Zoo Food!

Alright, to preface this incredibly long post, I currently work as an art teacher in Bridgeport, CT. About a month ago, on of my students, Katherine, burst into my room, arms akimbo, and simply shouted: "APPLE TURTLE!" I asked what possessed her to come up with such a combination, to which she had no idea, but, I knew at that moment it sounded fun and I just had to draw it! That day, I brought that apple turtle to life, and thus began a project I had no idea would become so popular and engaging to my students.



These are the original five: Apple Turtle, Banana Bunny, Pumpkin Lemur, Orange Dog, and Pomegranate Cat. These first five I laminated, because I didn't want them to get damaged (however, the Pomegranate Cat got stuck in the laminating machine and got all wrinkly, go figure).

In these past few weeks, on a daily basis a group of girls have designated themselves the Secretaries of the Zoo Foods and keep a roster of fruits and vegetables and animals to pair them with, while I carry the responsibility of creating them. Every day kids rush over to the little wall above the sink counter to see the new additions, and the wall is filling up so fast, I need to move them to a larger area! See how many there are now!



Some of my students also wanted a hand in the fun, and this is what they created:



So far this is an amazing project, and I want to see this go even further. Expect to see a book dummy featuring these guys sometime soon!