Kinesthetic Bag!

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

• Read and move with the animals in the story.
• Have student same other animals and share their movements.
• Make a list of words describing an animal and the way it moves. Write a poem using those words.
• Draw, paint or color an abstract picture using only line the show movements of animals or people.
• Put on some music and move like an animal.

• Think about how animals move and why they move certain ways.

• How do they move when they are excited or scared?

• Go for a walk outside and listen for interesting sounds made in nature. Write them down or draw a picture to show the sound.

Snow Dance by Lezlie Evans

• Use the book to inspire you to move. Move while your reading the book or make a list of the movement words and act them out after the story.
• Put on some music and create your own snow dance.
• Talk about other kings of weather. Can you create a rain dance, hail dance, wind dance, etc.
• Use shakers or other instruments to create a rhythm to go with your snow dance.
• Look for rhyming words in the story. What makes words rhyme? Come up with your own pairs of rhyming words.
• Go for a walk and observe the weather. Write a poem about what you notices.
• Review verbs/action words. Make a list of interesting ones from the story.
• Create a snow scene using blue paper and white crayons or white pencils.
• Act out different seasons and have your classmates guess what season it is.
• What animals would be out in different types of weather? How would those animals move? A cat in the snow? A bird in the wind? A dog in the sun?

Little Green by Keith Baker

• Use the words in the story to inspire different types of movement. Use your whole body, your elbow, knee, nose, eyebrow, toe, head.
• Have some one move and use lines to draw their movements.
• Call out words and have the students make that movement, dipping, diving, zig-zagging, etc.
• Try the above in a dark room using glow sticks. You can buy 15 for $1 at the dollar store.
• Go outside and observe something move. Draw it in your sketchpad.
• Create a list of words describing how something move, write a list poem or concrete poem with those words.
• Share the meaning of alliteration. Look for examples in the book, i.e. stopping, starting and dashing, darting. Write sentences using alliteration to describe other animals’ movements.
Extra activity ideas:

• Each student needs a scarf or ribbon. Standing in a circle or around their desks, have students take turns calling out directions, “Move high, move low, fast, slow, small or tall, etc.” Put on some music to have them make their own creative movements to the music.

Booklist
Little Green by Keith Baker ISBN 0152928596
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle ISBN 0439163021
Snow Dance by Lezlie Evans ISBN 0395778492
Water Dance by Thomas Locker ISBN 0152163964
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! By Candace Fleming ISBN 0689831528
Puddles by Jonathan London ISBN 0670872180
Beetle Bop by Denise Fleming ISBN 9780152059361
Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad’s Tale by April Pulley Sayre ISBN 0688166148