K is for Kangaroo

Kangaroos are really special. We had no idea how many different kinds of Kangaroos there are. The ones we usually see in movies and on TV are Giant Red Kangaroos, but there are over 50 different kinds of kangaroos, and many other kinds of marsupials (animals with pouches). We learned about life cycles of the kangaroo—did you know that a baby kangaroo is only the size of the tip of your finger when born, and the little grub-like baby has to climb up its mother’s fur to crawl into her pouch? - and we learned about the way kangaroos eat, defend themselves, play, etc. One day we went outside with a measuring tape and took turns seeing how far we could hop. The farthest hop was Ardara with 4.5 feet. Then we measured 40 feet, the length of a single hop by a Giant Red Kangaroo! Pretty amazing. We watched videos of kangaroos boxing, playing on the beach and climbing in trees (a different species than the hopping kangaroos). We made kangaroo pouch pencil cups out of frozen juice cans (see our School outing post) We also discussed Australia—learning the difference between a country and a continent, and how Australia is BOTH, as well as being an island, which we learned the definition for. We made the chart of “Animals that Hop” which you see here. And our words to remember when we see a Joey tucked in a pouch are “God keeps me safe”.