A House is a House for Me – Animal Habitats

Animal habitats (which animal lives in which environment) is a commonly-covered topic in preschool and kindergarten programs and curricula.  A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hobermann is a book that uses sing-song repetitive text and fun illustrations to run down an extensive list of animals and objects and the homes they “live” in.  The line “A House is a House for Me” is repeated throughout the book, making for a fun predictable reading experience.

Here’s a free animal habitat printable activity to go with A House is a House for Me that I worked on over the weekend:
A House is a House for Me blanks.

This activity goes with the book but can be also be used as a stand-alone.  It looks like this:

There are three sheets of fill-in-the-blanks (only one is shown) and one page of cards to cut to use to fill in the blanks.  I made these up as PEC boards – laminated all the pages and cut the page of fill-ins.  Then opposing Velcro to the empty squares and the cards was applied.

Directions:

Read the text, “A (fill in the blank) is a home for a . . .” and allow your child to pick out the correct animal and place it in the empty square.  Remember, if your child has special needs, he may need more time to process the question than typical children.  If you give him extra time and he is still struggling, silently point to the correct card and allow him to pick it up and put it in the right spot.  This way your child experiences success no matter what is ability level is.  Depending on where he is in cognition, you may find it will take a few times of you pointing to the animals before he will be able to select them independently.  No worries – give your child as much support as he needs to be successful.  Also, don’t forget to say the word on the card once your child has selected it.  If your child tolerates repetition, now that the card is in the box, go back and repeat the entire sentence from the beginning.  Repetition is so important for our special little ones.

Around the House Preschool Theme Picture Book List

My favorite thing about doing preschool themes is finding books that fall within our theme.  Since my goal in our Around the House theme is to familiarize Noah with different experiences and items common in our home, finding books for this unit was a blast.

Here are the books we’re working with while we’re on this theme:

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss – the classic around the house book

Where’s My Hug by Amy Hest – a sweet story about a bear who has a little cold and his mother who takes care of him.  Throughout the book there are pictures of and references to their house, bedroom, bed, chair, kitchen table, window, etc.

Helping Mother by Mary M. Landis – a Little Jewel Book published by Rod and Staff – Simple line drawing pictures with text about a little girl and how she helps her mother around the house, her own chores, and helping to take care of a baby sibling.  Rod and Staff is a Mennonite publisher of books for children with a strong emphasis on Christian values and teaching.

Baking Day by Jemima Tamme – another Little Jewel Book about a little girl helping her mother with the day’s baking and welcoming home Daddy at the end of the day.

Who Spilled the Milk? – Pictures by Martha Gradisher – A simple book about spilled milk that takes the reader from the kitchen to the bedroom.

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton – Another classic taking a group of animals down the stairs, to the bathtub, to the drawers to find pajamas, to the bathroom to brush teeth, back upstairs, back downstairs and finally to bed.

Bunny Day by Rick Walton – A synopsis of a bunny family’s day around the house with a strong emphasis on routine, chores and time.  This book has lots of beautifully illustrated pictures.

The Berenstain Bears Clean House – by Stan and Jan Berenstain – Mama Bear is my hero in this book.  Take a whirlwind tour through the Berenstain house as they do some spring cleaning and prepare for a yard sale.

Numbers for Ten Tired Teddies by Prue Theobalds – A book with just one sentence per page using numbers to progress through a routine including snack, bath, story time and finally being tucked into bed.

The Napping House – The classic predictable book that chronicles several members of a household taking a nap on a rainy day.  Fun whimsical illustrations add to the delight of this story full of repetitive phrases.

Goodnight Moon– A great book for vocabulary and articulation practice.  The first half of the book introduces things around the “great green room,” and the second half of the book has the reader saying good-night to each item previously named.

While we’re on the Around the House theme, we’ll be using several of these books as the basis for our activities, and I’ll be sharing those in the days ahead.

How about you – what are your favorite around the house books?