We always like Eric Carle books. From the time R was little it was a favorite in this home. At library if I want something quick his books were my go to. Today we read the very quiet cricket which we have never taken so far. Eric Carle have always celebrated the weakest and smallest. Remember the hungry caterpillar, busy spider, lonely firefly.. In this book too he have chosen such a small Cricket to be the hero.
The story is about a cricket who cannot make a sound in response to the insects he encounter throughout the book. It’s also a great book to learn about various insects. So I added some learning fun along with the sensory bin.
Materials needed
- Plastic Green faux grass
- Corn Flour
- Plain Flour
- Cocoa Powder
- Insects( as in the book)
- Round letter disc
To make the taste safe dirt mix 3:1 ratio flour and cocoa powder ( use mixture of corn flour and plain flour). Mix with some water until you get a powdery consistency. Add the plastic grass and the insects to the bin.
To make the disc I used round wooden chips from amazon and printed circle letters from ‘confessions of a homeschooler’. Write the insect names omitting first letter on the other side of flisat table. All the beginning letter discs can be hidden under dirt too for extra fun.
The kids loved digging and picking the insects out of dirt. M loved the rake set( got them from target dollar spot).
R used tongs to pick the mud and grass and then saved the sticky insects from the grass. He collected all of them in a glass jar.
Later I added the round letter discs to the dirt. We learned the insect names and matched beginning letters. Locust and Praying mantis was a new challenge for him. We compared our own insects with the pictures in book and talked about the differences.
It was a well spent Sunday afternoon with a good book and sensory bin with a learning opportunity!!