Kiki’s Kangaroo Kit

Essential question: What are kangaroos like and how are they represented in art?

In this video, we review some initial kangaroo facts and explore how Aboriginal people have painted kangaroos. It’s a great, quick introduction! If you want a much longer, more comprehensive investigation into kangaroos, watch our ‘Roos Galore webinar.

Essential question: Where do kangaroos live and what do they eat?

Kangaroos and joeys live all across Australia. Some live in the dry desert, some live in the woods, and some live in the grassy plains. No matter where they live, they all spend much of their days hopping around looking for food. Kangaroos are herbivores, which means they eat plants, not meat.  Different kangaroos have different favorite foods, but in general they will eat grasses, bushes, tree leaves and sometimes flowers! They have sharp teeth in the front of their mouth for cutting and flat teeth in the back of their mouth for grinding and chewing. 

Pretend to be Kiki the kangaroo and go look for food!

Ingredients needed:

• Big T shirt to wear, so you can fold the bottom up and use it as a“pouch”
• Or… find a bag to put your “food” in
• 1 sheet of paper
• 1 pencil
• tape

What do I do?

1. Put on your big T shirt or grab your bag.
2. Walk and hop around your neighborhood with your grown up and notice how many different types of grasses and leaves there are!
3. Find everything on the list below and carry them home in your pouch or bag. (Please make sure to ask permission if they are in someone’s garden.)
   1. 4 blades of grass that are different sizes
   2. 5 leaves that are different shapes
   3. 3 different types of flowers
   4. 2 sticks 
4. When you get home empty your pouch. Tape them onto paper. 
5. If you were a kangaroo, which one do you think would be the most yummy? (No eating!! You are not a kangaroo and plants some plants are poisonous!)
6. Added challenge: research the plants and write their name beside them!
7. Take a picture of your kangaroo “food plate” and share it on social media and tag Kluge-Ruhe! And/or use the hashtag #klugeruhekids

Essential Question: How do kangaroos move?

Kangaroos didn’t always hop. Initially they lived in trees. But they’ve been hopping for a long time, and they are really good at it. They can hop up to 30 miles per hour – that’s as fast as a car! In one jump, they can hop 6 feet high and 15 feet long. (Bonus activity: Use a tape measure to see how high and far this really is!). They have special strong tendons in their hind legs that act like a spring, which is why they can hop for a pretty long time before getting tired. Kangaroos are pretty good swimmers too. The one thing kangaroos can’t do is hop backwards, so when you’re practicing your hopping, see if you can figure out how to turn around without hopping backward!

Essential Question: What are story characters? What are the main facial features of a kangaroo?

Puppets are characters that are used to tell stories. Characters are the main people or animals, in a story. We usually know characters by their name and their face. But they often have personalities, adventures, feelings and thoughts, just like us. Click here to print these Kangaroo Puppet Instructions (same as below).

Ingredients needed:

• Printer
• Paper bag- lunch size is perfect
• These kangaroo puppet parts, printed, cut out and colored
• Scissors
• Crayons, colored pencils or markers
• Glue stick

What do I do?

1. Take your paper bag and fold the two corners of the flap under so they form a triangular “face” shape. Glue in place. 
2. Print out the puppet parts and color them in.
3. Cut out your puppet parts and lay them on your paper bag. 
4. Glue down your puppet parts.  Put a heavy book on top and wait 5 minutes for the glue to set up.
   1. How to glue your pouch: Glue ONLY along the left, bottom and right outside edge. Do NOT glue the top edge or the middle. This way the baby joey can slip inside the pouch.
   2. You can glue your baby joey into the pouch, or leave it unglued so it is free to jump in and out of the pouch.

Now you’re ready to bring your puppet to life!

Think about your kangaroo character and what they might be doing.  Here are some things to think about to get you started:

• What’s the name of your kangaroo mama?
• What’s the name of your baby joey?
• What is your kangaroo mama and joey feeling and thinking today?

Essential Question: What are stories and what are their characteristics?

Stories are one of the ways that Aboriginal people have handed down knowledge for thousands of years. Rather than writing down what they knew in books, Aboriginal people used art and storytelling to teach others. In this activity you will make a book of pictures and then tell us a story about the kangaroo and joey characters you created in the last activity! Click here to print these Kangaroo Book Instructions (same as below).

Ingredients needed:

• printer
• 3 (or more) sheets of computer paper 
• These kangaroo characters, printed, cut out and colored
• Scissors
• Crayons, colored pencils or markers
• Glue stick

What do I do?

1. Fold your sheets of paper in half the short way, like a hamburger.
2. Cut your papers in half along the fold. (3 sheets will now be 6).     
3. Put all your paper in a neat pile. Staple them on the left side to make a book.
4. Print, color and cut out the kangaroo and joey characters.
5. Make the front page your book cover, with a title and your name.                
6. Think about the story you want to tell- start arranging your kangaroos on each page of your book.
7. When you are ready, glue your characters onto each page. 
8. Don’t forget to give them a background!
9. Share your book on social media and tag Kluge-Ruhe! And/or use the hashtag #klugeruhekids