M is for If You Give a Mouse a Cookie: Library Notes


COOKIE MAKING!  A great book to go with this fun activity!  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie asks an important question.  What would happen if you gave your cookie to a mouse?  What would happen if you gave it to Cookie Monster?  What would happen if you gave it to your grandmother or your neighbout?  How can you use making cookies as a way to find opportunities to a) bless others and b) build your imagination and life experiences regarding how different people can provide different responses?  Other ideas include:
  • Use the experiences of sharing your cookies to write stories about who received them and why.  An example would be.  "I gave my gandmother a cookie because she helped me bake them."
  • Make cards for the people you are giving them to.
  • Write out the recipe for your own collection or to share with others when you give them cookies.
  • Do an experiment.  Of all the people you offered a cookie to, how many said yes? no?  How many ate it right away vs those who saved it for later?  
  • Do a poll question as to which cookie is people's favourite. Chocolate chip? Oatmeal? Shortbread? Snickerdoodle? or Peanut Butter?
  • Having measured out your ingredients, use the measuring cups and spoons to learn equivalencies. It takes 3 of the 1/3 cups to fill 1 cup.  It takes 16 tablespoons to fill the same 1 cup and so on.
  • Practice math by counting the cookies or by baking them in rows to practice multiplication.  Example:  This tray holds 3 rows of 5 (15) and this one holds 6 rows of 4 (24) cookies                                                                          
Laura Joffe Numeroff is the author of this book. I see three main skills to practice with this book.

1,  Building your imagination  "What would happen IF...?"  Ask "And then what would happen?" over and over to build a story. Consider if things are realistic or not recognizing they do not have to be!

2.  Sequencing events Can you recall the order of events to retell the story? Can you memorize the order of events so then you can repeat the words to fill in the blanks as you "read" and practice your reading skills this way?  (see past blog for more on memorization)

3. Practicing IF/THEN statements which are conditional statements.  Something will happen based on the condition of the occurrence of a first event.  IF/THEN can also be conveyed in a flow chart.

Activities:

  • Lay out as many of the following items as possible (or pictures of them) to have them be put in order or picked up at the correct time as the story is read: cookie, milk, straw, napkin. mirror, scissors, broom, wash floors, nap with blanket and pillow, story, pictures, paper and crayons, pen, tape, glass of milk... cookie
  • Try various napkin folding techniques.
  • Draw mirror images or images on mirrors!
  • Clean up...sweep and mop
  • Make a paper or fabric square quilt
  • Draw pictures on paper with crayons
  • Sort out what items are in the fridge vs. the cupboard or freezer
  • Colour in a picture of a mouse eating a cookie
  • Do a cookie math sheet where you add up the cookies in the jar or the number of chocolate chips on top
Have fun with the child(ren) in your life.  Intertwine their play with reading and a variety of fun learning activities that builds their skill set naturally.  Enjoy!

 

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