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Hi Mia!

I think that is so awesome that you are learning about snakes with your preschool students. They must be so excited about it! I think that one way you could give students hand on activites with snakes could be first by having them play with fake rubber snakes. This will maybe give them a little preview as to what a real snake is like if they have no experienced one before. Then, I would look into seeing if their is someone local that has a snake as a pet or even from an expert like a pet store/zookeeper/wildlife employee that could bring in the snake and share about it with the kids! That way the expert knows how to safely handle the snake and the kids could engage with the snake even if they don't want to touch it. I recently learned from the director of the Regents Center for Early Developmental Education that the more enriched experiences you can give kidds early on, the better off they will be in life as they grow up. Good luck with your snake lesson and I hope this helps!

Hi! It is so awesome that you are wanting to make this experience as authentic for your students as possible! I am a student at the University of Northern Iowa, and we have been learning about how crucial it is for students to have hands-on experiences and just be able to explore. I think your students would love if you found someone in the area who could bring in a live snake that they knew how to properly handle to make sure students & yourself are safe at all times! You could even have your students explore with worms (I know they aren't snakes, but they are something safer for students that is easier to access). You could make comparrisons between worms & snakes also to really get your students asking questions and making connections to something they are proboalby more familiar with, since they problably see worms more often. I hope this is helpful & good luck with your snake unit! :)

Hi Mia, I think it is a wonderful idea to teach your students about snakes. I am a currently a student a student at the University of Northern Iowa and we have talked alot about having hands on lessons for our students.  I recently went to our Regents Center for Early Development and we talked about giving more expereinces early on to children to let them to learn through discovery and in hands on ways. I have learned in different classes that young children learn best through play and hands on expereinces when they are leading the investigation.  I think you could introduce the idea with a fake rubber snake first to give the students an idea of what a snake is like. Then I would find someone who handles snakes and have them bring a snake into the classroom for the students to see and ask questions about but making sure that everyone involved stays safe. Good luck with your snake lessons and I hope this helps.

That sounds like a great idea! I think if you and your students are looking to get hands-on experience with a snake it would be great to have a pet ball python in the classroom if approved by administration. Students can learn how snakes live in their specified habitat while also learning more about reptiles such as snakes.

For the next time, is there a family at school that keeps snakes?  That might be ibe avenueif havung a live snake viait ( all handwashing and safety procolos followed of course.  Look and see what Ken Roy has to say)

What about snakes intrigues them?  The way they move, the way the jaw can dislocate, the scales and hiw they overlap and change?  Movement can be modeled by tubes.  What advantages do scales have?  Who else has scales?  What snakes are in your local habitat?  What is the predator prey pyramid?  Is this the same as a friend or relative in a different area?  Why?

These are some ideas to guide a snake study another year

Love snakes....outside and at a distance

Anne