Creation Kids
Creative Christian Curriculum for Today's Creative Kids

Creation Kids Site Contents:

Home

Lesson Plans

Stories & Skits

Crafts

The Fun Stuff Shop

Links to Other Great Sites

About Us

Subscribe to newsletter -- click or send an e-mail to: creationkids-
subscribe@
yahoogroups.
com

Resourceful Rhino
(God's Animals)
by Sandra Harris

The rhino faces some major physical impairments, but he's a resourceful animal and has learned how to cope.

Characteristic: Trust; we can trust God to care for us because He sends others to help us.

Bible Verse: There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 NIV

Concepts:

The word "rhinoceros" means "nose horn." Their are 5 species of rhinos; some rhinos have one horn, some have two horns. The rhino's horn is made from a hairlike substance and, like hair, it continues to grow throughout the rhino's lifetime. If a horn gets broken, it will grow back.

Rhinos inhabit the open grassland, marshes and scrub forests of Africa and parts of Asia. They are vegetarian mammals and grow quite large, some as long as 14 feet and weighing 4 tons. All rhinos are gray or brown in color, including the Black Rhino and the White Rhino (their names have nothing to do with their skin color). Rhinos are almost hairless, except for a bristly bit of hair around their ears and at the tip of their tail (except for the Sumatran rhino who has a light coat of hair).

Although rhinos are extremely nearsighted, they have very good senses of smell and hearing. And despite their large size, rhinos can run quite fast (almost 30 miles per hour) for short distances. All species of rhinos are threatened with extinction; some are critically near extinction. Man is the rhino's greatest enemy. Many rhinos are killed for their horns. In China, the horn is used to reduce fever. And there are still many people in East Asia who think the rhino's horn possesses special powers.

Rhinos often have little creatures called ticks that hide in the rhino's skin and annoy the rhino. It's almost impossible for the rhino to get rid of these ticks. So God gave the rhino a friend called a tick bird. The tick bird eats the ticks and other insects from off the rhino’s skin. This little bird also warns the rhino when danger is near – it starts screaming. When the rhino hears the screams, it knows something dangerous is near even though it can’t see it.

Sometimes when we need help, God sends friends to help us. (And sometimes He sends us to be a friend to someone who needs our help.)

Center Activities

Manipulatives: Ask children to use blocks, Legos, etc. to build something that they must all cooperate with each other to build: MacDonald’s farm, a space station, an African scene with jungle and grassland, etc. Watch for occasions when one child helps another to complete a task and comment on it to the group: “Sally was having trouble reaching the top of the tower. Joanne is a little taller than Sally, so Joanne offered to place the block where Sally wanted it.”

Art: Make a giant-sized version of this lesson’s craft project (see below) for the classroom bulletin board (or large poster size if working at home). To make a giant-sized rhino, you might do each body part separately: head, body, legs, tail, ears, tusk. Give each child or small group a part to do. Since the birds will be larger for this project, you might have each child make a bird from construction paper and craft feathers. Ask the children how long it might take just one child to complete such a huge project by himself. How long will it take if everyone works together?

Craft: Rhino and Friend Poster

You will need:
Rhino coloring sheet for each child
Small pictures of birds, at least one per child (magazine cut-outs, stickers, etc.)
Bible verse printed on paper, one per child
Construction paper, one large sheet per child (for background)
Crayons or felt markers
Scissors
Glue or glue sticks
Brown paint
Pieces of sponge for sponge painting, one piece per child
Paper plates, one per child (or plastic lids)

To Make:
1. Have children color the rhino, then roughly cut it out.
2. Glue rhino to background sheet of construction paper.
3. Glue birds in place, letting children determine where the birds should go.
4. Put a small puddle of brown paint on a paper plate for each child. Let children sponge paint “mud” or “dirt” under the rhino.

Story Time: coming soon!

Enrichment Ideas

1. Discuss the "buddy system" (going with a friend or buddy) that people use in situations involving potential danger, such as swimming. Talk about other situations where two people are better than one: a "spotter" in gymnastics and other sports, police officers who work as a team, road construction workers (where one worker controls traffic while the other worker rapairs the road), etc.

2. Plan a unit on Community Helpers to coincide with this lesson. Many community helpers not only help people in the community, but they help each other on many levels to help the comunity: police officers work in pairs to help each other, officers on desk duty work to help those on street duty, the police force helps the fire department, the Emergency Medical Unit helps the fire department and the police department, etc.

3. Families must work together to help each other just like the rhino and tick bird. Older children play with younger ones while mom/dad do things young children/babies can't do. Everyone helps with daily tasks so that one person doesn't have to do everything. Helping each other is part of being a family. Ask children to share about how they help out in their families. Why is helping each other by doing our part important?

4. Make up your own verse to "The Wheels on the Bus" tune. For example:
The cycle (or circle) of helping goes 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round, 'round and 'round.
The cycle of helping goes 'round and 'round, all through our family (or school/town/world).

I help Mommy wash the clothes, wash the clothes, wash the clothes.
I help Mommy wash the clothes all for my family.
Mommy helps my brother ...

Mary helps Teacher pick up toys, pick up toys, pick up toys.
Mary helps Teacher pick up toys all through the classroom.
Johnny helps Mary ...

The police help the firemen keep people safe, keep people safe, keep people safe.
The police help the firemen keep people safe all through my town.
The firemen help ...

5. Do a lesson on basic skin care. Rhinos have their skin problems and humans have their own. Our main skin concern is related to sun exposure. How do humans take care of their skin?

6. Rhinos are nearsighted. Explore what this means using out-of-focus photos or a 35mm camera (that doesn't auto-focus) or look for an old movie projector or an overhead projector that you can change the focus on. Check out books on eyesight and eye care. Watch the Athur episode on PBS where Arthur gets glasses.

7. The rhino is currently one of the world's most endangered animal species. Do a lesson on extinction. Make a list of animals that have already become extinct (most young children will instantly think of dinosaurs). Encourage children to explore this topic and think about why it could be important to save animals from extinction.

8. Compare and contrast grassland, marsh and scrub forest. How are they alike? How are they different?

9. "Bristle" might be a new term to most children. For an art activity, experiment with painting with bristle type brushes: hairbrushes, toothbrushes, artist's fan brushes. Hair are they different from using soft-haired brushes to paint with?

10. When we lose one of our 5 senses, we often become better skilled at using the remaning ones. Here's an experiment to try that often demonstrates this: Sit outside or near an open window and ask children to identify the sounds they hear. Blindfold the children or have them close their eyes and keep them closed, then ask them again to identify what they hear. Since they can no longer tell you what they see, many children will be better able to focus on what they hear.

11. Check your local library for books about rhinos. Below are links to some of the better ones still in print.

*

Copyright 2002 Sandra Harris. All rights reserved.