Sesame Subjects: My First Book About Farms Hardcover | Random House Books for Young Readers | Juvenile Nonfiction - Animals - Reptiles & Amphibians | 978-0-375-83684-8 (0-375-83684-5) | October 2006 | $7.99

About the Book:

Professor Grover and his friend Elmo tell readers all about farms and about the animals, crops, machines, and special buildings that can be found on different kinds of farms. They even sing their own version of a familiar favorite, renamed “Old MacGrover”! Preschoolers will learn that the food they see in the market comes from farms.

Language/Rhyme/Dramatic Play

The Little Red Hen

Farmers work hard to plant, care for, and harvest our food. Read students the classic Golden Book version of The Little Red Hen and then have them take parts and act it out.

Who Am I?

Let readers take the reins in this classic guessing game! Each student will tell a few important things about an animal he or she is pretending to be, finally asking, “Who Am I?” Everyone’s a winner! Examples: I have four legs and a long tail. You can ride me. Who am I? (A horse!) I have a snout and a curly tail. I am messy. Who am I? (A pig!)

Songs/Movement

Old MacDonald

Sing this lively classic with the students and create a flannel-board version to invite participation, or ask students to take parts and act the story out.

The Farmer in the Dell

Let everyone participate in this favorite circle game! Music, lyrics, and game plan available from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services

Math/Sorting

Seed Identification/Sorting

Did you know that every kernel on a corncob is a seed? Collect different sorts of seeds (for example: apple, pumpkin, orange, sunflower) and dried beans (easily found at the supermarket) for the students to identify and sort.

Math/Reasoning/Sorting

Sequencing

Get out your seed catalog! Cut out pictures of seed packets, seeds, seedlings, and growing/fully grown plants. Provide construction paper or poster-board strips and ask students to use their glue sticks to place the pictures in “growth order.”

Sharing

Personal Stories

Ask students if they have ever visited a farm. What did they see and do there? Also ask them what animal sounds they heard there.

Art/Activity

Dried Bean Mosaic Art

You’ll need air-drying modeling clay, drinking straws, ribbon or yarn, and a variety of beans (look for dried soup beans in the market) for this project.

• Have each student make a small ball of clay and flatten it out.
• Make a hole at the top of the disc with the drinking straw.
• Let the students press beans into the clay, making whatever pattern they like.
• Allow the students’ masterpieces to dry.
• Thread a length of ribbon or yarn through the hole to hang—or wear—each beautiful bean mosaic!

Related Titles

Cock-a-Doodle Quack Quack by Ivor Baddiel and Sophie Jubb

Farm Animals by Phoebe Dunn

The Farm Book by Jan Pfloog

The Jolly Barnyard by Annie North Bedford

The Little Red Hen illustrated by J. P. Miller

Old MacDonald Had a Farm illustrated by Kathi Ember

The Red Lemon by Bob Staake
Red Tractor

Related Web Sites

4-H Virtual Farm

Visit the 4-H Virtual Farm and discover why farming is part of your live, even if you have never lived on a farm, never seen crops grow in a field, or never touched a cow!

The Story of Milk

Learn the story of milk—from the cow on the farm to you! MooMilk.com, a California corporation, presents this fun and educational Web site about cows and milk with facts, contests, games, and recipes.

Activities prepared by Kathy Krasniewicz, Youth Services Librarian, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT.