You know what cool birds I’m talkin’ about, don’t you? Penguins! I can’t explain it, but penguins make me smile. Maybe it’s the way they waddle; or how they toboggan on their bellies. Whatever it is, I like these oddball birds. It’s not like I’ve ever spent time with a penguin. Well, wait a minute—I have! There’s Tacky, the unconventional penguin who saves the day with his silly antics in Tacky the Penguin. And I loved reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins to my third-graders. That story rates a full hoot and a half!
“Waddle” about you? (Okay, that was bad, but I just couldn’t resist!) Do you have a favorite penguin story or activity to share?
Wowee, here’s a cool idea you’ll love! Share a favorite penguin-related story or activity by the end of the day Friday, January 14, and your name will be entered in a drawing for a free black-and-white (reproducible) book or magazine from The Mailbox. Get it? Black and white like a penguin! How cool is that?
Eager to hear from you!
Diane
Hooray for our winner, Sarah!
I have a penguin unit for the end of January. We read penguin books (Tacky, Mr Popper’s Penguins, fact books about penguins, etc.) and use penguins as our theme across the curriculum – math & reading worksheets, creative writing, crafts. We end the week with Penguin Day on Friday where we all dress in black and white and wear the penguin masks we made in class. (I like to take plenty of photos to share with parents.) We also enjoy a special snack provided by volunteer parents. Snack ideas include: goldfish crackers, blue jello jigglers, penguin topped cupcakes.
I do a penguin unit that includes doing an science experiment that compares cat fur and penguin feathers. I use a picture of a cat and a penguin and copy them onto construction paper. I have students color in the penguin with a dark crayon. This creates a similar texture of penguin feathers. They do not color the cat. We drip water from droppers onto each animal. The crayon (wax) on the penguin helps to keep the penguin drier then the cat. The students learn about the unique texture of penguin feathers.
I also like reading Cinderella Penguin, a story about a little glass flipper.
I too love penguins and guess what we are doing this week in my 4 year class? That’s right Penguins.
One of the favorite things I do with the kids is balancing plastic eggs on their feet just like the Daddy penguin does. I have the kids move into together while balancing the egg on their feet to protect themselves from the penguins n atural enemies. Its a great activity when the winter is to bad to go outside.
We make penguins from pinecones and fish through the ice a bowl I cover with foil. I also use the 5 Little Penguins rhyme from Mailbox and the Penguins at Play booklet from Mailbox.
We also fish at snack I get the pretzel fish and give the kids cream cheese colored blue and a pretzel rod to catch them with.
we make snowglobes out of babyfood jars and water –add little penguin figures (cheap from Oriental Trading) and iridescent glitter –so cute —then make paper penguins from empty toilet tissue rolls and a pattern. (Love the dressing up on Friday idea and the masks -we will add those ideas)-we also do a whole winter rotation day –with all classrooms doing a different activity: crafts, edibles, paper snowball fight, ice skating using leftover lamination taped to their shoes, etc –it is too much fun and the kids talk about it for weeks.
Oh boy, my kiddos love to learn about penguins. ONe of my favorite things to do with my first graders is to do research groups on 4 different kinds of penguins. Some of the things we do during the unit on penguins include: each group completes their research, paints a big poster size picture of their penguin, shares with the class and then each student writes a story about what they learned. Then we combine the stories into a book (we make several sets of the books) so students can have a turn to take the book and read the stories with their families.
If You Were a Penguin by Wendell and Florence Minor is a favorite book of my preschoolers. This is one story they don’t have to just sit and listen to, I let them pretend to be penguins and do the things in the book. Not only is it fun for them to act out the things a penguin does, but the book offers great penguin facts and even shows pictures of the different kinds of penguins. I use this in conjunction with having the students create paper penguins during project time. And like another reader mentioned, I too have the children balance “eggs” on their feet like daddy penguins.
One of my favorite projects is making paper penguins using basic shapes — I don’t tell the Kiddos what we’re making until they figure it out halfway through. The cutest thing about this craft is that the penguins seem to take on the personality of the child who made it! These happy birds are displayed on a bulletin board entitled “Penguin Parade.”
Here are the supplies:
–large white circle for the body
–medium-sized black circle for the head
–small white circle for the face (glue not centered, but to the bottom of the black circle)
–2 large black “scalene” triangles for wings (google it to find the shape if you don’t know what “scalene” means)
–2 small orange “scalene” triangles for feet
–1 orange diamond shape, folded in half, for a beak
–googly eyes
I have a week long penguin theme in my January curriculum as well. We do many of the ideas already listed. I also demonstrate how the penguin feathers act as insolation, by passing around an ice pak. The kids hold it in place on the back of one hand. Next they try it with an oven mitt on their hand and compare.
I love penguins too! When I taught 1st grade a few years ago we studied penguins and arctic animals in January, then to culminate our unit we had a pengiun day. The students dressed like penguins (in black and white) and they brought an egg that they had to protect from the skuas (teachers). We also had penguin cupcakes and other related snacks and wore penguin hats we made. It was a great day!
I love to teach my first graders about penguins. I have a little book they will put together and color. One year I had a student bring in some full color pictures of a real baby penguin just emerging from the egg. This really puts a real-world aspect to our learning. We also make a penguin out of paper shapes. There are word searches, and poems too. Of course I have a penguin book basket for Daily 5! We become first grade penguin experts!
We teach an entire arctic/tundra unit for 9 weeks so we have time to study all of the different penguins and their habitat. We study ocean the same year so we have more time to study above ground animals in this unit. We also read Tacky, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and look at various movies to see the penguins in action. I’ve found that students really appreciate seeing the real thing. The March of the Penguins is a bit long to hold K1 interest, however, I show bits and pieces of it so kids can get a real feel for the habitat and animal behavior. One of our favorite projects is a macaroni penguin paper bag puppet. These birds just make everyone laugh!
Hi, y’all! I am lovin’ your penguin ideas. You’re the best! Please keep sharing! In fact, that’s what I’m here to do. This morning I learned of a penguin book that has yet to be mentioned. My source is very reliable. His name is Toby. He’s six years old and a very large fan of penguins. His book recommendation is 365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental. Thanks, Toby!
Toby’s dad, a colleague of mine, says Toby’s penguin collection has grown to more than 20 birds (of the stuffed animal variety, of course). I can only wonder whether Toby has his sights set on 365 penguins for himself! Whatcha think, Dad? 🙂
I am a family child care provider and I have a penguin unit for January.
I have the children lay on the floor over large white paper. I outline their bodies.
Then the children color themselves like penguins.
I display them on the walls & ask the parents to find their child’s.
This is so much fun. On Friday to end the week, we wear black & white clothes, make headbands and have a penguin march through out the house.
We also make igloos from sugar cubes using small butter container bottoms. Even small hands can do this project.
My theme box has many penguin books,assorted plastic & stuff penguins, puzzles and movies which the children play with all day.
I love reading ‘The Penguin that Hated the Cold’ (by Barbara Brenner) to my students. Not all penguins live in cold climates.
Also – it should be noted that penguins & polar bears do not live near each other. Polar bears are arctic animals while penguins are mainly antarctic/southern hemisphere creatures.
We are doing a unit this week on arctic animals including polar bears and penguins. Since I live in Florida we don’t have the snow. I use the instant snow in my sand table and add penguins, polar bears and seals. We waddle like penguins, make up stories about penguins and feed fish to penguins. We make igloos using paper bowls and mini marshmallows.We make penguins from paper plates. Our favorite book is The Penguin Who Wanted to Fly.
We have had the penguin from the zoo visit us. So Cooooooooooooooooooool!
My first graders do many of the ideas already shared in our penguin unit. I also let them play a fact or fiction game that I created on the promethean board/powerpoint to integrate some technology in the lesson. I show the question and answer choices, after students use the activotes or answer aloud I then flash the correct answer on the screen with a fact and picture explanation. They always scream with delight when they are correct!
Love all the penguin things everyone is talking about. I too have the instant snow with penguins for the the kiddos to play with. I love having them put an easter egg on their feet and waddle with that. We play the music from Happy Feet and dance. And I think there is a penguin book that hasn’t been mentioned – Osbert. The first one is a christmas story yes but there is a new one out. But I couldn’t honestly pick just one – there are so many great ones. I can’t remember the name of the book or author right now – I have so many books in my head that I have to have them right in front of me anymore to talk about!! But I think it is something like only you and it is about the love of a mother penguin for her baby penguin. It is beautifully illustrated – I think that is why I love it so much. My daughter had to write a kids story for an english class – she wrote one about a penguin family that moved to a town called Telephonewire. The birds there flew everywhere, etc. they made fun of the little penguin meets an owl that is different cause it sleeps during the day and is up all night., etc etc. I hope she finishes the illustrations in time for me to read to my class next week when we do penguins.
We too study polar themes during January. We start at the arctic with animals that live there..then I ask but wait, where are the penguins? So we go on a “penguin hunt” and research where penguins live. My 4 year olds feel so “smart” as researchers when they find (with some quiet teacher guidance) where the penguins live.
The students at my school create penguins from construction paper as a buddy activity with students from another grade level. The penguins are then placed in the hallway to be put on display.