Wildlife Safari in Botswana

Researching wildlife in Botswana turned up some amazing photos. Many of the impressive shots that we saw were of the sun setting/ rising on the horizon with the silhouettes of the wildlife (like this and this). These photos were so beautiful that we decided to try to recreate them for our Botswana craft project. 


Originally I had thought that I would cut the silhouettes of the animals and let the kids work on the sunsets and horizon, then glue them on, but then I thought it would be more fun for them if they got to cut them on their own. My kids love to cut and both of them are the "I can do it" kind of kid, and since they are (almost) five and seven, I knew that their silhouettes wouldn't be perfect, but still, they'd look good and the kids would have fun and enjoy the learning through art. 


Take this next part of advice very seriously (you and your kids will thank me). If you think that you might tackle this project and your kids are the same age as mine, cut the silhouettes before hand, unless you like to make your kids cry. 


I found some silhouettes online through various clip art sites. Then we copied those onto black construction paper. I gave the kids some scissors so that they could cut their silhouettes. When Eliana finished hers, she looked at me and asked me to do it instead. She wasn't loving her black blob that was supposed to look like an elephant. When Aiden finished his he had tears in his eyes and said, it needs to be redone. So collectively, we decided that I would cut them for them and they would rip paper for their sunsets and they would make their own trees.

Aiden working on his tree.

Eliana drawing her tree in preparation for cutting. 

When all of the pieces of paper were glued down, the silhouettes and the trees too, we looked at them and talked about how beautiful they were. We then continued to talk about other kinds of wildlife in Botswana, including zebras and monkeys. 

Eliana's finished picture. Elephants with three trees. 

Aiden's finished picture. Yes, that mama is nursing her cub.  

My finished Giraffes. 

When we were all done, I asked the kids what they thought of this project and they said they loved it. Aiden even said, "It was super fun!" Apparently he forgot that it made him cry.


If you want to see more wildlife in Botswana, check out this site.