READING ADVENTURE TREASURE CHEST KIT #52
PENGUINS AND POLAR BEARS


This Reading Adventure Treasure Chest Kit has been assembled to provide a thematic list of storytime materials for use by enhanced members and their patrons.  The kit is geared toward the preschool age group yet is flexible enough to capture the interest of toddlers and early school age children.  The Activity Ideas are designed to be aids to use the materials listed in the kits.

If you would like more information concerning this project, contact SERLS via e-mail at
dirserls@oplin.org.

Material Type

Title

Author

BOOK

Angelina Ice Skates

KATHARINE HOLABIRD

BOOK

Animals In The Snow

MARGARET WISE BROWN

BOOK

Celebrations

MYRA COHN LIVINGSTON

BOOK

F-Freezing

A B C POSY SIMMONDS

BOOK

The Five-Dog Night

EILEEN CHRISTELOW

BOOK

In The Snow

HUY VOUN LEE

BOOK

Jump For Joy: A Book Of Months

MEGAN HALSEY

BOOK

Oh Snow

MONICA MAYPER

BOOK

Penguin Pete And Little Tim

MARCUS PFISTER

BOOK

Penguin Pete's New Friends

MARCUS PFISTER

BOOK

The Reasons For Seasons

GAIL GIBBONS

BOOK

Snow

STEVE SANFIELD

BOOK

Snow Angel

JEAN MARZOLLO

BOOK

Snow Day

BARBARA M. JOOSSE

BOOK

The Snowy Day

EZRA JACK KEATS

BOOK

Solo

PAUL GERAGHTY

BOOK

When The Wind Stops

CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW

BOOK

Winter Days In The Big Woods

LAURA INGALLS WILDER

BOOK

A Winter Walk

LYNNE BARASCH

BOARD BOOK

The Mouse In The Wainscot

BIG BOOK

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?

BILL MARTIN JR.

RESOURCE BOOK

Sunflakes: Poems For Children

LILIAN MOORE

BOOK & TAPE

East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon

D.J. MacHALE

CASSETTE

Penguin Parade

BANANA SLUG STRING BAND

VHS

50 Below Zero

PUPPET

Penguin

EXTRA ITEM

The Mitten (11 piece Flannel Board Set)

 


 

ACTIVITY IDEAS AND FINGERPLAYS



Polar Bear Facts
Polar bears are large white bears of the North. Polar bears have dense, white fur and layers of fat to keep them warm. Polar bears are good climbers and excellent swimmers. Polar bears feed mainly on seals, but also eat sea birds, lemmings, berries, fish and grasses.

Penguin Facts
Penguins live in the southern half of the world. Penguins live along the coasts of South America, South Africa, southern Australia, and New Zealand. One penguin species even lives on the equator where it gets very hot! Smaller penguins usually live where it's warmer while larger penguins live where it's colder. Most penguins, live in the icy waters around the continent of Antarctica. Some penguins live around the islands along Antarctica during the summer and then migrate thousands of miles to warmer waters for the winter. Use a globe to show where penguins livesouth of the equator. Find Antarctica and point out its location in relation to where you live.

Penguins do not fly. Penguins stand upright on very short legs and walk with a clumsy waddle. The smallest, Little Blue penguins, stand 16 inches tall and weigh about 2 pounds. The largest, Emperor penguins, stand 45 inches tall and weigh up to 90 pounds. Help kids visualize how tall penguins are by using a yardstick to compare the penguin sizes to that of your students.

Penguins are excellent swimmers. Penguins spend much of their lives in water, but raise their young on land. Penguins feed mainly on fish.

Penguin Huddle
Help your students make a penguin huddle outdoors to demonstrate how penguins keep warm. Divide the class into four groups and ask the first group to gather together in a small circle. Encircle this group with a second group holding hands. Encircle the second group with a third group and the third group with a fourth. Have the kids waddle in a circle chanting, "Waddle, waddle in a huddle. Turn this ice into a puddle." Switch places to put the outer group in the center and chant again. Repeat until each group has had a turn in the center. Is it warmer in the center of the huddle?

Discover "Cold Talk." Give each child a bowl with ice cubes in it. Tell them that they may feel the ice while discussing cold questions. You might have the puppet ask these questions or you could dress the part by wearing mittens and rubbing your hands together briskly as you ask the questions: How do you feel when you are cold? What feels cold when you touch it? When you feel cold, what can you do to feel warm? What do animals do when they feel cold. Would you rather feel cold or hot?

C-C-C-C-Cold
(When your children say the c-c-c-cold line, they should cross their arms over their chest and pretend to shiver.)
There was a man and he did sing,
C-c-c-c-c-c-cold
Across the north land it would ring,
C-c-c-c-c-c-cold
No matter what he tried to say,
C-c-c-c-c-c-cold
His words kept coming out this way,
C-c-c-c-c-c-cold

Five Little Penguins
Five little penguins floating on the ice.
The first dove in. ""My, the water's nice!"
The second one said, "Let's go for a swim."
The third one said, "I'll be right in."
The fourth one said, "It looks like so much fun."
The last one said, "No way, I'll stay in the sun!"

Ask your local children's librarian about more fingerplays, activities and books such as these recommended titles: