Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of print and pictures
Toddlers participate in a book sharing that emphasizes words, pictures, and the sequence of story events.
[Use the large plush monkey to invite toddlers to a book sharing.]
I am a big monkey. I have five little monkeys who are wearing pajamas because it is time for them to go to bed. But my little monkeys don’t want to go to bed! Please sit with me so you can learn about the little monkeys in our book! I think you will like this book.
[Say the names of toddlers who are at the gathering.
When several toddlers have joined you, give each toddler a little monkey to hold during the story. Provide time for toddlers to explore their monkey. Repeat and extend comments toddlers offer regarding the monkeys.]
I am going to hold the big monkey on my lap. You can hold your little monkeys on your lap!
[Show book cover. Point to the little monkeys as you describe them.]
Here are the five little monkeys.
What are the little monkeys doing? (jumping on the bed)
The little monkeys are wearing pajamas because it is time for bed. What are your little monkeys wearing?
Our book is called Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Let’s find out what happens!
[Open the book. Hold the book close to the toddlers. Repeat and expand toddlers’ reactions to the pictures or story.]
Our book has pictures and words.
[Point to the words.]
These words say ___.
[Read the first page aloud.
Continue to read and talk about the book using strategies, such as the following, to engage toddlers and describe how books work:
The words in our book told us about five little monkeys who were jumping on the bed. The pictures showed us what happened in our story. The little monkeys fell off the bed and bumped their heads! What did the mama monkey do when the monkeys fell off their beds? (called the doctor)
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed is a fun book for helping toddlers understand the difference between words and pictures in a book. Some toddlers may be familiar with the story and may want to say some of the words with you. Other toddlers may be unfamiliar with the book and will appreciate the opportunity to hear the words, look at the pictures, and talk about the story. Toddlers will enjoy holding a monkey from the story, and may use the monkey to act out some of the words from the book, such as jumping. Some toddlers may need guidance to calm their monkeys at the end of the activity. See the Extra Support tip below.
The book uses number words that are important for children to eventually know, but the intent of the book sharing is to emphasize the basic story of little monkeys jumping on the bed and falling off. Toddlers are not expected to count the monkeys.
Extra support
Enrichment
Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of print and pictures
Toddlers use toys to enact key actions of characters in a story.
Invite several toddlers to help a toy monkey fall off a bed and get back on a bed. Read or review the book Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Emphasize on and off. Also emphasize a repetitive phrase and encourage toddlers to join you in saying the phrase.
While or after you review/read the book, use a toy monkey to demonstrate jumping on a bed and falling off a bed. Then give each toddler a toy monkey and a toy bed or block, which toddlers can pretend is a bed. Invite toddlers to act out the story with their monkey and bed. Example: “The little monkeys in our book jump on the bed. Let’s make our monkeys jump on the bed. The little monkeys in our book fall off the bed! Can your monkeys fall off the bed?” Draw attention to how toddlers are using their arms and hands to make their monkey jump on the bed and fall off the bed. Be flexible regarding how toddlers interact with the monkeys and acknowledge each toddler’s participation. Example: “Isaiah’s monkey is still jumping. His monkey is still on the bed.”
As the activity wraps up, encourage toddlers to put their monkeys to bed. Example: “The little monkeys in our book are in bed. They fell fast asleep! Let’s make our monkeys go to bed and fall asleep.”
Toddlers will participate in this activity in different ways. Some will enjoy holding their monkey while listening to the story. Others will act out the story with their monkeys. Some toddlers may follow one action, such as jumping on the bed. Acknowledge each form of participation. Example: “Desi, you are holding your monkey and listening to the story.” The repetitive, rhyming text of this book encourages toddlers to remember and recite phrases. Acknowledge each toddler’s attempt to recite parts of the story. As described in Option 1, it is not appropriate to teach numbers as part of the book reading.
Extra support
Enrichment
Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of print and pictures
Toddlers use their bodies to enact key actions of characters in a story.
Invite several toddlers to pretend they are monkeys in a story. Read or review the book Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Emphasize on and off. Also emphasize a repetitive phrase and encourage toddlers to join you in saying the phrase. After reading or reviewing the story, invite toddlers to jump up and down on their carpet square, like the little monkeys jump on the bed in the book. Read pertinent sections of the story as a guide for toddlers’ actions. Encourage toddlers to step or jump off the carpet square when the little monkeys fall off the bed in the book. Explain that the little monkeys got hurt when they fell in the story. We want to step or jump off our carpet square, instead of falling, so we are safe. Some toddlers may enjoy practicing jumping on their carpet square before you read parts of the story again. Read the story with enthusiasm, encouraging toddlers to jump on their squares and step or jump off their squares at appropriate times.
In the last pages of the book where the little monkeys finally go to bed and fall asleep, invite toddlers to take a blanket or scarf and pretend to go to sleep. Explain that we are putting the blanket/scarf over ourselves. We are under a pretend blanket like the little monkeys in the story. This final acting out of part of the story is a good opportunity to help toddlers calm down after jumping.
Repeat and extend toddlers’ comments. Example: A toddler says “ouchy” while rubbing his head and pointing to the book’s picture of a crying monkey. A caregiver says, “Yes, the little monkey in our story bumped his head. He is crying! He needs a bandage. You are rubbing your head. Are you pretending you bumped your head like the little monkey?”
The opportunity to act out important events in a story can support deeper understanding of a book and help connect a story to toddlers’ experiences. Most toddlers enjoy jumping, and this activity offers focused practiced of a gross motor skill. Encouraging toddlers to pretend to fall asleep under an imaginary blanket promotes the self-regulation task of calming down. Some toddlers will follow the story, and others will enjoy jumping and pretending to go to sleep.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow, small plush monkeys, small pieces of felt or cloth to represent blankets for the monkeys
Place Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed and plush monkeys with their blankets in the dollhouse area. Help toddlers connect the book with their play in the dollhouse. Toddlers may enjoy acting out the parts of the story from the book or acting out other stories with other available dollhouse figures. Suggest uses for the small felt or cloth pieces, including blankets for the monkeys or other dollhouse figures.
Materials Needed: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow, small plush monkeys, large plush monkey
The book Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed may be shared with all young children in your setting. Give each child a plush monkey to hold. Invite an older child to hold the large plush “mama” monkey. This role may be rotated among older children. Recite the “Five Little Monkeys” fingerplay, inviting the older children to participate in the hand and finger movements. Younger children will enjoy watching and listening, and some may participate by repeating words or hand movements. Babies will enjoy holding a monkey and listening to the song.
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