Go a Little Wild!

Yes, there’s a time and place for proper behavior, but what happens when a tiger wants to go a little…wild?

We read Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown (Little, Brown, 2013, read here by Glasgow’s Improvement Challenge) Mr. Tiger is feeling stifled in the city with its mundane homes, drab clothing, and polite conversations. So he tries something different. He (gasp!) drops on all fours. This begins a chain of experiences that ultimately ends with Mr. Tiger running around the wilderness in just his stripes. But it’s lonely being on your own. Can Mr. Tiger’s friends maybe change a little bit and join him? Because sometimes, a little wild is a good thing!

In keeping with Mr. Tiger’s duel lives, this project begins with his house in the city…

Then rotate the box to visit the wilderness on the other side!

You’ll need:

  • One 4.5” X 4.5” x 9” craft box (a large tissue box works too)
  • 1 smaller box for the interior
  • Green and brown poster board
  • Construction paper
  • 1 toilet paper tube
  • 1 tiger house template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
  • Scissors, glue, and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

Begin by cutting the top off the large box, as well as two windows on opposing sides. Next, glue a smaller box inside so your toilet paper tube tiger can peep out of the windows. Finally, use poster board and construction paper to decorate the city and wilderness sides! For added wilderness texture, we offered kids fabric flowers, green tissue paper, crepe paper streamers, and paper crinkle. The results were AWESOME!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We do, however, want to give a special nod to the creative individual who decided to put a hobbit door on Mr. Tiger’s city abode…

Next, use construction paper and markers to decorate a toilet paper tube like a tiger. Also, since clothing plays an important role in the book, we taped a little top hat to the top of the city window, and a little Hawaiian shirt to the bottom of the wilderness window.

There’s funny dialogue in the book, so we added speech bubbles on the tiger house template, as well as directions signs for the blank sides of the box!

We absolutely LOVE Peter Brown’s work…check out Creepy Carrots, this illuminating underwear, a growing garden, and a visit to Peter’s studio!

Tigers on Tiptoe

Can you tiptoe your tiger through the forest without making a sound?

We recommend reading The Tiptoeing Tiger by Philippa Leathers (Candlewick Press, 2018, read here by DaddyRead2Me). When Tiger prowls the forest, the other animals NOTICE and move away. But not Little Tiger. No one is afraid of him in the slightest! So he contrives to sneakily tiptoe around the forest until he thoroughly terrifies someone. It doesn’t work with Boar, Elephant, or the monkeys…but Little Tiger might have met his match at the pond!

You’ll need:

  • 1 small oatmeal container
  • Construction paper and/or poster board
  • 2 brass fasteners
  • 2 craft sticks, approximately 3″ long
  • Scissors, tape, and box cutter for construction
  • Markers for decorating

Begin by decorating a small oatmeal container like a tiger. For added texture, we used a pair of wiggle eyes, a bit of self-adhesive foam for the nose, and twisteez wire whiskers, but you can also just use markers to add these features. The dynamic part of the project comes when you add the moveable back legs!

Use a box cutter to make small slices in the oatmeal container, then attach the tiger’s back legs to the body using brass fasteners. Next, attach two, 3″ long craft sticks to the legs, leaving plenty of room for you to grasp the sticks. To operate, move the sticks up and down while gently sliding the oatmeal container forward, and you have yourself a splendid tiptoeing tiger!

 

Don’t Touch the Tiger

don't touch the tigerTyger Tyger burning bright! Make it past the teeth, and you’ll be all right!

We recommend reading Beware of Tigers by Dave Horowitz (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2006). Feathered friends Chirp and Birp are laughingly incredulous that a tiger is in their city, despite warnings from others. Well, there IS a tiger, and he is more than happy to entertain two tasty little birds. As his smile grows wider and wider, Chirp and Birp realize that perhaps cuddling up with a tiger isn’t such a great idea. Good thing they have a friend with even bigger teeth!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large tissue box
  • Construction paper
  • Scissors, tape, and/or glue for construction
  • Markers for decorating (optional)

This project is a modification of a Valentine’s box I pinned and swore I would find a use for. Yes! Begin by covering a large tissue box with orange construction paper. Next, use more construction paper to add a nose, eyes, and stripes (or draw them on with markers). The teeth are construction paper too.

To play the game, place several objects in the tiger’s mouth. Then challenge kids to gently reach in, and – without moving, tapping, or knocking over the tiger – remove the objects. The objects can be anything. For younger kids, it might be best to use something that stick out past the mouth like drinking straws. For older kids, smaller objects like jingle bells, foam beads, or pom-poms work!

tiger straws

Believe it or not, we have more chomping creature projects on the blog. Check out our cookie-consuming cow here, and our monster food chain here. Need some dental assistance? We have your crocodile care kit right here.