Climb little alphabet, climb! You know those letters, you know that coconut tree, and you know this beloved book. We added a simple dynamic pull string effect to an iconic classic, and the results were boom-tastic!

We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, written by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault; illustrated by Lois Ehlert (Simon & Schuster, 1989). The alphabet letters are feeling playful as they race and scamper up the coconut tree. But as it gets more and more crowded, they discover it’s not all fun and games!

You’ll need:

• 1 paper towel tube
• 1 small box (ours was 4″ x 4″ x 2″, but you can cut down a square tissue box)
• Brown and green construction paper
• 6 wood or foam beads
• String
• 3 wooden letters (paper works too!)
• 3 small paperclips
• 3 brown pom-poms
• Scissors and tape for construction
• Markers for decorating
• Hot glue

First, the coconut tree! Wrap your paper towel tube in brown construction paper, then add green construction paper fronds to the top. Hot glue brown pom-pom “coconuts” under the fronds, then hot glue the finished tree to the top of a small box.

Next, hot glue 3 foam or wood beads to the top of the tree. Then thread 3 individual pieces of string through each bead:

Tie one end of the string to a bead, and the other end to a small paperclip. Next, decorate your letters with markers. We used leftover wood letters from this project, but paper works just as well. Slide the letter onto the paperclip, then pull the bead to watch it climb the tree!

You might ask – why not just permanently tie the letter to the string? You could definitely do that. But we wanted the kids to have multiple interchangeable letters (conveniently stored in the box base of the tree). This way, they can follow along with the story, and send different letters up the tree as they’re mentioned in the story!