𦫠How does a beaver build a dam?
The beaver is the carpenter of the animal world, building dams across rivers. Let's see how this hardworking animal builds its home.
π· A beaver swimming down the river with a branch in its mouth.
What kind of animal is the beaver?
Beavers live in rivers and lakes in North America, Europe and northern Asia. They belong to the rodent family, like mice, and are among its larger members. Their wide, flat tails and webbed back feet make them excellent swimmers, and they can stay underwater for a long time.
Beavers gnaw down trees with their strong front teeth and pile up branches and mud to build dams across rivers. The dam makes the water deeper, and inside it they build a home of branches called a lodge, with entrances under the water so predators can't easily get in. A beaver's front teeth keep growing all its life, so gnawing wood never wears them away.
A beaver's front teeth are orange because the outer layer contains iron, which makes them extra strong. When a beaver senses danger, it slaps the water with its flat tail to warn its family. The ponds beavers create also become homes for other animals like fish and birds.
π Things to observe
- Look at photos of a beaver's wide, flat tail.
- Find the color of a beaver's front teeth and talk about why they're that color.
- Look at a photo of a beaver dam and find what it's made of.
ποΈ Tips for drawing together with your child
- Give a chubby body a wide, paddle-shaped tail, and you've got a beaver.
- Stack up lots of brown logs to draw a dam, then add a blue river.
- Paint big areas of brown logs, and Carpenter Log will be pleased at how sturdy it looks.
π¬ Let's talk about it
- If you were a beaver, what kind of home would you build?
- Who else might live in a pond that a beaver made?
πͺ In the game: Carpenter Log
In Animal Drawing Shop, the beaver visits as a customer named βCarpenter Log.β Carpenter Log asks for pictures on themes like my home, the riverside, building things, and loves big areas of brown, like logs. Use plenty of the customer's favorite colors and draw with care to earn more coins. Try drawing with the real animal's features in mind!
Favorite colors: brownblue