C is for Cat

The basket of books was very well received last week.  I am so pleased with the selection of cat books I was able to find at our library.  We are fortunate enough to have a library system that allows us to request books from any library in the county. There is an easy online system to make the request and then within a matter of days my local library receives the books and I can go pick them up.  For each theme I am planning books 1-2 weeks ahead of time in order to ensure that we have the books we need. This past week our basket included 15 cat books and we read 13 of them together.

In addition to all the cat books, I included a Webkinz Jr. plush cat holding these letters and a Littlest Pet Shop plush cat in the basket.  Also on display were the cats from the Learning Resources All About Me Family set.

Here is a list of cat books for the week (the children really liked all the books but their most favorites are starred):

Fiction:

• The Cat Who Walked Across France by Kate Banks*
• Sneakers, the Seaside Cat by Margaret Wise Brown
• Telling Time with Big Mama Cat by Dan Harper
• Cat’s Colors by Jane Cabrera
• Splish, Splash, Splat by Rob Scotton
• Mama Cat has Three Kittens by Denise Fleming*
• The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
• The Cat Who Wore a Pot on Her Head by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler
• If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff
• Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean*
• The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat by Nurit Karlin (Level 1 Reader)
• A Bed Full of Cats by Holly Keller (Level 2 Reader)
• The Fire Cat by Esther Averill (An I Can Read Book)

Non-Fiction:

• Cats ABC: An Alphabet Book by Amanda Doering
• Cats by Anna Milbourne (Usborne Level 1)

Besides doing lots of reading the children also painted the “C” page that’s part of the All About Reading program and sprinkled pretend chocolate chips on it.

We then made our own Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Yum!

The children used dot paints to paint a cat picture from this book.

I added a Montessori style activity to the week and had the girls draw letters in a layer of salt.  This is such an easy activity to put together.  Just pour some salt on a tray or cookie sheet and help your child write letters (or numbers) in the salt.  After a little practice both girls were able to write a “C” in the salt with their finger.  As for the mess factor with this activity, it wasn’t too bad.  A bit of salt ended up on the floor but it was easy enough to clean up.  However, I was right beside the girls the entire time.  If I had walked away for more than 10 seconds I am sure there would have been much more salt on the floor, as well as every nook and cranny in the room.

Lastly, by the end of the week both girls were able to spell CAT out loud on their own.

This week we begin D is for Dog.  Woof! 🙂