric square, then carefully position in place on the kangaroo. When glue is thoroughly dry, affix a magnet to the back of the large kangaroo, then let kids play with putting the joey in the pouch. Optional: make out of felt instead of cardboard to use as a flannelgraph, or make stuffed animals.

Story Time: The Kangaroo

Note: This is the text portion of a little book I wrote and illustrated, Montessori-style, for this lesson. The slash mark indicates a page break. Each page should be illustrarted with a drawing of a kangaroo, with the parts mentioned being colored the same color as the corresponding text. If you have older kids, they might enjoy making the illustrations for younger siblings.

The kangaroo is a furry animal. The fur is usually brown or gray in color. / The kangaroo has a small head and a pointed snout. It has large ears that stand up straight. / The kangaroo travels by hopping on its large hind legs. Its forearms are much smaller than its hind legs. / The kangaroo uses its long, strong tail for balance. / The kangaroo belongs to the marsupial family. Marsupials are animals that have pouches. The female kangaroo has a pouch on her front. The pouch looks like a pocket. / When a baby kangaroo is born, it is one inch tall.

This is one inch high. (Draw a line here.)

This tiny baby, called a joey, crawls into its mother’s pouch and nurses until it grows bigger. / When the joey is six months old, it is big enough to crawl out of its mother’s pouch. If there is any danger, the joey jumps back into the pouch. / When the joey is about eight months old, it leaves the pouch forever. Soon, another joey is born and it crawls into the pouch.

Enrichment Ideas:

1. The stories of Kanga and Roo in the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne complement this lesson wonderfully. “In Which Tigger is Bounced” from The House at Pooh Corner is one of my favorites.

2. For physical exercise, have the children hop/jump like kangaroos.

3. Provide backpacks and aprons so kids can carry dolls and stuffed animals like a mother kangaroo carries her joey. Talk about ways human mothers carry their babies. What do human mothers do to protect their children from danger?

4. Bulletin board or file folder game: Make several kangaroos and joeys as in the craft. Put different numbers or letters on the joeys and the pouches. Have children try to put the right joey in the right pouch.

5. Do a corresponding study on the animals of Australia.

6. A poem to share:
Kangaroo by Nita Jones
The brown kangaroo is very funny,
She leaps and runs and hops like a bunny.
And on her stomach is a pocket so wide
Her baby can jump in and go for a ride!

7. There are lots of books on kangaroos! Here a some to look for at your local library or bookstore.
Bouncy, Big and Furry (What Am I?) by Moira Butterfield (4-8)
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? by Eric Carle (4-8)
Kandoo Kangaroo Hops Into Homeschool by Susan Ratner (4-8)
What Do You Do with a Kangaroo? by Mercer Mayer (4-8)|
I Love You, Blue Kangaroo and Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo? by Emma Chinchester Clark (4-8)
Too Many Kangaroo Things To Do (concept of multiplication) and Jump, Kangaroo, Jump! by Stuart J. Murphy (4-8)
Elmer and the Kangaroo by David McKee (4-8)
The Very Boastful Kangaroo by Bernard Most (4-8)
Kangaroo Island: The Story of an Australian Mallee Forest by Deirdre Langeland (4-8)
Little Kangaroo, I Love You by Jackie Reinach (4-8) to be published July 2001
The Kangaroo by Sabrina Crewe (9-12)
There’s a Kangaroo in My Soup by Joan Lennon (9-12) (age recommendation by publisher – I suspect this book might appeal to younger children as a read-aloud)
Adventures Down Under: Escape to Murray River, Captive at Kangaroo Springs, Rescue at Boomerang Bend, Dingo Creek Challenge by Robert Elmer (9-12) This four-volume adventure series has little to do with kangaroos, per se, but their setting is Australia and it sounds like they include quite a bit of history and geography – could be useful for older kids studying Australia.