I had a few kids ask for me to please read cats books, so I made it into a theme. The craft this week was my favorite part because we got to make cat puppets and they had so much fun with it!
Books We Read
A Friend for Eddy by Ann Kim Ha
They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin
Find the Kitten by Stephen Cartwright
Sharing by Yusuke Yonezu
Songs We Sang
Five Little Mice
Five little mice, all gray from head to toes
Wiggle their ears and wiggle their nose
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 they run around the house
Because the cat is coming, and he’s hungry for some…
MOUSE!!
Credit: Pasadena Library
Kitty Cat Pounce
Kitty cat, kitty cat sneaks out of the house.
Kitty cat, kitty cat creeps up to a mouse,
And… POUNCE!
Kitty cat, kitty cat, creeps up to a bird.
Kitty cat, kitty cat, is not even heard,
And… POUNCE!
But the mouse ran, and the bird flew away,
So kitty cat found a ball of yarn to play
And… POUNCE!
Credit: Pasadena Library
Early Literacy Tip
Books like Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons are perfect for read-alouds because the repetition allows children to take part in reading the story bringing print motivation!
Flannel Activity
I brought back a flannel I made a while back to sing Bubble Bubble Pop after reading A Friend For Eddy.
Craft
I cut out a variety of shapes for the kids to create their own cat puppet using a brown paper bag. I made different colored heads, bodies, body spots, paws, tails, eyes, ears, and noses.
This one was a decent amount of prep, but they spent so long creating their cat and then taking it with them everywhere that is was totally worth it.
How it Went
This was a super fun storytime and anytime I bring in Pete the Cat, it is a hit! The crafts all turned out unique and super cute and all of the preparation time was so worth it.