C is for Cookies

• Read “The Cow Loves Cookies” by Karma Wilson … available here. 
  1. This is one of our very favorite books. All of the animals on the farm like their traditional food, but not the cow. He and the farmer have a deal.
  2. Before reading, ask the kids what different animals on a farm eat. What does a cow eat? Ask them to look at the cover and decide what this cow might like to eat!

• Do ‘C’ journal page
  1. Write “Cc” on the next blank page.
  2. Write “COOKIES”. Show your preschooler the word “cookies” on the cover of the book and let them copy the letters.
  3. Practice writing big C’s and little c’s.
  4. Add cookie stickers to the page. I printed several cookie ingredients on sticker labels and used those for stickers.
  5. To Print:
     • Download the cookie sticker page here.
     • Load a sheet of label stickers (Avery #8163) into your printer.
     • Print and cut the labels apart between cookie images.

• Read “Mr. Cookie Baker” by Monica Wellington … available here.
  1. I love these stories by Monica Wellington. The text is simple. The illustrations are bright and fun. A great cookie book
  2. We noticed Mr. Cookie Baker’s hat and apron. We’ll be making those later!

 

• Cut and Paste “C is for Cookie” page … this is a simple and free page from 1+1+1=1. I love the cutting, pasting and beginning letter sound practice.
  1. Print “C is for Cookie” page here. Scroll down to the “Mr. Cookie Baker” unit and click on it to print.
  2. Look at the pictures together. Say the names.
  3. Cut on the dotted lines.
  4. Say the name of each picture together. Emphasize the beginning letter sound.
  5. Glue the /C/ sound pictures to the large letter C.

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Match Game … this was a lot of fun. Just a traditional matching game, but somehow much more fun when we’re matching cookies
  1. Print 2 copies of the matching game below (4 pages total) and cut out each circle.
  2. Print the cookie backs above (print 4 copies).
  3. Glue the circles to the back of each cookie. I held the cookie paper up to the light and eyeballed where to glue each circle.
  4. Laminate the four cookie pages.
  5. Cut out each cookie.
  6. To Play:
     • Shuffle the cookies.
     • Lay out face-down on the table.
     • Turn over two cookies, trying to find a match. If not a match, turn back over.
     • TIP: To play with younger children, turn over two cards and leave them face up. Take turns turning over two cards until a match is found.

• Read “Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker” by Linda Hayward … Available here.

  

• Dress up like a cookie baker! … dressing up makes everything more fun  
  1. Make an apron.
     • I purchased a blank child-sized apron from Michaels. About $5 before coupon. Several options available here.
     • Use fabric markers or sharpies to decorate the apron!
     • I wrote my preschooler’s name. She decorated it then added her own drawings. I love it!
  2. Make a chef hat.
     • I used this tutorial from Cara at The First Grade Parade. Scroll to the bottom of her post for great pictures.
     • Cut a piece of white cardstock in half, lengthwise. Tape together to make a long band (she uses a sentence strip).
     • Use one piece of white tissue paper. We didn’t have white, so pink tissue paper worked just as well
     • The tutorial is great, but in short, pinch and tape the bottom edge of the tissue paper to half the paper headband … kind of like gathering. Measure the headband around your head and tape. Finish pinching and taping the top edge of the tissue paper to the other half of the headband.
     • Poof the tissue paper and wear!

 

• Make Cookies! … now that we’re all fancied up with an apron and chef hat, we’re ready to bake some cookies.
  1. Take it slow. Make sure you have plenty of time to let your preschooler help scoop and measure and stir (and lick!)
  2. Let them help find the 1 cup and 1/2 cup. Let them try cracking the egg and measuring the vanilla. It will definitely make a bigger mess, but it makes great memories too
  3. This is our favorite cookie recipe:

 

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Counting … an easy game to play while you’re waiting for the cookies to bake.
  1. Cut out 10 circles from brown foam craft paper.
  2. On one side, use a sharpie to write “1 one” and “2 two” … etc, up to “10 ten”
  3. On the opposite side, draw the matching number of dots.
  4. Help your preschooler arrange the cookies from 1 to 10.
  5. Give her a bowl of chocolate chips.
  6. Let her put one chocolate chip on each dot.
  7. I asked my 4-year-old to point to the cookie that showed how old she was. Which cookie shows how old your brother is? Which cookie has 5 chocolate chips. Which one has 7? We did a lot of counting

B is for Banana

• Examine a banana
  1. What does it look like?
  2. What does it smell like?
  3. What does it feel like?
  4. What does it TASTE like?!

 

• Make a Banana ‘B’ … I wasn’t planning on this, but we ended up making a ‘B’ out of our bananas!

• Read “Pete the Cat and the Bad Banana” by James Dean … we love Pete the Cat books here. In this book, Pete loves bananas, until he eats a bad banana one day. It takes some time to realize he really loves bananas again Book available here.

• Do ‘B’ journal page
  1. Write ‘Bb’ on the next blank page
  2. Write “BANANA” on the page.
  3. Practice writing big B’s and little b’s.
  4. Add banana stickers to the page. I used some that I found at JoAnn. There are some fun scratch-n-sniff banana stickers here.

• Use Bananagrams to Read, Build, Write … Bananagrams available here.
  1. Print these ‘Read, Build, Write’ cards here. Laminate the cards. I use this laminator at home. 
  2. I wrote a word and drew a simple picture so my 4-year-old could “read” the word.
  3. Use the Bananagrams to “build” the word.
  4. TIP: You could also use Scrabble tiles or ABC magnets or simply print the letters out and cut them apart.
  5. Let your preschooler practice writing the word.

• Read “Banana!” by Ed Vere … this book is uses only two words. Banana and please It’s a fun picture book about two monkeys learning to share one banana. Simple and cute. Available here.

 

• Banana chip counting … great counting and one-to-one practice
  1. Print this banana counting page here.
  2. We used these transparent counting chips and they worked great. I was going to use these banana candies, but I just didn’t order them in time.
  3. Roll a die and count the dots.
  4. Cover that number of bananas with counting chips (or banana candies).
  5. TIP: My 2-year-old loved just covering each banana with a bingo chip. That works too

• Slice a banana & make a snack
  1. Help your preschooler peel and slice a banana. A simple butter knife or plastic knife works well.
  2. Place banana slices in the bottom of a dessert cup.
  3. Mix a small package of banana-flavored instant pudding.
  4. Pour over the bananas.
  5. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes.
  6. Top with freshly whipped cream and mini Nilla wafers.