How Creatures Move: NCERT Class 3 English Poem (Marigold Unit 10)

etmantra13 Mar 20216 min read

How Creatures Move is full of action words that children can act out. It looks at how different animals walk, leap, crawl, swim and swing. It is a lovely way to learn movement verbs while getting up and moving.

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From the NCERT English book Marigold for Class 3, unit 10. NCERT’s newer Class 3 book is Santoor, but many schools still teach Marigold.

Watch: How Creatures Move

Play the video three or four times. The first time, just listen. Then point at the pictures, and from the third time, say the lines along with the video. Short, repeated listening is how CALP builds a child’s English.

What your child learns

Action words (verbs): walk, leap, crawl, swim, swing
Animal body words: paws, tail, wings
Matching each animal to the way it moves
Hearing rhyming pairs like fun and run

What the poem is about

The poem describes how different creatures move. The lion walks on soft, padded paws. The squirrel jumps from branch to branch. Flies can crawl straight up a wall, and seals can dive and swim. The worm wiggles about, the monkey swings by its tail, and birds hop on the ground or open their wings and fly.

In the last lines the poem turns to children. It says boys and girls have the most fun of all, because they can leap, dance, walk and run. The message is that every creature has its own way of moving, and children can enjoy many of them.

New words, with Hindi meanings

creature: any living animal (हिंदी: जीव)
padded: soft and cushioned underneath (हिंदी: गद्देदार)
paws: the feet of animals like lions, cats and dogs (हिंदी: पंजे)
leaps: jumps high or far (हिंदी: छलाँग लगाता है)
limb: a big branch of a tree (हिंदी: डाल)
crawl: move slowly close to the ground (हिंदी: रेंगना)
dive: jump head first into water (हिंदी: गोता लगाना)
wiggles: moves from side to side with small quick movements (हिंदी: कुलबुलाता है)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

How does the lion walk?
Which creature can crawl straight up a wall?
What can birds do besides hopping on the ground?
Which animal's way of moving do you like best, and why?

Answers for parents

The lion walks on soft, padded paws.
Flies can crawl straight up a wall.
Birds can spread their wings and sail through the air.
For example: I like the monkey best, because swinging by the tail looks like great fun.

Grammar corner: Action words (verbs)

Action words tell us what someone or something does. In this poem, walks, leaps, swims and swings are action words. Ask “What does it do?” to find the action word in a sentence.

The frog jumps into the pond.
The fish swims under the water.
My little sister runs to the gate.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: The monkey ___ by its tail.
Match the creature to its action: squirrel, seal, worm (wiggles / dives / leaps).
Spot the rhyme: which word rhymes with “fun”: walk, run or dance?

Answers: 1. swings · 2. squirrel → leaps; seal → dives; worm → wiggles · 3. run

Try this

Play a moving game. Call out a creature from the poem and let your child move like it: walk softly like a lion, leap like a squirrel, wiggle like a worm, swing like a monkey, spread arms and sail like a bird. Finish with the last lines: leap, dance, walk and run.

Tip for parents

Say the action in Hindi first, like “बंदर पूँछ से झूलता है”, and act it out; then say the English: “The monkey swings.” Let your child call out actions in any language while they move, and cheer every English word they use.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem How Creatures Move about?

It describes how a lion, squirrel, flies, seals, a worm, a monkey and birds move, and ends by saying children have the most fun because they can leap, dance, walk and run.

Which words rhyme in How Creatures Move?

Some rhyming pairs are limb and swim, tail and sail, and fun and run.

Which book is How Creatures Move from?

It is from NCERT's older Marigold book for Class 3 (Unit 10). The newer NCERT English books are Mridang for Class 1–2 and Santoor for Class 3–5.

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