A is for Alligators and Animals

• Book: There’s an Alligator Under my Bed by Mercer Mayer

• Animal Print Alphabet
1. I found these stickers at the dollar store and printed a traceable alphabet page.
2. After tracing the alphabet, match the animal print ABC stickers to the letters on the paper.
3. Cut them out, then glue them in order.
   ***Lots of repetitive alphabet exposure!

• Animal stamps
1. Play with animal stamps (we have THESE).
2. Write numbers on the top of a piece of paper (or use magnent numbers like we did) and have your preschooler stamp and count that many animals underneath.
3. Start a pattern with animal stamps, have them continue it.

• Sing ‘5 Little Monkeys’ – see THIS post!

Alligator

 

• Letter A Alligator … what a fun letter craft using the letter A!
  1. Cut a large letter A from green paper.
  2. Cut out 2 rounded green eye pieces from the same paper.
  3. Cut out several white triangle teeth. This is great cutting practice. Just draw the lines and have your preschooler cut the teeth out.
  4. Also need 2 googly eyes and a glue stick.
  5. Assemble as shown above.

• Teasing Mr. Alligator
  1. Paint a clothespin green and add 2 googly eyes for Mr. Alligator. My 3-year-old actually popped the eyes off of Mr. Alligator in about 5 seconds, so I just used a sharpie to draw 2 eyes on top and some zig-zag teeth along the sides instead
  2. Print 5 monkey clipart images and cut them out. Feel free to use the ones below if you like those!                     
  3. Laminate your monkeys.
  4. Place a small ball of playdoh or sticky tack on the back of each monkey and “hang” them from a tree (a fireplace mantel, edge of a chair or table). 
  5. Say the rhyme below and each time, have your preschooler snap or clip that monkey right out of that tree with the clothespin Mr. Alligator!

Five little monkey swinging in a tree

Teasing Mr. Alligator, “Can’t catch me!”

Along comes Mr. Alligator, as quiet as can be

And SNAPS that monkey right out of that tree.

(Repeat with 4 monkeys, then 3 monkeys, and on and on)

• Read “There's an Alligator under My Bed” by Mercer Mayer.
• Before you read …
  1. In advance, hide an alligator cutout somewhere in the house.
  2. Help the kids find the alligator and ask what they would do if it was a real alligator.
• After you read …
  1. Write the following words on a piece of paper.
  2. Have the kids draw any animal they want on the paper.
  3. Glue the top edge of a rectangle of felt (bed's blanket) over their animal to create a flap.
  4. Write the name of their animal in the blank.
  There used to be a ______ under my bed.
  When it was time to go to sleep, I had to be very careful!
• Alligator, Alligator Rhyme … say the rhyme and act it out! Repeat “Alligator, Alligator” between each line.

Alligator, Alligator

turn around

touch the ground

chomp your jaws

(arms out straight in front and chomp them)

show your claws

get down low

move real slow

reach up high

wave goodbye!