Sunshine On My Shoulders

You will need:
    one rice cake
    peanut butter
    12 or so pretzel sticks
 Directions:
    1. spread peanut butter on the rice cake
    2. add the pretzel sticks to make the rays of the sun

I just love this book/song!  It helps that I can play it on my guitar.  The illustrations are just precious. Another sunshine song is "You are my sunshine..."  Kids really don't care if you can sing or not. They just love the attention they get while you are reading or singing for them.

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

You will need:

1 rice cake or tortilla

1 Ritz cracker

1 vanilla wafer

2 raisins

shredded cheese 

peanut butter or cream cheese

Directions:

1. add peanut butter to rice cake

2. break vanilla wafer in 2 pieces and add ears

3. add Ritz cracker and shredded cheese for nose and mouth

4. add raisins for eyes

Every child loves the 5 little monkeys.  It doesn't matter if they are jumping on the bed or sitting in a tree.  You could make 5 monkeys by choosing crackers that are smaller.  I just chose to make one big monkey.  These monkey stories are great for learning to count and subtract.  The repetition is great and children quickly pick up on it.

The Napping House

You will need:
1 slice of bread
1 slice of cheese
rectangle or square shaped crackers
1 raisin or m&m

Directions:
1. fold or cut the slice of cheese into 2 triangles
2. put the "roof" on your house
3. add the door and chimney
4. add a doorknob

This is a good story for teaching sequencing large to small.  Everything added to the bed gets smaller and smaller as you read the story.  I love the way the author uses so many words for napping.  Children often don't want to nap, but this story makes it sound like so much fun!

I'm as Quick as a Cricket

You will need:
1 rice cake
blueberries
pretzels or veggie sticks
something for a nose (I used a chocolate cookie wafer)
a bit of peanut butter

Directions:
1. attach the pretzels or veggie sticks with peanut butter for the lion's mane
2. add blueberries for the eyes
3. add a nose

My daughter loved this book and would ask me to read it over and over.  Soon she could "read" it herself.  She would pretend to be each of the animals in the story.  I chose the lion because she loved being loud the most!

A House for Hermit Crab

You will need:
1 rice cake
2 blueberries
veggie sticks or pretzels (5 or 6)
peanut butter or cream cheese
banana, grapes or fruit of your choice

Directions:
1. make the crab body by spreading peanut butter on the rice cake
2. add the veggie sticks or pretzels for antennae and legs
3. add blueberries for eyes
4. make the ocean floor with fruit of your choice

This is just a fun story to start a conversation about growing and perhaps moving to a new home.
Children love watching hermit crabs.  I used them in my classroom for years.  We would let "Hermie" out and watch him explore, give him a bath and try feeding him different foods.  A few times we would find that he had moved into a larger house during the night!