Hats

Rhyme Cube: Click here for description

Sign Language:  Word of the day is “Hat”

Opening Rhyme:  “Open them, Shut them…”

Finger Puppets:  Timothy Mouse

I found this cute story at ArtFelt.  I used two finger puppets I had (from IKEA!) and made a simple felt hat for the mouse.  In the story, Timothy Mouse feels embarrassed about his ears because they aren’t big like all the other mice.  So he always wears a hat.  He also is a notoriously bad listener.  His friend, the Bunny, tells Timothy that she got her big ears from being a good listener.  Timothy begins to listen and soon his ears grow big and beautiful! (remove hat to reveal his big ears).  Here are some pictures:

After this story I told the kids to put on their big beautiful mouse ears so they would be good listeners too!

First Book:  The Magic Hat by Mem Fox

Finger Play:  My Hat Has Three Corners

My hat it has three corners
[Join thumbs and index fingers to form triangle and place on top of head.]
Three corners has my hat
[Raise three fingers.]
If it did not have three corners,
[Raise three fingers and shake head.]
It would not be my hat.
[Join thumbs and index fingers to form triangle and place on top of head.]

Felt Board:  “Little Bat, Little Bat…”

Another variation on one of my favorite felt boards.  This time I made four felt hats (in different colors) and one black bat.  I turned the board so the kids couldn’t see and told them to close their eyes (no peeking!).  I hid the bat under one of the hats and then let the kids guess which hat he was under.  We recited this rhyme:

“Little Bat, Little Bat, are you under the ____ Hat?”

Second Book:  This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

(p.s. Jon Klassen is my favorite illustrator)

Song:  Silly Hat Song

(Tune: This Old Man)
On my head, I wear my hat.
It is such a silly hat
That my head will wiggle waggle to and fro
Where else can my silly hat go?
[Repeat using foot, elbow and knee.]

credit: Surlalune

Felt Board:  Shape Recognition

I made three felt “people” using different shapes.  I had Mr. Blue (circle), Mrs. Green (triangle), and Mr. Orange (square).  Here’s a picture:

I also made three different hats; round, pointy, and square.

We talked about the shapes.  I pointed out that Mrs. Green has three corners because she’s a triangle. We talked about how Mr. Orange has four sides,…etc

Next we put the correct hat on the correct person.