Preschool Chinese New Year Resources 2016
Sydney has luminous displays of the animals of the zodiac for Chinese New Year.
Houses around us are decorated and our shops are full of red and gold decorations.We’re welcoming the year of the monkey , a “charming, inventive and successful, confident, enthusiastic, flexible and happy character.”
Kids love monkeys so we have lots of resources to help celebrate-“charming” monkey themed books from our booklist, rhymes and videos.
Monkeys from the 100 Stories Before School booklist
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. Hardie Grant.
This is such a favourite, now over 20 years old, and still heaps of fun.
(I know he’s a Gorilla – but a good chance to explain the difference between monkeys and gorillas!)
The zookeeper is putting all the animals to bed when cheeky Gorilla steals his keys and lets the other animals out. This book is almost wordless, with lots of opportunities for children to talk about what is happening and make animal sounds. All children will love the funny ending, and being wordless gives them ability to “read” it again by themselves.
How Do You Feel? Anthony Browne. Walker books.
This is a book to help younger children with words to express their feelings. The little monkey expresses his feeling through facial expressions, body language and words. Even the shape of the words change to show how he is feeling.
Quite a few of Anthony Browne’s books feature monkeys but many are suitable for older children. http://www.anthonybrownebooks.com/books/
Other recommended monkey books.
Two Little Monkeys by Mem Fox and Jill Barton. Penguin Australia.
Two little monkeys are hiding in a tree – two little monkeys named Cheeky and Chee.Rhythmic and rhyming -vintage Mem Fox writing.Recommended for younger readers.
http://memfox.com/books/two-little-monkeys/
Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett. Simon and Schuster.
A little girl and her toy monkey go to the zoo to see the animals – and Australian kangaroos are the some of the animals they see! The animals exuberantly strut, bound, swoop, stride,and swing across the pages.The rhyming and repetitive text could almost be sung, and excellent for a quick read as part of storytime.
The video shows the sing song nature of the story.
Monkey Storytime resources
Perry Public Library has a monkey themed PDF with a large list of stories and rhymes.
The Door to Door Librarian has a fabulous storytime, themed around monkeys. There are stories, action rhymes, a felt board rhyme and paper bag monkey puppet craft .
Action Rhyme: Monkey See, Monkey Do (via Perry Public Library)
Monkey see, monkey do
Little monkey in the zoo
Monkey, monkey, in the tree
Can you jump around like me?
Monkey see, monkey do
Little monkey in the zoo.
Monkey, monkey, in the tree
Can you swing your tail like me?
Monkey see, monkey do
Little monkey in the zoo.
Monkey, monkey, in the tree
Can you clap your hands like me?
Monkey see, monkey do.
Little monkey in the zoo
Monkey, monkey, in the tree
Can you nod your head like me?
Monkey see, monkey do
Little monkey in the zoo.
Monkey, monkey, in the tree
Can you sit down like me?
Storytime Katie, one of our “go to” people, has a storytime including books, rhymes and a paper plate monkey craft activity.
Her puppet activity would be fun.
Puppets: “Five Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree” (she gives the puppet template)
“Five little monkeys swinging in the tree
Teasing Mr. Crocodile, “You can’t catch me; no you can’t catch me!”
Along comes Mr. Crocodile, as quiet as can be…
And snatched that monkey out of that tree!
(Count down)
Credit: Childhood”
Miss Jacki from Storytime Hooligans has the same rhyme, with a different set of puppets, including an amazing Folkmanis crocodile puppet.
Another of her suggestions is “The Monkeys in the zoo”; the first verse goes like this – ( sounds like:” The Wheels on the Bus” tune)
“The monkeys in the zoo turn round and round,
Round and round,
Round and round.
The monkeys in the zoo turn round and round,
Just like I do.”
Award winning Folkmanis puppets also have a monkey puppet and a crocodile puppet.
Monkey Video rhymes
“5 little monkeys” rhyme with the words on YouTube. DLTK have a felt board for the rhyme below.
Jbrary “Funky Spunky Monkey” to the tune of “Itsy Bitsy Spider “(Incy Wincy Spider)
Monkey masks, videos, finger puppets, bookmarks and more.
- Activity village monkey mask,(They also have a Chinese New Year section.)
- Sparklebox masks of the animals of the zodiac, including the monkey.
- DLTK Finger puppets, words, felt board activities for “5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.”
100 Stories Before School Pinterest page.
Our Pinterest “ Early Literacy- Celebrations resources” page has direct links to Chinese New Year resources including-
- Paper bag monkey puppet
- Chinese New Year story printables
- Bookmarks
Previous Chinese New Year posts.
http://100storiesbeforeschool.com/fantastical-dragons-chinese-new-year/
All opinions expressed are completely independent.
Thanks to my daughter for the rabbit photo on her way to work!
Leave A Comment