Skeletons and Scarecrows
Skeletons and Scarecrows
(A Mighty Girls Book Club meeting)
With October upon us, it was time to pullout some books that related to the feeling of the season! We started our Book Blast with a good old school sensory bin (who says they are just for babies!) I filled the bin with rolled oats and took apart a plastic skeleton (from the dollar store) and hid it in the oats. Then for added fun I stuck in a few plastic spiders, a snake and some bugs just to keep the girls on their toes! It worked! One friend was on her toes across the room, not wanting to touch the creepy crawlies. Once they were removed from the bucket, she came back and joined in digging out all the parts of the skeleton. The girls put the pieces out on the table. After a few misplacement’s (hands where feet go) the skeleton was complete! Next, we read Bonaparte Falls Apart by, Margery Cuyler. This is a great book about a skeleton named Bonaparte who’s bones keep flying off when he does anything (like throwing a ball). His friends try to help keep him together but in the end, a better solution is found. This is a cute story with lots of jokes for the grown ups as well!
After the book we set to learning the real names for some of our bones. I made up labels with the medical name for each bone on the front and clues as to where the bone is in the skeleton on the back.
The girls took turns taking a label and reading the clues out loud to the group. Then they had to guess where the labels went on the skeleton. I hung up a paper skeleton on the wall and they placed the labels next to the bone they thought the clue was referring to. They got them all correct! (Here they are celebrating!)
Next, it was time to get the moms involved in a little competition. I gave each girl a stack of sticky notes on which I had written the names of the bones. I then played the song “Dem Bones” while they labeled the bones on their moms! ( It was hysterical. I was, oh!, so tempted to grab a photo of the moms covered in sticky notes but, to preserve their dignity, I refrained!) The girls did a great job using the labeled skeleton as a reference for this activity!
We brought the energy level back down with a great interactive story called The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by, Linda Williams This is a building, repetitive text that gave the girls a way to join in. I also like the message that the woman is not afraid! We talked about bravery and courage still being present even in the face of fear. You can be scared but doing something even though you’re scared is courageous and brave.
When the story was through, they each got this retelling paper. We took turns reading it and the girls were excited to take it home and share it with their family.
Our final activity was to assemble our own scarecrows and give them bones! One more way to practice our bone names and placements and a fun moving scarecrow to take home. Moms helped with the assembly and the girls got to color their scarecrows.
While they were coloring, we finished up with one more silly story called Skeleton Hiccups by, Margery Cuyler
This was a great introduction into Fall and the Halloween season.
This Months Books
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