Program Viewing Tips
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies is designed to promote preschool children's appreciation and
understanding of animal life, and to foster their recognition of ways in which animal and
human experiences are both similar and different.
The series is based on the questions and issues of concern that are common to preschoolers.
Applied to the animal world, these issues are spun into stories with problems and resolutions
that not only offer new insights into the needs and routines of wild creatures, but also mirror
the preschool experience.
Here are some ideas on how you can engage your child and generate discussion around the topics
featured in the series.
Talk with your child about animal customs and behaviors and reflect on the similarities
and differences between animal practices and those of your preschooler.
Ask your child to choose an animal from the series or pick one of the main characters (Mama, Max, Bo or Karla)
and to explain what qualities they like most. What qualities does your preschooler possess that are similar
or different to these animals?
Use any of the topics below from the series to further discuss themes that have relevance to the animal
world and how they apply to your preschooler’s world.
• Do baby animals go through similar development stages as children?
• Do animals have families?
• Why is camouflage important to animals? Do humans need camouflage?
Discuss the game of hide and seek and use this information to discuss
camouflage.
• What makes you unique? What makes certain animals unique? How are you
similar and different to the animals in Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies?
• Where do animals live and why do they live there? Where do you live and why?
• What do animals eat? Is it important for animals to eat well? What happens if
they don’t?
• Why is playing important to animals? Have you learned a skill by playing a game?
Introduce your child to the diversity of animals and how to describe and talk about these animals.
You can introduce your child to a new vocabulary and way of communicating about animals
by talking about the following:
• How to recognize animals by sight e.g. what makes a lion different from a tiger?
• What are the names of the different animals
• How to recognize and imitate how they sound
• How to recognize and imitate how they move
• Use specific language to describe them physically, involving:
o Color words e.g. brown, red
o Size words e.g. huge, tiny.
o Shape words e.g. round, flat
o Texture words e.g. rough, scaly
o Weight words, e.g. heavy, light
o Comparative language e.g. as tall as…; as heavy as…
• Use concepts and words that are unique to the animal world, including:
o For baby animals e.g. cub, calf
o Groups of animals e.g. herd, pride
o Self defense mechanisms e.g. camouflage
o Physical features e.g. trunk
o Habitats e.g. nests, dens
o Migration
Have your child draw a picture of his or her favorite animal and tell you a story about it.
Talk about where this animals lives and some of its habits. Encourage your child to use some
of the new vocabulary you’ve learned together to describe the activity on the page. Write
the names of the animals and some of their characteristics on the page. Collect all the
pictures your child draws and put them together as a book. In a few days or in a week review
the pictures with your child and practice the new words you’ve learned.
Appreciate the wonder and beauty of animals and animal life.
It’s important for children to understand that not all animals live on farms or zoos.
Talk to your child about animals living in the wild and the different countries from
which they come.
Use these opportunities to introduce maps, animal encyclopedias and other resources to
explore your child’s interests further e.g. show your child a map of the world and point
out Africa. Share pictures of animals living in their natural habitat. Seek out websites
that have animal sounds and videos.
Discuss some of the topics below:
• How each animal is unique e.g. elephants have tusks, ducks have webbed feet etc.
• Where animals make their homes e.g. on the savanna, in trees, caves, in water etc.
• Animals deserve respect and should not be mistreated
• Animals come from the wild where they live freely in their natural habitat
