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!
Prepare to “Insult, exult, and all at once” (As You Like It, Act 3, Scene 5). Because today we’re reviewing the epic Shakespeare Insult Generator from Becker & Mayer! Wither you stub your toe on a rock, or are trading barbs with your bitter rival…if your situation requires a fiery oath or stinging retort, you are in good hands with the Bard!
Retailing for around $9 on Amazon, this little spiral-bound volumes includes 162 Shakespearean words. The pages are divided into three sections (the top and middle sections are adjectives, the bottom section is a noun). The sections can be quickly flipped to create 150,000 original insults.
The cool thing is when you flip each section, the word is defined on the back. So if you are wondering what a “scut” is, it’s actually “the short, erect tail of a deer.”
In addition to being visually pleasing, the book comes with a fascinating and humorous introduction. Among other things, you learn that words marked with a feather icon means they were most likely invented by Shakespeare. Words marked with an “N” are ones he only used once (also referred to as “nonce” words). As you can see in the above photo, all three words are nonce. Amazingly, of the 162 words in the book, 22% were invented by Shakespeare, and 64% are nonce! That’s some amazing word-smithery, that is.
Storms can be very scary, but this story time project lets YOU be in charge of the clouds, rain, and lightning!
First, glue a piece of blue construction paper to a corrugated cardboard rectangle (we used 9.75″ x 13.75″ 
Use a box cutter to cake a window in the second corrugated cardboard rectangle. Then glue or tape 2 strips of poster board to the front of the window (definitely use poster board, construction paper is a little too saggy). Add a pair of optional window curtains. Then flip the front piece over…
Shorten 2 paper towel tubes so they fit inside the sides of the window, then hot glue them firmly in place (we reinforced the connection with tape as well). Hot glue the tubes to the back piece of the theater. Now there is a gap between the front and back of the theater. This is where you drop your stick puppets! We also hot glued a small box to the very back of the theater to keep it more steady (our box was white, sorry, it’s a little hard to see in the photo!).
To make the stick puppets, cut a lightning bolt, fringe of rain, crescent moon, and storm cloud from construction paper, then glue or tape them to the bottom of a jumbo craft stick (ours were 8″ long).
To operate the theater, simply drop the puppets into the gap and narrate the story as storm clouds move in, rain comes, lightning strikes, and the skies finally clear to reveal the moon!