I worked on my birthday display a little bit last night and here’s what I have so far! I couldn’t take a picture of the entire train since my craft room isn’t big enough {nor does it have the right lighting}, so I’ll have to wait to post an image of the full display until it goes up in my classroom, but I’m sure you’ll be able to get the gist!

Safari Train Birthday “Tracker”

The Engine

I used this coloring page as a template to create the train engine from assorted colors/prints of card stock.

The Train Cars

I downloaded various animal print backgrounds and used word processing software to create simple train car shapes, alternating the prints for each month. [I only had four different prints - zebra, leopard, giraffe, and tiger - so I ended up with three cars of each print.] Next, I printed the clip art images from Stockberry Studios and Zenware Designs in various sizes and glued the animals to the train car cutouts. The last step is to laminate!

The Name Plates

Once again, I used the zebra print background I downloaded and word processing software to create the circular name plates, then printed the kiddos’ names onto neon pink and green card stock {pink for the girls, green for the boys}, cut out the circles, and mounted them onto the animal print circles. I decided to laminate them for good measure. To attach the name plates to the appropriate train cars, I used a hole punch and some ribbon, punching a hole at the bottom of each car, as well as the top of the name plate, and tying them together with the ribbon. For months with more than one student birthday, I lined the name plates up vertically, and used a piece of ribbon to connect them together.

Supplies for this display…

• Card stock in assorted colors
• Stockberry Studio and Zenware Designs jungle/safari clip art or images of your choosing
• Single paper punch
• Thin ribbon

Once I get the display up in the classroom {which should hopefully be this weekend}, I’ll be sure to post a picture!