Animals!

Books

Ages 0- 3

  • Bearsie Bear and the Surprise Sleepover by Bernard Waber
  • Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton

    • Ages 4-8

  • Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox
  • Minerva Louise by Janet Morgan Stoeke
  • Pigs by Robert Munsch
  • Pinkerton, Behave by Steven Kellogg
  • The Monkey and the Crocodile by Paul Galdone

    • Activities

    Pig Balloons

    Materials: pink balloons, permanent markers, string, pink ribbon, scissors, tape

  • Blow up balloons and knot them.
  • Give your “pig” a face with permanent markers.
  • Curl a bit of ribbon on scissors and tape a curly tail on the back of your pig.
  • Tie a long string to your pig so it can’t float away.

    • Pin the tail on the….

    Materials: markers, large sheet of paper or poster board, tape, scissors, construction paper, scarf for blindfolding.

  • Draw whatever animal is the subject of a book you just read using markers on the poster board.
  • Tape the drawing to a wall at kid-level.
  • Cut a tail, random body part, article of clothing, accessory, etc out of construction paper and make one for each player.
  • Fasten a loop of tape to the back of each item.
  • One at a time, blindfold the players, spin them around, and let them take turns trying to stick the item on the animal.

    • Animal, Animal, Who’s Got the Animal?

    Materials: scissors, poster board, markers.

  • Cut whatever animal is the subject of the book you just read out of the poster board. Make sure it’s small enough that a child can enclose it completely in their hands.
  • Have the children sit in a circle and choose one to be the guesser, who you send out of the room for a minute.
  • Give the poster board animal figure to one child in the group but make sure all of the kids have their hands cupped so it is not obvious who has the animal.
  • The guesser can now come back into the circle and has to walk around and try to guess which child has the animal, while the others chant, “Animal, animal, who’s got the animal?” You can substitute “animal” for the actual name of the character in the book to make the connection clearer to the kids.
  • If the guesser chooses correctly, they get to sit down in the circle and the kid who had the animal becomes the guesser. If the guesser chooses incorrectly, they have to try and try again until they succeed.

    • Eggshell Peacock

    Materials: (food coloring, hot water, white vinegar), 6 hard-boiled eggs, (markers), wax paper, (rolling pin), cardboard, glue, Ziploc bag.

  • Pre-prepare different colors of egg dye by mix ¼ tsp food coloring, ¾ c hot water, and 1 tbsp vinegar for each different color.
  • Soak the eggs in the dye as long as you like then let them dry. Alternative: Color them with markers.
  • Peel off the eggshells and set the eggs aside. Place the shells in Ziploc bags and crush them into large pieces with a rolling pin or by hand.
  • Draw a peacock outline on the cardboard. Spread glue inside the outline and press on eggshell bits. Fill in spaces with markers if you like. Then cut out the peacock outline to take home.

    • Stuffed Alligator

    Materials: 2 large sheets of paper ea. About 1 square yd, tape or stapler, markers, crayons, paint, and/or paintbrushes, scissors, newspaper or tissue paper, (hole punch and yarn).

  • Lay 1 large paper on top of other and tape/ staple edges together.
  • Draw a big alligator (or other animal) outline on one side of paper.
  • Cut along the outline to make 2 alligator cutouts.
  • Tape/ staple edges of cutouts together. Leave an opening on 1 edge.
  • Color or paint both sides of alligator, adding details like eyes, mouth, scales, etc.
  • Stuff alligator with crumpled tissue or newspaper and staple opening shut.
  • (Optional): Punch a hole in the top of alligator and hang it from the ceiling with yarn.

    • Snacks

    Dog Bones (Book Cooks)

  • Ingredients for 6: ½ c peanut butter, ½ c dry milk, 1 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp crushed graham cracker crumbs, bowl, mixing spoon
  • Mix peanut butter and dry milk in a bowl. Add in honey and mix well.
  • Divide dough into 6 pieces and mold each piece into dog bone shape.
  • Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on both sides.

    • Chicken Feed (Book Cooks)

  • Ingredients for 6: 2 c Cheerios, 1 c peanuts, ½ c sunflower seeds, ½ c raisins, 1 c M&Ms, bowl, mixing spoons, paper cups
  • Mix peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, M&Ms in a bowl. Add Cheerios and stir.
  • Serve in paper cups.

    • No-Bake Banana Cookies for Monkeys, PBA

  • Ingredients per cookie: 3 graham crackers, banana, Ziploc bag, rolling pin.
  • Seal the crackers in a bag and crush with rolling pin.
  • Slice banana into small pieces and shake a few pieces at a time in the bag to coat them with cracker crumbs.

    • Teddy Graham Cookies and Animal Crackers

  • Buy a box or two and open.
  • Serve!

    • Mouse Cookie, (http://www.prekinders.com/kidrecipes.htm)

  • Ingredients: sugar cookie, peanut butter, popsicle stick (spreader), 2 vanilla wafers (ears), M&Ms (eyes/ nose), 4 pretzel sticks (whiskers).
  • Spread peanut butter on sugar cookie and add other pieces.