MSU Extension Child & Family Development

BEFORE READING:

• Show the children the front of the book. Ask them to guess what the book is about.
• Ask the children what they see on the front cover.

WHILE READING:

• Stop at any time if there is something you or the children would like to talk about.
• Ask them questions so that they can connect what is happening in the book to things they already know about. Try some of these ideas: o Where do you take your naps?
  • What kinds of animals do you see each day?
  • What color clothes are you wearing today?

AFTER READING:

• Spend some time talking about the story. Ask the children things like:
  • How many bags of wool did the black sheep have?
  • What did the fine lady have on her fingers?
  • What color was Mary’s canary?

MATH AND SCIENCE

Read through the book once to help the children become familiar with it. Read through the book again and count all of the different colors together. Have a pile of crayons or markers of different colors next to you as you read the book again. Each time you read the name of a color, have the children choose a crayon or marker that is the same color. After reading the book, count all of the markers or crayons together.

THINKING SKILLS

Ask the children to tell you how they could have music wherever they go, just like the fine lady on the horse. If there are having trouble coming up with an idea, offer them a suggestion, such as clapping their hands or humming. Then ask them to tell you other ways they can make music with their bodies.

READING READINESS

Let the children read the book with you. After you’ve read through the book a couple of times, ask the children to help you read by saying the rhyming words at the end of each sentence. For example, read, “Mary had a pretty bird, Feathers bright and yellow, Slender legs — upon my word, He was a pretty - - -.” The children would then fill in, “fellow.”

ART

Draw a picture together of your favorite nursery rhyme. Ask the children to tell you what they are drawing and write what they tell you at the bottom of the picture. Be sure to hang their pictures where everyone can see them.

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

Sing the nursery rhymes instead of saying them. Try singing them fast, then slow. Sing in a loud voice or a very quiet voice. Make up the tune if you can’t think of one that already goes with the nursery rhyme.

PRETEND PLAY

Take turns calling out characters in the nursery rhymes and pretending to be the characters. For example, you can call out “Little Boy Blue” and the children would pretend to blow a horn, look for sheep, and then fall asleep.

MOTOR SKILLS

Act out the nursery rhymes as you read them aloud. Walk around the room and pretend to blow a horn. Pretend to ride a horse and gallop around the room. Throw seeds to geese or flap your arms like wings to pretend you are canaries.