Once Upon A Book~Pet Show!

 

Pet Show! by Ezra Jack Keats 

Book Summary~Everyone is talking about the neighborhood pet show, and Archie can't wait. His friends are bringing dogs and birds, and he is going to enter the cat who lives near by. But when it's time to go, the cat is nowhere to be found. The contest is about to start. What can Archie do?

Bible Verse

And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. (Genesis 1:24)

Math

Using our Education Cubes and Animal Counters, we played the Pets Grid Game from PreKinders.

 

We then used the Animal Countersto practice patterns.

Reading

 

I pulled out a Beginning Sounds file folder game from my Kindergarten teaching days and was pleasantly surprised to find out Jonah could do it independently. (The file folder game came from a pack of pre-made games that only required laminating and cutting~bought several years ago. I can't find the exact set this game is from on Amazon, but it is similar to this set.)

 

Field Trip/Vocabulary

Visit the local pet store! This was a fun little outing for Jonah. We looked at the adorable animals, but also walked through the pet care items and introduced a TON of vocabulary!  (For sanity reasons, I set the ground rules before entering about whining when leaving, asking for pets, etc. with the promise that if he did a good job, we would come back in the future.) My favorite part about this little "field trip" was that it was FREE! I only wish I had taken my camera!

 

Once we returned from the pet store, we used our experience to help sort animals into two categories~Pets or Zoo Animals. I used the Pets Theme Cards and the Safari Theme Cards from PreKinders. Later, I found Jonah practicing with his stuffed animals.

Glitter Germs~

 

In the book, Archie can't find the cat when it is time for the Pet Show to begin. He improvises, takes an empty jar and says his pet is a germ. It was a perfect time to do the "Glitter Germs" Activity and talk about germs! (Forgive me for not taking a picture, but glitter and a 4-year-old required lots of mommy supervision!)

 

Once Upon a Book ~ I’ll Teach My Dog A Lot of Words

I’ll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words

by Michael Firth

 

Summary:  It’s amazing the things that we can teach our pets . . . from sit, to beg, to bark, to shine my shoe!  This is a delightful book to have a Tot mimic all the things that he wants his dog to do!

Bible Verse:  A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal, But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel. (Proverbs 12:10) 

Make sure your Tot has gentle hands!  Remember to have your child get in the habit of asking a dog owner if they can pet the dog, especially a working dog!  It’s always good to stand sideways when you greet a dog.  Hold out your hand for the dog to sniff before stroking the pet’s head.  As a dog owner, I often want to have my dog sit down before a stranger pets her.  So try and have your child wait until a dog is nice and settled.  Some dogs aren’t used to kids.

We are a dog lovin’ family.  I almost shared with you our favorite book, Walter the Farting Dog . . . but fortunately for you thought better of it!  Having Gabe cooperate with his Tot Time was sooooooooo easy this week, thanks to some activities that involved our furry creature.

If you don’t have the book, I recommend this YouTube video.  We had to resort to it because I think our dog . . . ate our book.  Seriously.  Hard to believe, I know.

I’ll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words is a FABULOUS book to teach with, especially if your brand new printer doesn’t work.  (Murphy’s Law was at work in our house!)  You don’t need a printer or scissors because you can read the book and go be active with your child.  It was a precious time of fun for Gabe and I. 

He ran.

He dug a hole and filled it up.

Gabe threw a ball.

 

And taught Ruth how to sit . . . kind of. 

 

What I love about this Once Upon a Book post is that I focused on just playing with Gabe.  And in that playing . . . he learned.  He also felt loved.  So ladies, as  you go to plan for your children, especially for your little ones, don’t over plan.  Remember to just “be” with your Tot.  A lot of the time, they simply want to sit in your lap for 30 seconds {ahem}, feel your warm breath in their hair, and  your animated voice behind them.  Follow that with some simple, short, and sweet learning moments.  Those moments don’t have to have fireworks attached or last 30 minutes to an hour. 

Mine certainly didn’t this week.

BUT. HE. WAS. THRILLED.

Our activities met Gabe’s learning style and school wasn’t forced.

Gotta love that.

Other ideas?

• Sing some songs!  Check out Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? or How Much is that Doggy in the Window?
• File Folder Fun has a great color matching game that closely resembles the dog painting a shirt and pair of underwear! 

• If a dog can learn big and small, short and tall . . . then it stands to reason  your child can to.  Print several size sequencing file folder games. 
• Make your own dog treats.
• Create a doghouse out of a big box.
• Visit the vet’s office, grooming facility, or pet store.
• Play “Trainer Says” instead of “Simon Says.”
• Paint like a dog!  Have your child wear socks on their hands.  But don’t expect to use the socks again! 
• Visit Enchanted Learning for more dog crafts.

 

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!

Mommy Made Printables ~ Pets

We are excited to share some Pets printables for you to use with your tots as you explore together!

Dogs Preschool Pack {from Homeschool Creations}

Cats Preschool Pack {from 1+1+1=1}

Cc is for Cat ~ Pets Theme {from 1+1+1=1}

Pp is for Puppy {from Confessions of a Homescooler}

Do you have any free Pets printables YOU have created {and share}? If so, leave a link to your blog post in the comments below!

Once Upon a Book ~ Not Norman

Not Norman: A Goldfish Story

by Kelly Bennett

Book Summary: This is a cute story about a boy who declares that Norman, the goldfish, is NOT the pet that he wants. However, over time he realizes that Norman IS the perfect pet for him!

Bible Verse: Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Psalm 37:4

We had lots of fishy fun! The boys worked together and played the Clown Fish Grid Game. They used our homemade puff ball magnets and our Education Cubes (with the Clown Fish insert cards).

The boys had fun with our Design & Drill Set and patterns. They copied the patterns and made a fish and the letter “F”.

We pulled out our Bambino LUK and played a fish color match game for some independent learning time! (You can read my review about it here.)

I pulled out our Fishbowl file folder game.

Blocks of any sort are always a hit with my boys. They enjoyed using the pattern blocks (along with the fish pattern card from PreKinders).

I discovered a fishing game (made from a Preschool in a Bag Activity Swap). We used our Education Cubes along with the color word insert cards and played a fun color matching game with our fish. The boys took turns rolling the cube. Then they had to fish out the color fish as indicated on the cube.

We even used our Purpllinker to make a fish!

Finally we had some edible fun with some colored goldfish! We made fish patterns!

We graphed our fish!

Then we got to enjoy our fish with a fun, fishy snack!

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)? Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!

Once Upon A Book ~ Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet!

Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet! By Dr. Seuss

Summary: This is a great touch and feel book for younger tots! It has fur, feathers, flaps, slide tabs, and cardboard rings for the antlered Gack. It covers lots of fun imaginative pets along with the wonderful rhyming so well known to Dr. Seuss books.

Bible Verse: “And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” Genesis 1:24

Since my Teeny Tot loves Puppies, we went with that for our Pet theme this month. She is currently 2.5 years old, so we’re keeping it light. She is excited about school this year, and is eager to have her own work to do!

Prewriting Skills: It’s always good to practice basic handwriting skills just to get your fine-motor skills tuned. It takes time to be able to trace lines and so have patience!

Pre-writing practice worksheets: We use dry-erase markers on these, you can either laminate the pages, or use page protectors so the worksheets remain re-usable.

Large letter tracing:

Math Concepts: These activities are all centered around practicing basic math principles such as one-to-one correspondence, counting, sorting, and logical thinking skill building.

Magnet Page: One to One correspondence activity. We use these power magnets from Amazon.

Number Counting Cards: We had some cute little dog bones that she used. We counted together and put the correct amount of bones on each card based on the number on it.

Smallest to largest size sorting activity. I was impressed with the Teeny Tot’s skills here, she did these all on her own and we talked about which was the smallest and largest.

Puppy Matching: I printed 2 copies of this page and cut one apart, and left one whole. We then matched up the puppy cards to the one on the game board. You can also cut both copies then flip them over and use them as a memory matching game.

Counting and Logical Thinking: This is one of my new number order puzzles. If you put the pieces in number order you’ll have a completed puzzle.

Pattern Activity: This is a little beyond what my Teeny Tot can understand right now, so I helped her out with it. I think after repeating these types of activities though she’ll get it soon enough!

Motor-Skills Practice: These activities are all geared towards getting those little muscles working. They work on muscle coordination, fine-motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

Lacing activity. This was a little crazy, she didn’t quite get the concept to go around the puppy, but instead just went in and out of random holes in the card, but that’s okay, she’s just getting started‘

Cutting Skills: We’re still working on proper scissor hold and it just takes some time to get it down pat so don’t get frustrated, just give your children ample opportunity! With rounded child scissors of course!

Coloring Page. Right now we’re using Crayola washable, erasable colored pencils. I’m a big fan of all things “washable” these days!

One of our favorite activities…not washable might I add…are the do-a-dot marker pages! You can find Do-a-dot markers on Amazon and at most craft stores! The goal is to place one dot inside each circle.

Letter Poke Page: I took a leap with this activity, but the Teeny Tot did remarkably well with it. We used an OVERSIZED push pin, she was instructed to poke a hole along the letter outlines. She actually did do that then proceeded to poke holes all over the paper. I think she just liked it, but I was impressed with her focus on this activity. I would suggest parental supervision if using a pokey object ;o)

Click here to download the Preschool Puppy Pack!

Want to see what's coming next (and books we've done in the past)?

Click here to see our Once Upon a Book webpage!