Mommy & Me Book Club: The Three Little Pigs

We found this Awesome Website that does Mommy & Me Book clubs and decided we were going to start our own Book Club. We are using the site for a reference point, as we get our group started. For this first activity did "The Three Little Pigs." We mostly did all the same activities and crafts that are featured on the site. Here's how it went.

Gathering Activity:
As people were showing up, before we started, we worked on a cute pig craft with cotton balls, paper plates and glue. We won't always have a craft at the beginning. Sometimes we have puzzles or books to looks at, but there is always something. The night before we spray painted the cotton balls pink. (Or I suppose you could just buy pink cotton balls to use, if you can find them.) Then we pre-cut the ears, nose and tongue with construction paper. We used little googly eyes for the eyes. The kids enjoyed gluing the cotton balls onto paper plates and making the faces.

The Finished Projects:

Circle Time:

During circle time we sing a few songs. "Here we are together" (Naming each child in attendance.) "ABC's" (Or a different song depending on the theme of the week.) Next we count with the kids 1-10 and then count backwards from 10-1. Then we read the book for that week. After we read through the story we tell it again. This time, however, we retell it using magnets glued to cutout characters from the book and allow the kids to help re-tell it. Each kid gets a chance to help tell part of the story and help show part of it using the magnets on a big white out board. At the end of circle time we all sing "Shake my sillies out" as we head over to the table for a craft/art project. 

Art/Craft:

Each kid got a pig coloring page to color. After they finished coloring the pigs, we brought out some "mud" (chocolate pudding) for them to finger paint all over to the pigs. They really enjoyed that part. It took them a bit to find out that it was chocolate pudding, but once they did they were eating it and painting with it.

 

Activities:

For a fun activity we gathered a bunch of different building supplies and let the kids try to build their own pigs houses. Each time they finished one we tried "blowing down their houses" to see which ones were strong and which ones were not. The kids got really creative after awhile. Some houses included straw, blocks and sticks. 

Show & Tell:

We told everyone in advance to bring an item related to the Book of the week to share. The kids got up in front of the group, shared their names, what they brought and why it was special to them. 

Snacks/Lunch:

We told everyone who came to bring three little pig theme snacks to share. here's what we had to eat.

Pigs in a blanket, Piggy bagels, and pig "building supplies." (carrots, pretzels, and twizzlers.) We also had a fruit and veggie tray. So there was lots to eat.