"Put Me in the Zoo" and Fruit Loops

"Put Me in the Zoo" and Fruit Loops

 

 I sat with my daughter this morning eating Fruit Loops and as she took each one I told her what color she had.  She can say some of the colors, like blue, green and purple.  She toddled off and grabbed one of her favorite books, "Put Me in the Zoo".  I like the book because it also helps teach about colors.  She likes the part "Out you go, out out with you!"  She points her finger and says "out, out".  It is really cute.  Sometimes when we read, she will point to objects and I will tell her what they are.  But I'm stumped... what is that thing?  A bear? 


So we are sitting there eating Fruit Loops and reading.  My darling daughter takes a blue Fruit Loop and placed it on the bear who now had blue spots.  Whoa!!! Very cool.  I then went through the small bowl of cereal to find more blue Fruit Loops and placed them on the page.  We repeated the process with the green and orange page.  It was a fun activity.  She thought is was so great, she went to get "Mr. Brown can Moo" and put some Fruit Loops in that book too.  Oh well, it was cute and we are working on colors.

It's been a while since I did a book themed lesson plan.  But I had so many ideas rolling around in my head, I just have to get them written down.

So start by reading the book.  I have the board book, so that is the version I'm writing the lesson for.  I'm pretty sure that it will translate to the regular version as well.

Try these pages:
Zoo Animals
Blue
Colors
Green
Orange
Red
Purple

Preschool Art Ideas

Note: buttons are used in some of these activities.  Buttons are a choking hazard and should not be used with children under the age of three, or children who tend to put things in their mouths.

Ideas to make spots children can:

• use bingo dabbers
• dip a pencil eraser in paint or ink pad and press onto a piece of paper
• dip fingers into paint or an ink pad and press onto paper
• glue Fruit Loops onto paper
• use circle shaped item dipped into paint or ink pad and pressed onto paper
• use the holes from a hole punch
• use circles from a circle punch
• buttons or button prints
• cut a potato in half and use it to make prints

Make spots on:

• yellow paper
• yellow paper cut out like the bear
• white paper
• use only one color (red, blue, green, orange or violet) on yellow paper

Spotted Necklace

Supply the children with fruit loops and yarn to make a wonderful necklace they can eat.

How Much is a Handful Art

Have the children trace their hand onto a piece of paper.  Have the children grab a handful of Fruit Loops and  count them.  Then glue the Fruit Loops onto their hand shape.

How Much is a Handful Art/Graph
Have the children trace their hand onto a piece of paper.  Have the children grab a handful of Fruit Loops and  count them.  Then glue the Fruit Loops in rows according to color.  Count each color and write the number below the row.  Write the total number of Fruit Loops in the hand shape.

Science, Games and Math

Spot (Fruit Loop) Sort

The children can use a muffin tin to sort Fruit Loops by color.  

Spot (Fruit Loop) Estimation
Have the children estimate how many Fruit Loops they can grab with one hand.  Then have them grab a handful of Fruit Loops and count them.


Spot (Button) Sort
Have the children sort buttons by size or color.

Spot Game
Supply the children with five baskets and buttons. Place a piece of paper with a number on it in each basket and instruct the children to place that many buttons (spots) in the basket. If the basket says "5" place five buttons in the basket.

Spot Numbers
Write the numbers one through six on small post it notes and place in the bottom of a big muffin tin.  Have the children put one spot (button or Fruit Loop) in the one hole, two in the two and so on.

Spot (Button) Balance
Supply the children with plastic buttons and a balance to play with.

Spots (Buttons) in the Sand and Water Table
Supply the children with hundreds of buttons in the sand and water table.

What is in the Egg?
Place different number of buttons inside plastic eggs. Have the children shake the eggs and try to guess how many are inside. Open up the eggs and count.

Spot (Button) Toss
Supply the children with plastic buttons and an basket. Place a piece of masking tape on the floor for a throw line. The distance from the basket to the line should vary with abilities. Have the children throw the buttons into the basket.

Spot (Button) Jar
For older children. Fill a small jar with buttons. Ask each child to guess how many buttons are in the jar. For younger children, limit the number of buttons to less than ten. Record each child's guess. Count the buttons.

Spot (Button) Jar for School Agers
Provide three identical jars with pre-counted buttons of 20, 30, and 40. Label these jars 20, 30 and 40. Place 20 to 40 buttons in a fourth identical jar. Allow the children to examine all four jars before they guess. Record the children's approximations. Count the buttons.


Musical Spots
Cut out large spot shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor. Play music and have the children walk around the room. When the music stops, each child needs to find an spot to stand on. You may play this a variety of different ways
More spots than children, take away no spots or children. This is great for the younger ones.
One spot per child to begin, take away one spot each time, but children may share spots, until all children are on one spot at the end.

Spot Hop
Cut out large spot shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor.  Have the children hop form one spot to the next.

Pass the Spot
Played like hot potato... have the children sit in a circle and pass plastic spot around the circle when music is playing, when the music stops the child holding the spot sits in the middle or the "spot pot" until the music stops again and the next child replaces the first. You may also chant "Spot, Spot, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10" and the child who has the spot on 10 is in the "spot pot."


Spot-Shaped Snacks
For a snack, use any of the following for a spot shape:
Sliced Bananas
Sliced Oranges
Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Egg
Sliced hot dogs or sausage
Round Crackers

Preschool Songs and Poems


Ten Little Spots
sung to Ten little Indians
by Amber Louchart
One little, two little, three little spots,
Four little, five little, six little spots,
Seven little, eight little, nine little spots,
Ten little spots on the bear.

Put me in the Zoo Poem
by Amber Louchart
This animal is the craziest thing,
His spots are red, then their green,
If you want to see something new,
wait and you will see they are blue,
Violet and orange, what a treat,
This animal is really neat.