MSU Extension Child & Family Development

A family of 26 bunnies who live in a shoe has names that begin with a different letter of the alphabet. In this story, their mother puts them to bed in some unusual places that rhyme with their names.

BEFORE READING:

• Show the children the front of the book. Ask them to guess what the book is about.
• Point to the different shapes on the cover and ask the children to name them.
• Ask them what they think the animal on the cover is doing.

WHILE READING:

• Stop at any time if there is something you or the children would like to talk about.
• Ask them questions so that they can connect what is happening in the book to things they already know about. Try some of these ideas:
  • Where do you like to sleep?
  • What do you think it would be like to have all of those brothers and sisters like the bunnies do?

AFTER READING:

• Spend some time talking about the story. Ask the children things like:
  • Do you remember where Dee slept?
  • What did the bunnies have for dinner?
  • What did the mother rabbit do when all of the bunnies were asleep?

Read this book several times to the children. Hearing the same story again and again helps them learn new words and understand the ideas they hear better. Each day, pick a different activity to do with the children after reading “So Many Bunnies.”

MATH AND SCIENCE

Open the book to the last page that shows the mother bunny in her bed, and all of the bunnies around her. One by one, point to each bunny and count all of the bunnies together. (There are 26). See how many the children can count alone.

THINKING SKILLS

See if the children can remember the sleeping places of the different bunnies in the story. Ask where did Able sleep? Carol? Ike? Show them the picture if they need help remembering.

READING READINESS

Walk around with the children and see how many unusual places they can find to sleep. Make a list of all the places and then think of words that rhyme with them.

ART

Draw each letter of the alphabet on a piece of paper. Make the letters big enough that you use the whole sheet of paper. Have the children trace over the letters with their fingers first, and then try to trace each one with a crayon. Show them which letters are in their first name.

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

Sing “the rock and roll ABC’s.” Use the “ABC’s” song but put a rock and roll twist on it by singing with rhythm, using a loud or silly voice so the song has a rock and roll beat. Pre- tend you are playing a guitar or the drums while you sing for even more fun.

PRETEND PLAY

Pretend that you are a family of bunnies who live in shoe. Find a small place like under a table or inside a closet that you can make- believe is your house. Talk about what it would be like to live in such a small space with so many others. Teach them words like crowded, narrow, and cramped to describe what it might feel like.

MOTOR SKILLS

Put your pointer finger at the top of your head like ears and then hop around like bunnies. Practice making big hops and little hops, jumping loudly and quietly, and moving slowly and quickly. If jumping on two feet is easy, try jumping on one foot instead.

For more information, visit the MSU Extension early childhood development site.