This story has lovely illustrations of a little girl asleep with a variety of animals.  It is a fun book to re-read before nap time and to talk about how wonderful a nice bed is for sleep.

Materials

            Animal BINGO game

Bear flannel pieces

4-5 stuffed animals or rubber animals

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

            Ask the children if they know why a good nights sleep is important (When we sleep our bodies grow.  Our bodies need the night sleep to rest up and get ready for a busy day.  We think better when we are not sleepy).  Tell the children everybody needs to sleep, children, parents, and even animals.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

  Ask the children if anyone has a pet dog at home.  Have you ever watched it sleep?  How can you tell it is asleep?   Tell the children that you are going to pretend that you are sleeping dogs.  Have the children lie on their sides and relax their bodies.  Ask them to pretend that they are dreaming about running in the back yard and begin to move their arms and legs like they are running.  Tell them to lay very still now and think about how a mother bird might sleep.  Let the children respond and then say birds often sleep standing on a branch.  Ask the children to stand and pretend to curl their toes around a branch.  Have them bend their knees slightly and tilt their head forward until their chin is touching their chest.  Do you think sleeping like a bird would be easy?  Have the children sit down.  Ask them if they have ever seen a fish in the fish tank that looks like it is just sitting there and not moving?  That’s when the fish is asleep.  Have the children put their hands on their waist and push their elbows backwards then move them slightly in and out. 

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Tell the children that all living creatures need to sleep in order to grow big and strong.  Say that people are lucky because we get to sleep on nice comfortable beds.  Ask them if they sleep with anything that makes their bed especially comfortable (blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, sister, soft pajamas).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Reading the Story;

            As you read the story, have the children name the animals on each page. 

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction books and poetry.

After Reading the Story

            Ask the children to recall the animals of the story.  Do you remember how or where they were sleeping?  Do a quick review of why we need a good night’s sleep.  Tell them that babies need the most sleep and adults need the least.  But children need lots of sleep because your bodies are growing bigger and getting stronger every single day. Let the children talk about their bedtime rituals and sleeping habits.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.

Discovery

            Make a height chart of your children.  If you already have a height chart, revisit it and up-date children’s heights.  Note how big they have grown.  On the bottom of the height chart mark 20 inches.  Tell the children this is about how tall they were when they were born. As you mark each child, help them see where their measurement stands in relation to the rest of the children. (Look Anna, you are the same height as Lisa, Look Anna, this is where you were when we measured you last and you have grown all the way to here!).

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures of length and area.

Music and Movement

Teach the children the poem, You Have to Eat Good Food by F Koch.

You have to eat good food to grow, grow, grow

You have to exercise to grow, grow, grow

You have to sleep at night to grow, grow, grow

Take good care of yourself. 

Give yourself a giant hug, because you deserve it!

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Sing 5 Bears In the Bed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4Utm-OJK8 Or teach it is Spanish! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB0JlJB-DYE Use fingers to designate the bears, or make flannel bears that you can use. Write a number 1-5 on each bear.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

                                                                       

Blocks

            Ask the children if they can make beds for the stuffed animals.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures of length and area. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop[ and follow through on plans.

Art

            Make laced up pillows.  Punch holes around pieces of 5×7 construction paper.  The holes should be one inch apart.  Let each child take two pieces of construction paper and hold them together.  Give each child a piece of yarn with masking tape wrapped around one end and show them how to lace it in and out of the holes.  After they have laced three sides, let them stuff it with pieces of squished paper towel and finish lacing.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes, and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

            Put plastic fish in to the water table.  The children can pretend to make them swim around and then let them sleep. Add a net for catching and counting fish. If you do not have plastic fish, ask the children if they can think of a manipulative that you have that they could use as pretend fish. (Children have suggested crayons, legos, counting bears, and popsicle sticks).

Creative Arts/Dramatic play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Library and Writing

            Put out black construction paper and white chalk for night time writing and drawing.

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers.

Dramatic Play

            Add stuffed animals and oversized pajamas for a different twist on night time play.

Creative Arts/Dramatic PLay; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Math and Manipulatives

            Make bingo boards using different animals from the animal page.  6-8 per board is a good amount for young children. Make a copy of the animal page to use for the call cards.  Play until everyone gets bingo.  Can the children name the different kinds of animals?

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Outdoor Pay

            Play sleepy tag.  The teacher tries to catch the children.  The children can drop to the ground and pretend to be asleep.  If the teacher catches a child before they fall asleep, they must go to the bed (a designated tree or bench on the playground).  If another child who is not in the bed touches the bed, all the children in it may run free.  The game continues until the teacher is exhausted.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Transitions

Hold up one of the BINGO cards and ask the children to name and then act out how that animal sleeps.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Resources