Children's Literature for Music Ed: "We're Going on a Lion Hunt"

Here is another variation on "We're Going on a Bear Hunt"; this time we are hunting lions! "We're Going on a Lion Hunt" by David Axtell is a great book for students to invent their own creative movements to reflect the story.

"In this charming rendition of a well-known children's chant, two sisters are looking not for a bear but for a lion- a lion that lives on the African savanna, where the girls go through swishy swashy long grass, a splishy slpashy lake, and a Big Dark Cave. When they finally meet their lion, they have to run, run, run through it all again to get back home."

• Introduce the book and instruct students that they are to echo you on each sentence of the story.

• Students will incorporate creative movements in each part of the story that describe actions, such as "swish-swash" (stepping through long grass), "splish-splash" (walking through a lake), "squish-squash" (wading through a swamp) and "tiptoe-tiptoe" (traveling through the lion's cave).

• There can be one picture of a lion that you can hide somewhere in the room to show the students as you read that part of the story. Here is a simple lion image to use:

• For a great extension activity:  Give each of the students their own copy of the lion picture to color at home (or during indoor recess period, if you are in a climate where the weather is inclement right now!) and have them return the colored lions to you to include on a "No LION...We Love Music!" bulletin board.