Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 171
Lions
Hello Everyone
Bill and Bob have been very busy this week working on a project about Africa they are doing for school.
Each child has been given an African animal to research and they have to write a report and draw a picture. All of the work will be put up on the big notice board at the side of their classroom.
Bill and Bob were thrilled when the animal that they pulled out of the hat was a lion.
They got to work straight away on their research and this is what they found out…
Lions are the only large cats that like to live in family groups. This group is called a pride. They usually have one adult male lion who is the leader of the pride. There are some other males, and all the females are related. When the boys grow up they go off to form their own family.
Lions live in open grasslands called the Savannah found south of the Sahara Desert. Most of the year the grass is a dry, brown colour which means the lions will blend in with the background.
Barbary lions, which are the heraldic symbol of England and are also to be found at the bottom of Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square, used to be found in North Africa but are now only found in zoos because they are extinct in the wild.
ln fact, three hundred years ago lions could be found across Greece and Turkey, most of the Middle East and India.
lt is mostly the females in the pride that hunt and they do this by cleverly working in groups. One will spook their intended prey and chase it towards all the other females who are hiding in the long grass.
Male lions are the only cats to have manes and a tuft at the end of their tail – this tuft conceals a sharp spine. The manes are fully developed when the lion is two years old and grows darker as they grow older, so if you see a lion with a black mane you know he is an older cat.
Lions are very powerful and can be very dangerous with sharp teeth and claws. The canines can grow up to 8cm/3½ inches. Their claws are positioned at the end of their toes unlike domestic cats which have claws between their toes.
Lion babies are called cubs and they are born in a den that their mother will make in a cave or bush. One to four are born at a time.
Lions are very affectionate animals and greet each other by rubbing their heads together; this is something you will see your pet cat doing.
Lions are called the ‘king of the jungle’ because they have such a noble appearance and are often used as symbols of power and bravery.
Now Bill and Bob have to draw their pictures.
Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bob: Do you know how you can get a set of teeth put in for free?
Bill: Yes, tease a lion!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
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Picture Gallery
Male lions’ manes get darker as they get older
Lions are know as the king of beasts
Lions are very affectionate
Most of the pride will consist of females and their young
Mothers carry their cubs in their mouths when they are very tiny
Cubs have a spotty coat which helps to camouflage them in the long grass
White lions are very rare
Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square
Nelson at the top of his column
A lion at the base of Nelson’s Column – (and a pigeon) 
In the summer they have people sitting on them constantly
A lion at the top of the Coliseum near Trafalgar Square
The South Bank Lion at the end of Westminster Bridge
(and two pigeons)
The lion of England with the unicorn of Scotland
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
The lions in the Rocky Bay Safari Park are very well looked after. They have lots of space to lounge about in and because they are happy, they live to a great age.
When male lions get older they have back manes.
Auntie Alice has been busy knitting again this week. And this time she has made a very stylish black trim dress for Emily’s 12” doll.
I really think by now Emily must have the best-dressed doll in Rocky Bay!
NEWSDESK MINI MAKE
12” DOLL BLACK TRIM DRESS AND SHAWL
DRESS (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and black textured yarn cast on 12 stitches
Knit 1 row, knit 1 row
Change to pink dk yarn
Knit 30 rows in stocking stitch
Purl 1 row, purl 1 row
Cast off
TO MAKE UP
Using over-sew stitches sew up the sides of dress right sides together.
SHAWL
Using 4mm knitting needles and black textured yarn cast on 30 stitches
Knit 1 row, knit 1 row
Keep knitting in garter stitch decreasing 1 stitch at the beginning of every row until you have 2 stitches left
Knit 2 together
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Quick Quiz
How much do you know about Africa?
- Which is its largest country?
- What is the name of its largest desert?
- What is the name of the pointed piece of land jutting into the sea on the north east corner?
- What is Africa’s tallest animal?
- Who went looking for Dr. Livingstone?
- What is Timbuktu?
- What is the name of the flat-topped mountain overlooking Cape Town?
- Which sea is to the north?
- Which famous river runs through Egypt?
- On which river is the Victoria Falls?
Victoria Falls
BLOW MY FOGHORN!!!
PLUS
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lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO KNlT A HAPPY LlON
FRONT AND BACK (KNIT TWO)
Using 4mm knitting needles and yellow dk yarn cast on 20 stitches
Knit 1 row, knit 1 row
Knit 12 rows of stocking stitch
Decrease 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 8 rows of stocking stitch (12 stitches)
Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch
Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of the next 4 rows stst (16 rows)
Knit 4 rows stst
Knit 2 together at each end of the next 7 rows stst
Knit 2 together
TO MAKE UP
Embroider a face and some front legs onto the front of the lion.
Sew up the side seams and leave the bottom open if you would like to use him as a puppet on your fingers.
Otherwise stuff him and sew up the bottom.
Sew on a loopy mane.
The tail is 10 chains of crochet using two lengths of dk yarn with a tassel at the end.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- Which is its largest country? – Sudan
- What is the name of its largest desert? – The Sahara
- What is the name of the pointed piece of land jutting into the sea on the north east corner? – The Horn of Africa
- Which famous river runs through Egypt? – The Nile
- What is Africa’s tallest animal? – a giraffe
- Who went looking for Dr. Livingstone? – Henry Morton Stanley, a journalist from The New York Herald
- What is Timbuktu? – it is a remote town on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert
- What is the name of the flat-topped mountain overlooking Cape Town? – Table Mountain
- Which sea is to the north? – The Mediterranean
- On which river is the Victoria Falls? – the Zambezi
The Horn of Africa
Dr Livingstone
A building in Timbuktu
Table Mountain
For an Embroidery Stitches Chart
Check out Blog Post 3
If you want to see lots of pictures of lions and other cats, go to my pinboard at:
https://www.pinterest.com/TheSaltySamBlog/cats/
Muchas gracias. ?Como puedo iniciar sesion?
How do you mean?