Several generations of children have been lulled to sleep by the recitation of Margaret Wise Brown’s picture book Goodnight Moon, published in 1947. Picture this: “great green room, a telephone, a red balloon, and a picture of the cow jumping over the moon.” Clement Hurd magically illustrated the book from sunset to darkness as the little bunny says, “Goodnight room, goodnight moon,” and slowly nods off to sleep.
Read this classic book to your class and celebrate its literary milestone with some of these activities to enhance the story.
Words That Rhyme
Reread the story, stressing the rhyming words in the text. As the children learn these combinations, say the first word and have the children supply its rhyming partner. Look for these word combinations in the text.
Kittens/mittens
Toy house/young mouse
Mush/hush
Room/moon
Bears/chairs
Clocks/socks
House/mouse
Brush/mush
Air/everywhere
Moon Prints
Collect jar lids and a crescent-shaped cookie cutter. Dip them into yellow tempera poster paint and “moon-print” onto dark blue or black construction paper. Add star-shaped adhesive stickers to your moon painting.
Another activity is moon watching. This is a take-home activity that can be done by the entire family. Have the children observe the moon every night and record their observations on a calendar (a page that you have drawn, copied, and passed out to your class). Children can draw what they see, or for reference you might provide a sheet with small drawings of the eight phases of the moon.
Moon Cakes
For cooking class, prepare cupcakes according to directions on a cake mix or your own recipe. Make these in class or at home if you do not have a kitchen available. The lesson happens when frosting the cakes. You will need both vanilla and chocolate frosting. Help the children frost the cupcakes to represent the phases of the moon.
Full moon – all vanilla frosting
New moon – all chocolate frosting
1st or 3rd quarter – half vanilla, half chocolate
Crescent – frost with vanilla adding a small sliver of chocolate
Room Media Art
Have the children draw a bedroom scene with crayons on construction paper. They can add finishing touches, such as fabric scraps for the bedspread and curtains and wallpaper scraps for the walls. From magazines and catalogs, help them to cut out pictures of dollhouses, kittens, mittens, red balloons, ladies in rocking chairs, and so on. Ask them to find as many items from the story as they can glue onto their scenes.
Bunny Magnet
Make a magnet to resemble the bunny in the story. Give children a clothespin (not the clip kind), and have them paint it white. Color the two prongs pink for the bunny’s ears. Draw a face and other bunny features with a black marker. Affix a piece of magnetic tape to the back to make a cute note holder for the refrigerator. A nice memento to take home!
The Cow Jumps Over the Moon
In the book, the bunny has a picture of the cow jumping over the moon in the bedroom. Teach your students the popular nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle.” Recite the rhyme daily and encourage children to make up actions to go with the rhyme.
Enhancing books in the preschool classroom via art, music, movement, cooking, and science is a way for children to remember stories and enjoy literature. Make preschool storytime an enjoyable part of the early childhood curriculum.
Source:
Personal Classroom Experience
Other Preschool Storytime Articles on Associated Content:
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Frederick by Leo Lionni
