Kids will enjoy playing the many educational and fun games available online. Sites are loaded with interactive games, learning activities, computer downloads, videos and printable coloring sheets. Check out the official Curious George website, as well as the PBS KIDS site for connections to the animated TV series.
Monkeys may not eat banana bread, but George at least loves bananas. Research how and where bananas grow and the nutritive value of these versatile fruits. Engage kids in hands-on learning in the kitchen as they mash bananas, measure, mix and stir up a loaf of banana bread. Search a cookbook or online recipe index for other ways to cook and use bananas.
Encourage children to be curious, just like George, by exploring the world around them. Draw connections between the natural curiosity that scientists need to make scientific predictions and advancements, and the many questions that kids ask about their world. Observe animals in nature, ask questions about how and why things operate and perform simple experiments to test your predictions.
George has many adventures and explores a new place in each of his stories. Extend the fun and learning of each book by taking a field trip. Visit a zoo and feed the animals, go camping and roast marshmallows over the fire, take a chocolate factory tour, attend a hot-air balloon festival or ride a train. Discuss the trouble George gets into because he is too curious and how to be safe and respectful of others while trying new activities.
The man with the yellow hat brings George home from Africa and we read in the first book that George misses his old home. Locate Africa on a world map. Research the climate and vegetation of the continent and the types of monkeys that live there. Discuss why George would feel strange in a house in a big city.
H.A. and Margret Rey, the authors of the original Curious George books, led their own adventurous lives. As German-born, Jewish artists living in France, they narrowly escaped the Nazi invasion of Paris in 1940. Read "The Journey That Saved Curious George" by Louise Borden and learn about the life of this artistic couple who created a trouble-making little monkey for the world to enjoy.