Spring Season Board: Garter Snake
We were lucky enough to see a garter snake in the yard a few weeks ago, so I knew I had to include a craft early on in the season board. My goal with this craft was to try to find a way to replicate the feel of a snake. I really want the art to be more than a coloring page and to be interactable after it is made. Which of course means that step 1 is spending about 3 years hole punching some construction paper. I folded the paper and used a three-hole punch to speed things up.
I had to make our coloring page and you can download it here with and without text. While the girls colored, I introduced them to the idea of a reptile (cold-blooded) and told them some fun facts. Here are some you can pick from:
Scientific name: Thamnophis sirtalis
Garter snakes are harmless - their teeth are so small that their bites commonly don’t break skin.
They can “musk” as a defense, which is where they excrete a foul smelling fluid.
Since they are ovoviviparous, they don’t lay eggs and instead “give birth” to baby snakes.
They are reptiles, which means they need the sun to heat them up so they can move around and they sleep in the cold. *
*Keep in mind, I’m teaching an almost 4 year old and almost 2 year old and this is their first introduction to the idea that reptiles are a little different. You can always use more complicated language like “cold-blooded” or “ectothermic” if you have an older child.
Of course, once they were done, they ran over to add their creations to the board. They did enjoy “petting” their snakes.
