Three Little Kittens

This week our activities were inspired by the book  Three Little Kittens illustrated by Paul Galdone.

Gathering Activity: ICE PAINTING IN MITTENS

This was a wonderful sensory activity. We froze water and paint in an ice cube tray the night before using several different colors of paint. We let the children ice paint while wearing a pair of mittens.  They loved it! 

 

Circle:

We read The Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone. 
  

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We sang the song "Mittens on My Hands"
(Sung To: 'Wheels on the Bus')

The mittens on my hands
Keep me warm
Keep me warm
Keep me warm
The mittens on my hands
Keep me warm
All Winter long!


Art: Hanging Kittens with Mittens
 

This activity needs lots of prep, but they are so very cute! 

We used the templates found here at  danielle's place We found it easiest if the ears, nose, mittens, etc... were precut before class.  And if the head, body, legs, and tails were already attached as one piece with a stapler so they can paint them easily. 

Make the cat that is featured below with the following modifications:
1-Let the children paint their preassembled cats.

2-Use glue to add the eyes, ears, nose, whiskers, mouth. 


3-Provide precut colored construction paper mittens for the children to place on their kittens hands when finished.  

Snack: Pie...of course!

We had individual fruit pies for each child. 

Activities: Mitten Sorting and Mitten Bean Bag Toss

Mitten Sorting: Everyone brought as many pairs of mittens and gloves as we could find.  We let the children ”hunt for” matches for the mittens.  

Mitten Bean Bag Toss:
We made bean bags out of mittens and gloves with no matches. We filled the mittens and gloves with beans and sewed up the ends.  (Hint:  It was easiest to fill them by using a funnel from a home canning kit).  

To play, place 3 empty pie tins in a row in front of a laundry basket.  Let the children take turns throwing the mittens and gloves in.   

Kitten's First Full Moon

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes 



Gathering Activity:  Black Cat Ears and Whiskers 

Materials Needed: black construction paper,  white construction paper, glue sticks, staplers, eye liner


We had all pieces cut out before class.  Cut out two black ears, two white centers, and a long lack strip for the headband. 

We let the kids glue the ears on and staple with help. 

We used eyeliner to add whiskers.  

The little ones were so cute as they pretended to be kittens all morning.

Circle Time:  Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes


"Here We Are Together"


We read Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes.  This is a very sweet story about a little kitten who thinks the full moon is a large bowl of milk.  He tries unsuccessfully to reach the milk.  In the end, he arrives home to find milk waiting for him on the porch.  The illustrations are all black, white, and gray. 

Finger Play:

Five Kittens (Traditional)
Five little kittens standing in a row, (Hold up five fingers.)
They nod their heads to the children so. (Bend fingers)
They run to the left; they run to the right. (Run fingers to the left and then to the right.)
They stand up and stretch in the bright sunlight. (Stretch fingers out tall.)
Along comes a dog who's in for some fun. (Hold up one finger from opposite hand.)
ME-OW! See those little kittens run! (Let fingers run.)




“Shake Sillies Out” Song 



 Art: Microwavable Puffy Paint Moon

We cut out cardboard circles to create full moons and then the children painted them with puffy paint.  

We made  puffy paint using this recipe from Play at Home Mom.   This was perfect for our project.

We were able to microwave the painted projects, so that they were dry enough to bring home.  It puffed up nicely.   It was the first time we had used microwavable puffy paint, but it won't be the last!




Snack: Milk in bowls and Black Kitten Cookies

  We let the little ones drink milk out of bowls like the kitten in the story.  They also enjoyed these yummy kitten cookies from Recipe Girl.  

Game: Find the Moon Game 



I wrote a little song that we sang while we played our game. 

Find the Moon (Tune of Where is Thumbkin?)

“Where’s the moon?  Where’s the moon?  Find it soon.  Find it soon.  Kitten wants the moon.  Kitten wants the moon.  Find it soon. Find it soon.”  


We made a moon to hide.  (Can be a white paper plate).  

A Mommy and her child took the moon and hid with it.  The rest of the children and mommies sang the song.  They went to find the moon together.  We played until each child had a chance to hide the moon.