Ellen Stoll Walsh Unit, a literature based unit study for her Mouse books
Ellen Stoll Walsh Unit Based on the books:
Mouse Paint,
Mouse Count, and Mouse Shapes
This is a collection of hands-on activities designed to help
preschoolers work on recognition of colors, numbers and shapes.
It’s always more fun to tie everything we learn
in with a great book!
Unit prepared by Lisa Martin
COLORS using Mouse Paint
Make “Mouse Paint”
You will need small Ziploc bags and washable tempera paint
(primary colors). Put a small amount of two primary colors in
separate spots of a ziploc bag and seal it. Let your child decide the
colors that will go in the bag and let him discover what happens when they mix.
As he discovers new colors, it will be exciting for him!
After the paint is made, let your child use his fingers as “mouse
feet” to mix the colors together – on the outside of the
bag, of course. When he is finished blending his colors, open the
bag and use a watercolor paintbrush to make his own “mouse
paint” painting. Repeat with other combinations of colors. Note: You can use a muffin tin instead of a bag – just put two primary colors in a single muffin cup and use
a popsicle stick to mix the colors together.
Make a Color Matching Game
Use sample color chips from a home improvement store. With younger children, use primary and secondary colors
along with black, brown and white if desired. With older
preschoolers, you can introduce shades of colors by picking various
shades of a single color, or you could do warm colors or cool colors.
Make Color Collages Give
your child a piece of colored construction paper and have him look for
pictures in magazines that are that color. You can help him cut
the pictures out and glue them on the construction paper. When
you have done all the colors, you can bind them together and make
“________’s Color Book”. Color Book Cover
Mouse Tracks: On a warm,
sunny day, go outside with bare feet. Walk in a tray of cool squishy
paint, and then on paper, making your own version of mouse tracks. Walk
through previously made footprints so colors will mix and create new
colors.
Color Words: For an addition to a Word
Wall or sight words, write the different color words on flashcards using that
color marker. Prepared Colored Word Cards
Color Songs: Teach your child a song, poem or nursery rhyme with a color in it. You can find some suggestions at Enchanted Learning.
Color of the Day: Have a
designated color of the day – make a craft with the color, read a
book that goes with the color, eat foods that are the color, wear the
color, etc.
Color Scavenger Hunt:
Take a walk and have a color scavenger hunt – see how
many things you can find that are the color of the day or keep a tally
and see which color you spot the most often.
Numeral Matching Game: cut out a cardboard circle and divide it into pie-shaped
sections. Label each section with a specific number of
dots. Label clothespins with the corresponding numerals.
Your child can match the numerals to the correct number of dots.
Here is an already made number circle. Here is a
special circle
for those who plan on using Rightstart Math.
Numeral Sequencing with
the clothespins mentioned in the above activity, have your child clip
them onto a piece of cardboard, a ruler, a clothesline or a paint
stirrer in numerical order.
Count . . . all the time!
Some suggestions: steps as you climb stairs, cars you pass in the
parking lot on your way into the store, flowers in the garden, plates
on the table, clouds in the sky.
Number Songs: Introduce
a song, poem or nursery rhyme that has numbers in it. “The
Ants Go Marching One by One” is a fun one to sing with your
little ones. You can find some poem and nursery
rhyme suggestions at Enchanted Learning.
Play with dominoes: Teach your child how to count the number of dots and match the same number of dots on another domino.
Draw numerals in shaving cream, sand or finger paint.
Sandpaper Numbers: Cut out numerals in block letter format from sandpaper; your child can trace it with his finger.
Draw shapes in shaving cream, sand or finger paint.
Shapes made from Plastic Lids:
Provide shapes for your child to trace. (Plastic lids
– from a coffee can or oatmeal container – make great
templates. Draw a shape on the lid and cut it out using an exact-o
knife, leaving the outside of the lid intact.) Younger children
can simply trace the shape and color it in, while older children may
wish to make shape patterns or put different shapes together to make
pictures.
Felt Shapes – cut
different shapes out of felt and let your child use them to make
pictures on a flannel board. An alternative to this would be to
purchase a bucket of foam shapes at a craft store and have your child
glue them to make pictures, designs or patterns.
Chalk Shapes – draw the
outline of shapes on the driveway or sidewalk. Then give your
child a shape to find and stand on. Start with basic shapes, then
add new ones as they learn the basic ones. (Some shapes you may
wish to include: circle, square, rectangle, oval, triangle,
crescent, pentagon, trapezoid, hexagon, semicircle, rhombus (diamond),
octagon) As your child learns the names of different shapes, have
him jump from one to another – good practice in following
directions.
Shape Scavenger Hunt:
Take a walk and have a shape scavenger hunt. See how many things
you can find that are a particular shape or keep a tally and see which
shape you spot the most often.
Make a shape book – look
for pictures in magazines or online that are a particular shape.
Have your child cut them out and glue them onto a page with that shape
drawn on it. After you have done all the shapes, bind them
together into “_______’s Shape Book”.
Shape Book Cover
The following stories would be fun to share with your little ones as you think about colors, numbers and shapes:
Creation – talk
about the many amazing colors in the world that God made, count the
days of creation and how many different categories of things God made
each day
Noah and the Ark
– count the different animals in your picture Bible, count the
number of people that were on the ark, talk about the colors in the
rainbow
Joseph’s Colorful Coat – talk about the colors you see in Joseph’s coat
My Promise Rainbow: And the Story of Noah’s Ark by Sally Lloyd Jones
Tana Hoban books--
Count and See; Of Colors and Things
Shapes, Shapes, Shapes; So Many Circles, So Many Squares
Let’s Count; Colors Everywhere;
Red, Blue, Yellow Shoe
