Keep reading for some fun Giraffes Can’t Dance activities for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. These activities are sure to be a hit with your littles!
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Our May story of the month is Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees. Have you read it before?
This book tells the cutest story about Gerald the Giraffe, who really wants to dance…but with his long legs and knobby knees, he’s super awkward and clumsy. The other animals tease him, which makes Gerald feel very sad. But with the help of a wise cricket, Gerald learns that it’s okay to be different…you just have to dance to the beat of your own drum!
This book is great because it has such a positive message for kids…be yourself and embrace your individuality! It also has great rhymes and colorful, bold illustrations that your little one will love!
Click on the picture to learn more about this fun book!
Check out these fun Giraffes Can’t Dance activities after you read the story. I’ve included a snack, a craft, and a free phonics activity that practices the difference between Hard G and Soft G sounds (perfect for talking about Gerald’s name!)
GIRAFFE COOKIES
First thing’s first…the snack! This giraffe cookie inspired by The Devilish Dish goes along perfectly with Giraffes Can’t Dance. Not only is it fun to make, but it tastes great, too! (You could also make these monkey cookies since there are monkeys in the story, too!)
Ingredients:
Directions:
- First, break off a long piece of graham cracker to use as the giraffe’s neck. Attach a nutter butter cookie to the top with peanut butter. This is your giraffe’s head.
- Then, use peanut butter to put chocolate chips on your giraffe’s neck.
- Next, use peanut butter to put candy eyes and a rolo nose on your giraffe’s head. (I cut the rolo first so it was flat.)
- Add raisins for the ears and pretzel sticks for the ossicones (horns of the giraffe.)
- Enjoy your snack! (You can also make any substitutions…raisins could be used in place of the chocolate chips, or chocolate chips could be used in place of the raisins or the rolo…do what works for you!)
GIRAFFE HANDPRINT ART
Handprint crafts are my favorite crafts by far! Seeing how much my kids’ handprints change over the years is so bittersweet. I don’t ever want to forget how tiny their hands were at each age!
This handprint giraffe was inspired by Jessica over at Mrs. Plemons’ Kindergarten and is the perfect way to tie in a memorable craft with Giraffes Can’t Dance. Your little one can make their very own Gerald!
Supplies:
- Construction Paper or Cardstock
- Yellow, Brown, & Black Paint
Directions:
- First, paint your little one’s hand with yellow paint and make a handprint on their paper. Turn the handprint upside down–the fingers of your little one become the legs of the giraffe!
- Next, help them make the neck and head of the giraffe with yellow paint and a paintbrush.
- Then have them use their finger & brown paint to make fingerprint spots all over the body & head. Don’t forget to add a fingerprint at the end of the tail!
- Last, use a tiny bit of black paint to make the eye of the giraffe.
- You’ve made your very own Gerald! Now you can make him dance!
HARD G VS. SOFT G SORTING ACTIVITY
English is such a tricky language to learn…not only do all of the letters make a different sound, but some of the letters make more than one sound! It’s no surprise that kids get confused so easily.
G is one of those tricky letters…it can make the /g/ sound, like “garbage” or “green.” But is can also make the /j/ sound, like “giraffe” or “germ.” Usually G will make the /j/ sound when it is followed by e, i, or y. (I say usually because there are always rule breakers….like the word “get”).
This FREE sorting activity helps little ones practice the difference between Hard G and Soft G. This is definitely an advanced skill, so don’t be worried if yours isn’t ready for this yet. They’ll get there soon! Even just exposing them to the fact that G can make more than one sound is great for phonemic awareness.
This activity comes with a few things:
- Hard G vs. Soft G anchor chart
- 8 Hard G cards
- 8 Soft G cards
- Recording sheet
- 2 Hard G vs. Soft G cut and paste activities
- Answer Key
Remember, don’t feel like you have to do ALL of the words all of the time. Maybe just start out with 2-4 words and help your little one hear the different sound each word makes. It’s all about exposure and practice!
This activity (along with all of our freebies!) can be downloaded from the Free Activity Library. If you’re already a member of our email community, you can click HERE to head to the Free Activity Library, enter your password (it’s on your most current email from me), and download your copy!
If you’d like to join our email community & receive the password as my way of saying THANK YOU for joining, you can click HERE to subscribe. Once you enter your information, the password will be emailed to you within minutes.
Have you read Giraffes Can’t Dance yet? Do you have any fun activities that would be great to add to our list? Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog] and let me know!
love these ideas? pin for later!
Did you miss any of our past Story of the Month posts? Click HERE to check them out!
Happy Learning!
