Keep reading for some fun preschool activities based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. These activities are part of our Storytime Club, which includes activities inspired by 12 books to keep your little one learning ALL year long! To learn more about our Storytime Club, click here!
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IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE
One of my all-time favorite stories is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. This classic cause-and-effect story launched the entire If You Give A… book series and animated TV show. But this original story will always be my favorite!
In this story, a boy gives a mouse a cookie, which prompts the mouse to ask for a glass of milk. That prompts the mouse to ask for a straw, and so on and so on. By the end of the story, the mouse is asking for a cookie again, and the little boy is wiped!
Click on the picture below to learn more about this adorable book!
Check out these fun activities to bring this story to life for your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten littles. These are great to use at home with your own kiddos or in your early childhood classroom. If you’re interested, all the printables can be found here.
Click here to check out the song I sing before reading this book!
LITERACY: WHO TOOK THE LETTERS FROM THE LETTER JAR?
Everyone loves the classic song, “Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?” and this game is a fun twist on that song!
Lay out the cookie jar printable or use a real cookie jar. Choose 3-5 cookie letters and place them on the jar. Have your little one memorize the letters. Then have them close their eyes while you take one letter away. When they open their eyes, they sing, “Who took the letter from the letter jar?” and then they tell you which letter you stole from the letter jar!
You can also play by laying out real CVC words (like cat) and then taking a letter away (or changing a letter to create a new word). So many possibilities!
This activity comes will all uppercase and lowercase letters on cookies, which are fun to play with on their own, too! Use them for a letter match, spelling words, or pretend play!
MATH: FEED THE MOUSE
We love “Feed the Animal” games, like our Feed the Bunny spring game. This time, your little one is feeding the mouse his cookies and milk.
First, you’ll want to make the Mouse Box (which is super easy to do!) Then, your little one will choose a “recipe” card, which has cookies and glasses of milk on it. They’ll count the cookies and milk and feed the correct amount to the mouse.
This is a great way for your little one to practice math skill they’ll need for kindergarten!
FINE MOTOR: FOOD PLAY DOUGH
Play dough is so good for our little ones’ fine motor development. Squeezing, cutting, rolling, and shaping play dough helps build the muscles in their fingers, wrists, and hands…which is exactly what will help them with their writing!
These food play dough cards are adorable! There are 8 cards to choose from, and your little one will use play dough to re-create the food.
GROSS MOTOR: RACE TO BAKE
This might be my favorite activity in the whole pack! This game will get your littles ones up and moving, but it will also help them practice their math skills!
Set up the baking sheet on one side of the room and the cookies on the other. Your little one will put a cookie on a spatula, race it across the room, and match it to the number on the tray.
You can turn this into a walking or running race, or you can ask your little one to do other motions across the room (like galloping, skipping, or hopping). These are all great ways to develop your little one’s coordination and stamina.
CRAFT: COOKIE SHAKER
This craft is super easy to make but goes along perfectly with this book! All you need are paper plates, brown paint, pom poms, a popsicle stick, and dried beans (to put inside). Now you have your very own cookie shaker!
If you’d prefer not to add more noise to your house or classroom (I totally understand!), you can leave out the beans & just make cookies instead of shakers. Still a fun craft, just much quieter!
SNACK: CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
You can’t read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and NOT bake chocolate chip cookies, right?! That would just be crazy!
These are the perfect snack for this book…plus baking is a great way for your little one to develop fine motor skills and become more independent with daily living skills.
READING RESPONSE: JOURNAL WRITING & BOOKMARK
To wrap up this unit, you can have your little one write and draw about their favorite part of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I’ve also included a bookmark that your little one can keep forever to remember this story and the main message: Always choose kindness!
IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE ACTIVITY PACK
All of the activities in this post can be found in my If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Activity Pack, which can be found in my shop here!
Have you read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie 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!
To check out more book-inspired activities, head over to our Storytime Club!
Happy Learning!
