Kids Art: Penguins

“Kids Art” was a program created to pair a book with a larger art project. The library already hosts a monthly craft program for grades 1-6, but our little kids were not getting much art — other than my storytime attempts. Thus, “Kids Art.”

This month’s program was inspired by Zoe’s post “Penguin Multiplication” at her blog Playing by the Book.

To start off, I read the book “365 Penguins” by Jean-Luc Fromental.

Can I just put in a plea right now for more giant oversized books? They hold attention like NO OTHER at storytime! The kids could not get enough of counting penguins and laughing when more penguins kept arriving. The illustrations (and limited colors of black, grey, orange, white, and light blue) add a refreshing modern look to the book. I will say that I did condense some of the multiplication areas because I thought it would lead to a lot of questions from my mostly pre-k crowd.

Next up, a few fingerplays and songs before launching into the craft!

Fingerplay: “Six Little Penguins”
Six little penguins off an iceberg did dive,
One bumped his beak, then there were five.
Five little penguins swam the ocean floor,
One saw a whale, then there were four.
Four little penguins spun around, whee-ee!
One spun off, and then there were three!
Three little penguins, with nothing to do,
One went fishing, then there were two.
Two little penguins, having lots of fun,
One fell off, then there was one.
One little penguin, when the day was done,
Went home to sleep, then there were none.

Song: “I’m a Little Penguin” (Tune: “I’m a Little Teapot.”)
I’m a little penguin
In the sea.
I can swim as fast as can be!
When I catch a fish, just look at me.
I’m as proud as I can be.

Credit for both: Step by Step – Penguin Theme

Craft: Penguin Cups.

Instructions for this were super easy. My teen volunteers had pre-cut felt triangle noses out of self-stick felt, and the googly eyes were also self-adhesive. All the kids painted a rainbow on the cup (to leave a belly for the penguin), and then filled in the rest with paint.

After the kids were finished just painting, we sat back down for a rousing game of “Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Penguin!” (Which is, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, a twist on “Duck, Duck, Goose.”) This game gave our penguin cups time to dry — and I kept sneakily checking them as we played. Once the cups were dry, the kids attached noses and eyes and took their three penguins home.

This is definitely one of my favorite programs, and I cannot wait to do another penguin program next winter.