Penguins

Penguin storytime was a HUGE hit here.

BOOKS: The Emperor’s Egg by Martin Jenkins and Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

The Emperor’s Egg worked really well for this age group – it wasn’t too wordy or too science-y.   I did omit almost all of the small text print.  The kids were really engaged. I have a few boys who are really into nonfiction so this was right up their alley.  I thought about using Sergio Makes a Splash and Pierre the Penguin, but opted for the other two.

FLANNEL/FINGERPLAY:

I’m not sure now where I got this rhyme from (I apologize, if it’s yours please let me know so I can correct it), but the kids really liked it

Five Penguins
One penguin in the bath going for a swim
Knock knock (clap hands twice)
Splash Splash (slap knees twice)
Come on in!

We counted up to five penguins in the bath.  Here are a picture of my flannels which I free-handed from a picture of penguins on SLC Book Boy’s blog.

CRAFT:

Looped Paper Penguins.

The craft was a hit.  There were a few too many pieces for some of our younger kids, but everyone loved that the penguins could stand up at the end.  I found the picture of these guys on Pinterest and then created my own pieces.  As kids were finishing up their craft, they could come up to our giant penguin Zeke and have their height measured next to him.  They LOVED the big penguin.

You can't really tell from this picture, but Zeke is life-sized.  I made him the height of a real emperor penguin just to show kids that penguins actually are tall.  Got a little STEM in there too with  measuring and learning about penguins.