This animal-themed activity invites you to go wild! After reading Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown, we look at an ancient Greek lion in the Museum’s collection. Then we learn how to make a lion or a different animal from a tissue box and other materials you probably have at home. You can find more pictures of animals in the MFA's collection.
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, written and illustrated by Peter Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2013) is available at a variety of booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and Little, Brown. Mr. Tiger Goes Wild read with permission from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Make a Lion
Materials
You will need:
Empty tissue box
Tape
A marker
Glue stick
Scissors (Please be careful.)
Colored construction paper or white paper colored with crayons (suggested colors: black, orange, red, white, and brown)
Step 1
Pull the plastic piece out of the tissue box. The part of the tissue box with the hole will be the center of your animal's face.
Step 2
To make the lion’s eyes, draw a circle on a black piece of paper and fold the paper in half. Ask a grown-up to cut the circles using the scissors, so you end up with two eyes. Glue or tape these a few inches apart on the box above the box’s opening.
Step 3
For the nose, draw a smaller triangle on a black piece of paper and a larger triangle on an orange piece of paper. Ask your grown-up to cut them, then glue or tape them together and then place your nose between the two eyes on the tissue box.
Step 4
To make the cheeks, draw circles on to red paper and ask your grown-up to cut them out. Glue or tape them on either side of the opening on the box.
Step 5
For the mouth, draw a large figure eight on brown paper. Ask your grown-up to cut around the outside edge of the eight, then use your marker to draw the mouth and a few dots for where the whiskers will go. Glue or tape it on to the lower part of the tissue box below the hold.
Step 6
Now it’s time to make the lion’s mane and ears! From orange paper, cut a shape as shown above that fits the size of your tissue box. Use brown and white paper to cut and tape or glue the ears on to the mane.
Step 7
No lion would be complete without its whiskers. Have your grown-up cut these out using brown paper and glue them on to the lion’s mouth.
Step 8
Now your lion is complete. Roar!
Step 9
You can make many kinds of animals with your tissue box, like this frog. Do you have a favorite animal?
