Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Babette Cole's Slimy Book has delicously descriptive language and yukky ideas that will please all kids old and young.
Thanks to the tefl_kids yahoo group (Susi, Julia and Tanya) for the suggestions in this post.
Even with the smallest kids I would go for a slug/worm hunt. We would talk about how fragile these animals are, compare them with animals who are better protected (snails, let alone turtles) and be very careful when picking some up. We'd collect them in plastic habitats or any animal observation cans. In class we could place them on a pane of glass and observe how they move forward, being able to look from above and below.
Some might even want to start a slug race...
Actually there is a very nice Ravensburger game, "Snail's pace race" with different colored wooden snails, where we roll two dice to see which two snails can move forward. The cool thing about this game is that all kids will be winners (with the snail who wins). I suppose one could do this with actual people as the snails, and a super huge dice.
In the internet I found another game that got pretty good reviews:
Schneckenrennen distributed by: Goldsieber, 2003 Sold for 5,49 EUR
Slime - obviously, read that fabulous slime book, get the kids to chant slimy sludgey slippy slime.... or repeat any phrases they like.
I made a batch of salt dough this week with too much water. It sure was slimy. I'm going to bag it in Ziploc or heavy duty sealed small plastic bags and get the wee, wee kids to simply squish it.
A clenched fist, with thumb extended, makes a snail-like figure. Hand painting and then puppet play?
For Halloween, I had the kids dig for gummi-frogs (saran wrapped) in "worms", which was actually oiled spaghetti. It was a super, super big hit with all age groups. The parents were a bit grossed out, but the kids dug right in, even my then squeamish son. If you do this, you simply cook some spaghetti until al-dente (over cooked gives a mushy texture, not a worm texture), mix in some vegetable oil, and throw in some suitably squishy, slimy, gummi treats or small toys wrapped in saran wrap. Make sure to have a camera, lots of paper/cloth towels on hand and that the kids wash their hands really well prior to digging. Some kids may try to eat the pasta(which, technically, is edible, just a bit flavourless).
Worm walk - look for worms after a rain, bring in a few worms to class, "walk" like worms.
bring some worms/snails/slugs/jellied eels/custard/glue in to the class
Sticky tape fun: Trish Kuffner mentions tape play in several of her pre-schooler and toddler books. Take a piece of double sided tape. Stick it to the floor, have the wee one walk on and off the tape (socks on). Makes a satisfying sound and enthralls a great deal of toddlers for, well, minutes. Other tape fun: simply give them different kinds of sticky tape to play with and let them stick it where they will (stear them away from any delicate books, etc). Some wee ones love this and some get driven batty by it, depending on their age. Tape collage: make a collage with sticky tape or sticky things.
How about the song "Squirming Worms"? It's on one of the "KidsSongs" CDs which are quite painless to listen to and sound more like folk tunes (rather than the awful over- arranged, stupidly-voiced, kitschy children's CDs you usually get). http://www.nancycassidymusic.com/jubilee.html#worms
Thinking about textures, "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" although not
about slugs, is great fun and very tactile with actions and sound
effects for swimming across a cold river, squelching through a muddy
swamp, pushing your way through the long grass, and stumbling
through the dark forest. There's even a song version of it.
http://learningstationmusic.com/database/samples/The%20Bear%20Hunt.mp3
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
(children repeat each line after adult)
We're going on a bear hunt,
We're gonna catch a big one,
What a beautiful day,
We're not scared.
Oh ,oh!
Grass,
Long, wavy, grass.
We can't go over it,
We can't go under it,
We've gotta go throught it!
Swishy swashy, swishy swashy.
We're going on a bear hunt,
We're gonna catch a big one,
What a beautiful day,
We're not scared.
Oh ,oh!
Mud,
Thick, oozy mud.
We can't go over it,
We can't go under it,
We've gotta go throught it!
Squelch squelch, squelch squelch
We're going on a bear hunt,
We're gonna catch a big one,
What a beautiful day,
We're not scared.
Oh ,oh!
A river,
A deep, cold river.
We can't go over it,
We can't go under it,
We've gotta go throught it!
Splish splosh, splish splosh.
We're going on a bear hunt,
We're gonna catch a big one,
What a beautiful day,
We're not scared.
Oh ,oh!
A forest,
A big, dark forest.
We can't go over it,
We can't go under it,
We've gotta go throught it!
Stmble trip, stumble trip.
We're going on a bear hunt,
We're gonna catch a big one,
What a beautiful day,
We're not scared.
Oh ,oh!
A cave,
A scary, dark cave.
We can't go over it,
We can't go under it,
We've gotta go throught it!
Tiptoe, tiptoe.
(say the following verse all together and quickly)
OH NO IT'S A BEAR!!!
Quick!
Through the cave, tiptoe, tiptoe,
Through the forest, stumble trip, stumble trip,
Through the river, splish splosh, splish spolosh,
Through the mud, squelch squelch, squelch squelch,
Through the grass, swishy swashy, swishy swashy.
Run to the house, run up the stairs,
Oh oh forgot to shut the door!
Run back downstairs, shut the door,
Run back up, to the bedroom,
Jump into bed, pull up the covers,
WE ARE NEVER GOING ON A BEAR HUNT AGAIN!!
got this version from
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems19.html
Another worm song for the Slimy Book theme:
Wiggly Woo
**********
There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
And his name is Wiggly Woo
There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
And all that he can do
Is wiggle all night
And wiggle all day
Whatever else the people do say
There's a worm at the bottom of the garden
And his name is Wiggly Woo
listen to the tune here:
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/wigglywoo.htm
Clean old socks with glued on felt eyes and mouth will make really quick and easy worm puppets.
At the risk of offending some, here is a song my daughter's Woodcraft
Folk group used to sing:
Nobody likes us
Everybody hates us
Because we feed on worms
Big fat juicy ones
Long thin wriggly ones
See them squiggle and squirm!
Bite their heads off
Suck their juice out
Throw their skins away
Nobody knows how much we thrive
On worms three times a day!
Bearing in mind that the WF is a very right-on organisation which
another parent accused of turning her daughter into a rabid vegetarian,
it should be taken with a pinch of salt [I'm sure worms taste much
better that way : ) ] and the kids loved it.
Here's a site with the tune for Julia's horrid worm
song.
http://www.immortalia.com/html/records-and-cds/CDs/gross-songs/i-m-going-to-eat-/some-worms.htm
The tea pot song (to accompany the page: "Here is someone having slime for tea..."),
I'm a little tea pot, short and stout.
Here is my handle, here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout:
"Tip me over and pour me out".
Made snail/snake mobiles and played with slimy finger paint on the back of old posters.
The snail/snake mobile directions:
Take the desired size of paper (firmer paper is better).
Starting roughly in the middle, draw a swirl/circle going outwards.
Repeat with different coloured crayons or markers.
Now, cut around the very last circle/swirl, to make a round shape. Here is your snail.
Cut inwards, roughly following the swirling drawing.
Leave a small circle in the middle, from which to hang the mobile.
Hold the centre circle, and allow the cut rings to dangle. Here is your snake.
It really was an easy craft. I think sparkles, google-eyes on the centre circle, paper with texture, painting or colouring both sides of the paper, or using paper that you've painted with finger paints in swirling motions would all make great snail-snake mobiles.
I found very nice photographs of snails .
Check out www.enchantedlearning.com, not just for printouts of slugs, but for lots of inspiration for other topics!
Last internet suggestion, absolutely great for Kindergarden kids: Dinnertime! nice worm or slugs surprise (a little down the following page: http://www.kindercourt.com/OLD/kinfolinks/months/april.html Actually I'm always looking for songs and found quite a few good ones here: http://www.kindercourt.com/OLD/kinfolinks/months/april.html
