Sam and I made some mice this morning - we used a One Page Craft template that I shared with you a few years ago. Afterwards we re-read a book that arrived in our house last week - Spinnifex Mouse by Norma MacDonald. It has very quickly become a firm favorite and so many of you DM'd me on Instagram to say it was treasured by you too!
After our read I guided Sam through the text and we made a list of some of the things that Cheeky the mouse did in the story. My aim was to encourage Sam's creativity and help him develop some story ideas. Being more descriptive in his oral language is a goal for Sam and I am working on some verbal story telling with him to give him confidence and courage in his verbal communication. And it won't hurt his story-writing either!
We read several more mouse books, talked about characters and plot and then got our puppet box out. Sam was instantly engaged and we acted out stories and created them in the moment. It was interesting to see a few of the aspects of the various books we read, surface in Sam's dialogue and story development.
Stay tuned for the story - we will work on it over the next few days. There is a mouse-house, chocolate cake, a koala, scary cat and some gum leaves. Now that we have developed ideas, acted them out with puppets and have an experience to reflect on we will draw pictures, make a story plan and write the story.
Back to the craft...
If you would like to make some cute little mice, find the template here
- copy one page per student
- color or paint the mouse and cheese
- cut the pieces out - the spiral cutting of the tail is great for scissor skill practice
- glue the pieces together
- use a pencil to wind the tail around - pressing gently as you go - this will give the tail shape and make it curly
These mice make for a nice little creative project, springboard for writing or to follow a reading activity. But the best part is they are super easy to prep! We hope you love making them as much as we did today!
