mouse day- really it's picture day

It didn’t start out as mouse day.  It’s was really just picture day at school and I needed a fun little book, and activities that I could either be brief with or expand upon.   Picture day is a lesson in flexibility at our school, we never know when our class will get called and what activities we will miss.   

First, I introduced my special friend that had come to school.  I really took my time getting him out of the box.  I scurried my fingers around in the box.  The kids were pretty convinced it was alive, whatever it was.  Then I peeked his little eyes out of the box and ducked them back down again.  They watched that box so closely waiting to see him.  Then he came out and everybody got a good look.   This is just one of Bee and Lou’s toys. I think he’s from IKEA. I would guess he was @ $1.00.  I’m a big spender like that. 

I tell the kids this book is about an adventure my mouse friend had at school.   I have used this book before and I just love it.  It’s called Mouse Views.  It’s written by Bruce McMillian.   

It a simple book with few words.   The mouse gets out at school and goes on a little adventure.  

 He sees things in the classroom, but they are big to him.  The picture on the left shows the item he sees in an up close mouse view and the following page shows what it was he saw. 

 After reading, I had the kids name the things he climbed over.  I had these items (or similar) behind a table.  When they named one, I brought out the item and had my little mousey climb over them.   

He did silly things like try to nibble on the erasers, typed his mom an email on the keyboard and played three blind mice on the piano. 

 We played this popular song/game, Little Mouse, Little Mouse a few times so that everyone got a turn to guess.  I just googled a house clip art and a little mouse clipart to make my set.  My pieces are laminated, but they wouldn’t have to be.   The kids said the full rhyme at their turn,  “Little mouse, little mouse, are you under the ___(name a color)__ house?”  

 Then I flipped it over and we checked. 

We've played several versions of this in the past.  It's a fun one, the kids enjoy it.

I showed these three 'new to me' books.  My sister just brought them to me two days before.  The timing was perfect.  These books are darling.  They have no words, so the kids have to really really watch closely. All three are just too cute and are by Monique Felix.  

They are called The Colors, The Wind, and The House.  The one about colors was a nice follow up to the book Mouse Paint, which my co-teacher read a week ago to the friends. 

 We sang this fun little song about a cat and a mouse.  I show the kids a motion (hissing, claw sort of cat motion) for the cat and a few little motions for the mouse (creeping, sleeping, running, etc).  I made them up on the fly and can’t even really remember them exactly.  You can add verses or change it however you want.  This is about how I sang it that day.  It’s one of those that different each time!

The little mouse is creeping, creeping, creeping.  The little mouse is creeping, in the house.

The little mouse is sleeping, sleeping, sleeping.  The little mouse is sleeping, in the house.

The old grey cat is creeping, creeping, creeping.  The old grey cat is creeping in the house.

The little mouse is running, running, running.  The little mouse is running, in the house.

-Then we decided that the mouse should run outside and sang a verse like that.  Then we thought the mouse should be sleeping again, in his own house and made something up for that.  

 

The kids wanted a chance to touch the mouse, so they sat in their spots and mousey and I walked the inside of the circle and got a little pet and many kisses from the kiddos. 

It was a laid back, flexible day and went really well.  I love days like that!