The Plan
Books
Banana by Ed Vere
Be Quiet, Mike! by Leslie Patricelli
Kiki’s Blanket by Janie Bynum
Tall by Jez Alborough
Extension Activities
Flannelboard: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”
Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”
Credit: Childhood
Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree”
Five little monkeys swinging in the tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me; no you can’t catch me!”
Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be…
And snatched that monkey out of that tree!
(count down)
Credit: Childhood
Action Rhyme: “Little Monkeys Swinging In the Tree”
Little monkeys swinging in the tree,
All hold hands and swing with me
Swing up high and swing down low
Swing in the tree, now don’t let go!
Swing, swing, like I do
Swing like the monkeys in the zoo
Credit: Perry Public Library
Action Rhyme: “Monkey See, Monkey Do”
Monkey see, monkey do
Little monkey in the zoo
Monkey, monkey, in the tree
Can you jump around like me?
(swing tail, clap hands, nod head, sit down)
Credit: Perry Public Library
Craft
This was another Oriental Trading craft kit. I think it kind of looks a bit like a bear instead of a monkey though…
How It Went
This was an energetic group of kids. Definitely a lot of monkey business. I would say that they had the most fun with “Be Quiet, Mike” — though it wound up riling them up, which made it difficult for the next book. (Which was “Tall” — most of the kids were bouncing around and not “reading/guessing” if the monkey was tall or small.) The craft was a huge hit with parents and kids; everyone was definitely tired by the time they left — I heard a few meltdowns on the stairs as everyone was leaving.
storytime katie 
Katie, this sounds like a lot of fun! Next time, if you move the ears a bit lower on your monkey I think you’ll be happier with the result. As you can see in the book illustrations, monkey’s ears are on the sides of their heads (just like human ears), rather than on top (like bears, dogs, and cats).
You are so right! I kept thinking that the monkey was looking off — it’s absolutely the ears. Thank you!
Fantastic blog, Katie. I’m a children’s manager and I recognize many of the resources that you use. Your flannelboards are excellent, btw.
Thank you very much!
To relate your last two posts (monkeys and tools) check out Monkey with a Toolbelt by Chris Monroe. That book is hilarious and so much fun! There are other Monkey books by Chris Monroe as well but the first is my fav!
This is definitely a great suggestion; and it would have been a great way to link the two weeks together!
A great monkey book that my class absolutely loves is “The Monkey with the Bright Blue Bottom”!