Activities:

Teach children this silly version.  Place both hands on your hips and sing:

I’m a little teapot short and stout.
Here is my handle.                                                     
                  (Stick one hand on hip.)
Here is my ????                                                          
                  (Place other hand on hip.)
Oops!  I’m a sugar bowl.

Here’s a finger play about tea:

Here’s a cup.                           (Hold up right hand.)
And here’s a cup.                    (Hold left hand.)
And here’s a pot of tea.          (Put hands together.)
Pour a cup.                              (Pretend to pour in right hand.)
And pour a cup.                      (Pour in left hand.)
And have a cup with me!        (Pretend to drink.)

•Hint!  This is more fun to say if you use a British accent!

HOME ON THE RANGE

(Nursery Rhymes and Good Old Times CD)

Oh, give me a home,           (Pretend to strum guitar.)
Where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play.
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.
Home, home on the range.
Where the deer and the antelope play.
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Activities:

Select several children to be coyotes.  The coyotes get down on all fours and howl as the song is sung.  The other children are cowboys and cowgirls and strum their guitars.

Ask the children to close their eyes as you sing and make pictures in their brain.  Give each child a sheet of paper to illustrate the “picture” that they saw in their head.  Add words from the song to each page and put them together to make a class book.

Use the words from the song to develop vocabulary.  For example:  What is a “range”?  What are some different meanings of “range”?

This is the way we wash our clothes,                  (Pretend to wash clothes.)
Wash our clothes, wash our clothes.             
This is the way we wash our clothes,
So early Monday morning.

Tuesday – iron our clothes                             (Pretend to iron clothes.)
Wednesday – scrub the floor                          (Get on hands and knees to scrub.)
Thursday – mend our clothes                         (Pretend to needle and thread and sew.)
Friday - sweep the house                               (Pretend to sweep.)
Saturday – bake our bread                              (Make circle with one hand and stir.)
Sunday – smile and sing                                  (Smile!)

Activities:

Let children make up their own verses and movements for the song by integrating classroom activities.  For example:  “This is the way we run and jump at PE Monday Morning...This is the way we draw and paint at art Tuesday afternoon…This is the way we read our books at library Wednesday morning…”

Invite children to pantomime motions from the song and other motions as their friends try to guess what they are doing.

Say the days of the week roller coaster style.  Start with your hands down low for Sunday.  As you say each day make your hands go up and increase the volume of your voice until you come to the present day.  Move your hands down as you say the following days with a softer voice.

THE THREE LITTLE KITTENS

The three little kittens,                                   (Fingers together and thumbs extended
They lost their mittens,                                  as if wearing mittens.)
And they began to cry,                                   (Rub eyes and pretend to cry.)
“Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear,
our mittens we have lost.”
“What, lost your mittens?                              (Hands on hips as if scolding.)
You naughty kittens!                                      (Point finger.)
Then you shall have no pie.”                          (Shake head “no.”)
“Boo-hoo, boo-hoo,                                        (Pretend to cry.)
we shall have no pie.”

The three little kittens,                                   (Hold up “mittens” again.)
They found their mittens,
And they began to cry,                                   (Bounce up and down.)
“Oh, mother dear, see here, see here,              (Show “mittens.”)
our mittens we have found.”
“What, found your mittens,                           (Stretch out palms.)
you darling kittens!                                         (Hug self.)
Then you shall have some pie.”
“Meow, meow,                                               (Pretend to purr.)
we shall have some pie.”

Activities:

Children love to act out this song and be the little kittens. 

Give each child a paper plate and ask them to pretend they are kittens.  Tell them to put their hands behind their backs and then pour a little milk in their plate.  Children try to be like kittens and lap up the milk.  Too fun!!!

Make a mitten match game with skills you want to reinforce.  Cut out mittens and then put rhyming pictures, upper and lowercase letters, numbers and sets, etc. on the mittens.  Place the mittens and spring clothespins in a basket.  Children choose the ones that match and clip them together.
•Tie a string between two chairs and let the children hang up the matching mittens.

Click to download a pattern.

TEDDY BEAR, TEDDY BEAR

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Turn around.                                       (Turn around.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Touch the ground.                               (Touch ground.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Read the news.                                    (Pretend to read.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Tie your shoes.                                   (Bend down to shoes.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Go upstairs.                                        (Climb stairs.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Say your prayers.                               (Fold hands.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Turn off the light.                               (Pretend to switch.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Say, “Good night.”                             (Place head on hands and close eyes.)

•You can change, “Say your prayers,” to “Comb your hair” if you wish.

Activities:

Staple a paper bear to a straw.  Have children use their bear to make the movements in the poem.  Call out other positional words and directions for the children to follow with their bear puppets.  For example:  Can you put the bear on your head?  Can you put the bear under your chin?

Let children bring a favorite stuffed animal or teddy bear from home and have a teddy bear parade.

Make a T-chart and have children suggest differences between real bears and stuffed animals.

Use a Venn diagram to compare how real animals and stuffed animals are the same and different.