Kids Cards: Endangered Animals Valentine Card plus Crossword

The ten year old wanted to make Valentines cards rather than buy some generic ones from the store that did not gel with her ideas. She settled on giving Endangered Animals cards for her friends. We  attributed/credited the image source, and only tried to use images that allowed Free Reuse for non-commercial purposes.

Rather than the usual well-known endangered animals that many would have come across here, we went with Endangered (and Vulnerable) Animals of India: One-horned rhino, Indian pangolin, Asiatic lions, Asiatic Cheetah, Nilgiri marten, Sloth bear, Barasingha, Hoolock gibbon, Khur, Red panda, Gaur, and Clouded leopard.

Some info about each animal, plus a picture, plus a crossword was what she settled on. Rather than random info, we decided on a theme: The crossword is tied to the write-up/information provided.

Incidentally, among the many popular mnemonics, kids at home simply love this one:

Kings Potty Cautiously On Fine Golden Stools

They can simply picture the royalty comically eliminating, plus it helps that "Stools" has more than one meaning.

Anyway, this was our way of keeping track of Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

So, we decided to make up crosswords that will reinforce these for the various endangered animals. The write-up included information about Class, Family, Genus, and Species names which was reiterated in the crossword clues to make it an entertaining and educational Valentine card.

The back of the card got the usual valentine messages.

She also wanted to add some treat for her friends as she knew they were going to give her some. So, what was left to do was to package this in an attractive way.We went with tissue papers we had saved from other gifts and it seemed like a good idea to reuse/recycle them this way. A little tag hinted at the crossword inside.

I am glad she found something worthwhile to share with her friends on this day that celebrates friendship.