Dramatic Play Jungle/Rainforest

Since I showed you our cute sloths yesterday, I thought I'd show you what our dramatic play area looked like at that time. I found "jungle" bulletin board paper at Michael's and had a 40% off coupon, so I couldn't resist buying it. I turned our kitchen set around and wrapped the paper on the back. Then I taped on huge animals that I had printed out on my computer. I used clip-art from a greeting card software program I have and then printed them poster size, so I had to fit them together like a puzzle. And I added some grass that I cut from construction paper.

I also wrapped paper around the thing that holds our dress-up clothes.

From the ceiling, I hung strips of green paper and stuffed animals.

On the ground, I put out a green sleeping bag and a bunch of library books about the animals that live in the jungle. I also had two pair of binoculars for the kids to use. Everyday we added our art projects to the jungle area. (You can see parrots and frogs on display in the first picture.)
Many, many (MANY!) years ago, I used some of the big animals for our Safari week, since some animals live in both places. For that I taped the animals onto light blue paper

and didn't have anything hanging from the ceiling. Then I made a jeep out of boxes. Yes, a jeep! I don't know what I was thinking.

I put 4 little chairs inside the jeep and again had binoculars for the kids. It turned out very cool (it even had a steering wheel!), but only lasted that one week because I had painted the boxes so they became soft and bent very easily. But the kids liked it while it lasted, and I am so glad I took a picture of it!
Click here to see our safari crafts!