This week we are continuing our unit on bugs and using Eric Carle’s books for our activities. I just love his books. Kids gravitate to them because of the neat pictures and catchy stories. Today I’m sharing a preschool activity that goes along with the book, The Very Quiet Cricket.
This book is about a baby cricket trying to greet others with a chirp, but cannot. He runs into lots of other insects, and they all can do something special, but this cricket doesn’t think he can do anything. It’s not until the end, when the cricket is bigger, that he can chirp, using his wings, at another cricket.
After we read the story, I had Troy act out what each creature did when they saw the cricket. For example, the bee buzzed, the praying mantis rubbed its front legs together, and the moth sailed through the air.
We also talked about what it means to be quiet, since it’s a key word in the book. We practiced what it sounds like to be LOUD by shouting and quiet by whispering. In my opinion, it’s always a good thing to practice being quiet. 🙂
Then for a craft, we made a colorful cricket! I wanted to teach him that there are 6 legs on an insect and 3 body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. To do this, I traced the cricket on the cover of the book onto a white piece of paper.
Then, I showed Troy the parts of the body and had him count the legs. He of course knew the head, but the thorax (middle section) and abdomen (end) were new to him. I’m sure it went a little over his head, but I wanted to introduce this concept to him. I’m sure his grandpa will be proud of him for learning this!!
So to distinguish the three parts of the body, I cut up 3 colors of tissue paper into squares. I had him glue the squares in each section. To make it easier (since he is 3.5 years old), I put a dot of glue on the tissue paper and his job was to lay the square on the cricket.
Then we used glitter glue to trace the antennas and legs. I read somewhere that it is good for preschoolers to know how to use glitter glue, so we tried that out! Since you have to use fine motor skills of squeezing and following a line at the same time, I helped him out. Maybe down the road he’ll be able to do this by himself.
Here’s Troy’s final product!
I can’t wait to share some other Eric Carle books and activities with you this week!
Great activities. One of our favourite authors too.
Just popping over to let you know I’ve featured you on The Sunday Showcase: http://www.herecomethegirlsblog.com/2013/04/27/the-sunday-showcase-book-based-activities.html
Thank you so much for posting this activity! The Very Quiet Cricket is my 3 1/2 year old daughter’s special book that she reads before bed with her father. She says it is a “Daddy Book” and will not let me (mom) read it to her! So we are going to making the craft you shared for a Father’s Day gift this year and give it to her Dad. I love it that she can learn about the 3 parts of an insect while we do the craft. I am going to share the other activities with her Dad, especially the “practice being quiet one!”
Oh that is ADORABLE! I am so happy you will make this for a gift. Thank you so much for sharing this with me!! 🙂
thank you very much for your sharing , Angela ! well, I learn a lot from you ! it is a pretty good idea for me to let kids get to know the cricket ! and the activity is great ! I will try it !