Visiting the zoo is fun. But it might be even more fun to make your own zoo. Here’s how you can do this.
Collect a big board (or a wide sheet of thick cardboard), soil, mustard or fenugreek seeds.
Find a place where you can leave the board undisturbed. Spread two inches thick damp soil on the board and sprinkle the seeds to indicate greenery. Allow the seeds to grow for a couple of days. Keep sprinkling water on the soil to make it damp.
To depict animals, you need thin cardboard, markers and glue.
Draw an outline of an animal on the cardboard. While drawing make the limbs of the animals thicker and longer than usual. Now make a carbon copy of the animal and stick the two copies on top of each other, making sure you stick the complete body and only the upper half of the limbs. The lower half of the limbs can be turned outwards (you will have four flaps to turn out) to enable your animal to stand. Colour it and add details.
For cages and enclosures, you will need fevicol, toothpicks and icecream sticks.
Some animals can go into cages and bigger ones into enclosures.
Place five toothpicks vertically one beside the other with a gap between them. Lay two toothpicks horizontally across the five (with some gap between the two) and stick with fevicol. This forms one side of a cage. If you need a wider side, make more panels and stick them together. Make enough for all four sides. Make as many cages as you need. To make enclosures, cut the icecream sticks into half. Insert them (rounded side up) into the soil to form a circle or rectangle, and place your animal inside.
Place your animals, cages and enclosures amid the greenery you created, and set up your zoo. Invite friends to visit.
–Anitha Bennett
Day for others
Amazing animal facts
• A rat can go without water longer than a camel can.
• Zebras can’t see the color orange.
• Camels have three eyelids.
• When a horned toad is angry, it squirts blood from its eyes.
• A snail can sleep for three years.
• Giraffes have no vocal cords.
• Large kangaroos can leap over 30 ft with each jump.
• It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.
“A dog wags its tail with its heart.” Martin Buxbaum
