More Chicka

Another fun activity we did for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was to make a 3-D tree book. We used toilet paper tubes for the trunk and cut the fronds in the same way as on the art page. The students used white glue to attach the fronds and the pom pom coconuts.
Inside the tree we either had a long piece of adding machine tape with the alphabet written on it (if we were feeling very smart) or a page that had the alphabet typed on it that they traced. If they chose the tracing alphabet, I had to cut the page into strips and staple them together before rolling it up to insert into the tube.
But guess what I caught some of my little geniuses were doing? They were putting the adding machine tape on top of the tracing page and tracing right through! So, next year everyone will use the adding machine tape and trace over an alphabet page.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Art

One of our favorite books for September is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We especially like to sing along with the CD. If you do not have it, you should rush right over to amazon and get it. It is even worth the shipping fees! We sing/read this book every day after lunch for a good 2-3 weeks. One of our favorite exploration (choice) time activities is to sit on the teacher's chair and hold the book while the song plays on the CD. We also make this adorable art page for our art/writing memory books.
We start with a 12x18 inch piece of orange paper. An adult glues a 10x16 piece of white to the center and adds the pink dots on the border. I use a circle punch for the dots.
First, the kids make a torn paper trunk from a brown rectangle. (Tearing paper is super difficult for K students in September, but I make lots of extra pieces for kids who need to try again.)
Next, the kids cut 3-5 fronds for their tree. They "cut the corners off" then "take some bites" out of the sides.
After that, they add 2 red coconuts. (These are precut using a larger circle punch)
Finally, they add letter stickers "climbing" up their coconut tree. My partner, Diane, used foam letters on hers this year, and they look really cute too. (Hi, Diane!)