Materials
Any book that has predictable, repetitive phrases, such as:Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle
Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak
The Gingerbread Man
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley
Three Billy Goats Gruff
Instructions
1. Get the children's attention by "clucking" and scratching the ground like a
chicken. Pretend to lay an egg.
2. As the children start to gather around, move in a circle and point to each
place where you want a child to sit, keeping in the "chicken" character. Keep
walking around in a circle (don't forget to cluck!), pointing out spaces for the
children to sit until all of the children are seated.
3. Then, plop down where you want to sit and say, "Whew! That's really hard
being a chicken! I laid a BIG egg!" Hopefully, the children will laugh and
when they have settled, ask a couple of children to name an animal that lays
eggs.
4. Read the book to the children. The book is a poem so read it slowly.
5. When you finish, ask the children if they can name other animals that lay
eggs besides chickens. Prompt them with hints such as, "What lives in the
water?" or "What hops from a lily pad into the water?" or "Are there other
kinds of birds that lay eggs?" If no one remembers, open the book to different
pages and show them the pictures of the animals. Prompt the children again.
6. Point out some of the beautiful pictures throughout the book. Prompt
children's observation skills by asking, "What kind of eyes do you see on that
peacock?" or "What color eggs do you think this turtle would lay?"
More to do
Science: Show the children real (blown) eggs from different kinds of animals. Or
use life-size cutouts of different eggs to place in the science area.
Transitions: Transition to the next activity by singing the following song to the
tune of "I Wish I Had an Apple."
I wish I had a chicken, as big as I could hold.
I'd ask it to lay a really big egg
As big as (child's name) could hold.
Get along home, (child's name), (child's name). Get along home.
Get along home, (child's name), (child's name).
Please go wash your hands now! (or get your coat, and so on)
Repeat the song but change the word "chicken" to "frog," "lizard," "duck," or
any other animal that lays eggs until you have dismissed all the children from the
group. You may also need to say two children's names if there is a large group.
