Nursery Rhymes
and Finger Plays – Children can develop oral language and story concepts
from simple rhymes. Here’s a
perfect one for the sequence of getting ready for school.
THIS
LITTLE GIRL
This
little girl is
Ready
for bed. (Hold
up index finger and wiggle.)
On
the pillow
She
lays her head. (Open
palm and lay finger down.)
Wrap
the covers
Around
her tight. (Wrap
fist around finger.)
That’s
the way
She
spends the night. (Rock
hand.)
Morning
comes,
She
opens her eyes.
Off
with a toss
The
covers fly. (Open
fist.)
She
jumps out of bed, (Hold
up finger.)
Eats
her breakfast, (Pretend
to feed finger some food.)
And
brushes her teeth. (Pretend
to brush teeth on finger.)
She
gets dressed and (Pretend
to dress finger.)
Brushes
her hair. (Pretend
to brush hair.)
Now
she’s ready
And
on her way, (Dance
finger around.)
To
work and play
At
school all day.
This
little boy… (Do
similar motions with the
opposite index finger.)
Puppets –
Puppets are a unique way to integrate art with standards. Children can make stick puppets, lunch
sack puppets, paper plate puppets, envelope puppets, etc. of favorite
characters from books read. Their
“puppet” can then retell the story.
Flannel Board –
To make a simple flannel board, staple the sides of a file folder and glue felt
to the front. Make characters from
felt or copy color photos from the book, cut them out, and attach a piece of
Velcro to the back. Model how to
retell the story and then invite the children to retell it using the felt
pieces.
*Folk tales, such
as “The Little Red Hen,” “The Three Bill Goats Gruff,” “Gingerbread Boy,” etc.
work well as flannel board stories.
Dramatize
– Invite children to be different characters in a story and role play various
scenes.
Blank Books
– Fold two sheets of paper in half and staple. After reading a story, have children make a book about it.
Cartoon Frames
– Run off copies of cartoon frames so children can draw the sequence of events
in a story. Start with two frames
for the beginning and the end.
Next, try three frames so they can draw the beginning, middle, and end. Finally, offer for frames for first,
next, then, and last.
Story
Bracelets – String color-coded beads on a pipe cleaner to help prompt
children as they retell stories.
Three
Pigs
Once
upon a time there were three little pigs.
(3 pink beads)
The
first little pig built a house of straw.
(1 yellow bead)
The
second little pig built a house of sticks. (1 brown bead)
The
third little pig built a house of bricks.
(1 red bead)
One
day a big bad wolf came along. (1
black bead)
He
went to the house of the first little pig and said,
“Little
pig, little pig, let me come in.”
(Touch yellow bead.)
The
little pig said, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.”
“Then
I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in”…
The
wolf climbed up on the chimney so he could get the pigs.
The
pigs put a big pot of boiling water in the fireplace. (blue bead)
When
the wolf hit the hot water he jumped out of the
fireplace
and was never heard from again.
And
that’s the story of the three little pigs!
(Twist
ends of pipe cleaner to make a bracelet.)
