If your little ones love tigers, don’t miss The Tiger Who Came to Tea, which begins its next UK tour in February 2024. As one of the best family theatre shows around, it’s a great way to introduce your children to live performance. While you’re waiting for the big day, you could also enjoy a host of tiger-themed arts and crafts, including making your own tiger habitat. Here’s our how-to guide.

1. Source a Box

First things first, source a large shoe box or another empty box that can be used for your tiger project. You can then decide where you want your tiger to live - be it a tropical forest, grassland, rocky area or mangrove swamp - and paint the box to reflect this. Use a wide range of different coloured paints and cut out leaves from green paper to create a jungle canopy or mangroves. Stick these around the lid of the box for dramatic effect.

1. Think About the Setting

Tigers are active at night. So to make your tiger habitat as real as possible, you could paint the inside of the box black with a moon and stars. Or, you could create a day and night scene. One side could be for stalking, pouncing and hunting and the other side could be sunny with some shadows so that your model tigers can skulk off and get some sleep.

1. Add Some Grasslands

In grasslands, tigers crouch in long grass. In jungles, they use trees and shrubs for cover. Use craft paper to make your scene more realistic. Cut out grassy shapes from construction paper and maybe make a tree from a toilet roll tube which you can paint brown and green craft paper. You can even use real or artificial plants if they’re small enough for your chosen setting.

1. Add Some Water

Unlike many cats, tigers love water. So, you could make a waterhole, river or lake for your tiger habitat. Do this with paint, or cut and stick some blue craft paper onto the bottom of your box. Add some brown and grey rocks around the side to make it look as realistic as possible. When playing with your tiger habitat, be sure to give your tiger a drink and maybe let them splash around for a little bit to cool down.

1. Find Tiger Prey

If you have small model animals at home, these could be great for your tiger habitat. Tigers like to eat deer, wild pigs, antelope, rabbits and even peacocks. So find, draw or make animals suitable for your chosen habitat. You can then make your very own tiger out of plasticine or use a model you already have to bring the setting to life.