Picture Book Program

Theme: Ducks

Age Level: Preschool

Appropriateness: The following books and activities are geared towards preschool aged children. The stories are simple enough for them to understand and enjoy. The activities planned are aimed at the skill levels of preschool aged children. The activities planned are also ones that preschool aged children would enjoy participating in.

Books:

• Gibbons, Gail. Ducks! Illustrated by the author. New York: Holiday House, 2001.
  
• Hoff, Syd. Duncan the Dancing Duck. Illustrated by the author. New York, N.Y: Clarion, 1994.
  
• McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings. Illustrated by the author. New York: Viking Press, 1941.
  
• Root, Phyllis. One Duck Stuck. Illustrations by Jane Chapman. Cambridge, Mass: Candlewick Press, 1998.
  
• Rosenthal, Amy K. and Lichtenheld, Tom. Duck! Rabbit! Illustrated by the authors. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2009.
  

Extension Ideas:

• Art
  
  • Paper Plate Duck Craft
    
    • Detailed instructions and picture at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/animals/duck/
      
    • Paint a paper plate yellow
      
    • Have children trace their hands on yellow paper and cut out.
      
    • Give children a variety of art materials to assemble their duck (crayons, markers, glue, tape, a variety of colors of paper)
      
    • They can fold the plate in half and attach the handprints to the plate to be the tail feathers
      
    • They can use the art materials supplied to finish their duck (head, facial features and feet.
      
• Music
  
  • Singing and Dancing
    
    • "Six Little Ducks" from Raffi CD The Singable Songs Collection
      
    • Listen to the song on CD and sing along.
      
    • Act out the motions of the duck.
      
    • Have the children join in on the quack, quack, quack part.
      
• Drama
  
  • Have children make duck beaks to wear.
    
  • Pretend to be ducks.
    
  • Waddle like ducks and quack like ducks.
    
• Science
  
  • Provide the children with real duck feathers for exploration.
    
  • Demonstrate how water rolls of the feathers by squirting the feathers with water.
    
  • You could also provide a tub of water with rubber ducks and try to dunk the ducks with the squirt bottles.
    
• Math
  
  • Play a number or shape matching game with paper cut duck shapes.