Storytime Ideas: We’re Going on a Lion Hunt

The first story time in the park group met and we had so much fun reading and playing.  Our first book of the series was We’re Going on a Lion Hunt by Cuyler. We also came up with some super fun We’re Going on a Lion Hunt book activities.

Basically, we meet once a week in the park to read and play together.  Then, we share what we did and provide follow-up activities here on the blog.  Our hope is that you will try some of the activities at home or even recreate the storytime in your own neighborhood.

Now, onto the book and activities.  This post contains affiliate links.

Storytime Ideas

The Book

We’re Going on a Lion Hunt by Margery Cuyler is similar to the format of the beloved, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.  In We’re Going on a Lion Hunt, a class of children walk through the mud, grass, sticks and so on in search of a lion.  When they reach the cave, they are startled by what they find and reverse direction back to their classroom.

David Axtell also has a version of We’re Going on Lion Hunt that takes place in the jungle.

The story has wonderful rhythm and repetition which makes joining in so inviting.

The Group Activities

Reading and Acting Out the Story

First, we had to put on our safari hats for this reading adventure.  They were made with a heavy paper plate and bowl.  Just cut out a circle in the middle of the plate.  Hot glue the bowl on top.  Then, sponge paint the hat with green and brown paint.  My boys had a blast helping with this step.

The book lends itself beautifully to engage little ones into participating.  On our second reading of the book, the kids stood up and acted out each action on the hunt.

mud= dragging feet

sticks=snapping fingers

trees= reaching arms and lifting legs

river= swimming with arms

grass= spreading arms in and out

cave= tiptoe and then running in place

Skill building:  fluency, sequencing and comprehension

ABC Lion Hunt

Next, we went on a lion hunt.  The ABC lions were made with yellow paper dessert plates.  I wrote a  letter in permanent marker on each plate.  We added two sticky dots for eyes and colored in black eye-balls.  Then we used yellow crepe paper and glued this around the plate for the mane.  I ran out of crepe paper so I ended up using miscellaneous fabric, ribbon and tissue paper to finish up the ABC lions.

Before the kids arrived, we scattered the lion plates in the grass.  After reading and acting out the story, the kids hunted for lions and brought them back to our main area.  Together we placed them in alphabetical order.

Skill building:  letter recognition and sequencing

Follow-Up Activities

More Books to Enjoy

For more variations of the featured book,  you might enjoy some of these stories.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

We’re Going on a Book Hunt by Pat Miller

As Autumn nears, these would be a great fit.

We’re Going on a Ghost Hunt by Susan Pearson

We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steven Metzger

A Yummy Treat

Here is a  fun and yummy lion themed treat for lunch or dinner from Creative Kid Snacks.

Lion Crafts

These lion crafts from Danielle’s Place would make for fun summer afternoon activities.

For more ideas and activities, follow my Storytime Ideas Pinterest board.  I will be adding to it each week of the series.
Follow Jodie Rodriguez @ Growing Book by Book’s board Storytime Ideas on Pinterest.