“MOOOOOO!” Suddenly bursts from the backseat. “Look Mama! Cows!” Two eager kids are pointing out the window at the black and white spotted animals grazing. They might be New Yorkers at the moment, but these two spent their first three years surrounded by farmland. In fact, they have pet more goats, sheep, and yes, even cows than they have dogs or cats.
This story time is for the cow fans. Whether your little ones see cows on a regular basis, or more often in picture books, these comical animals are great fun. Below are our favorite cow themed read aloud picture books, songs to sing, and activities inspired by the awesome Click Clack Moo.
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Click Clack Moo Story Time
Note: Our story times always have the same parts; We start with a hello song. Next, I read 2-3 books about a topic with a rhyme/song and group activity that works on a developmental goal in between each book. We end with a goodbye song and then head to the table. At the table there is an invitation of some sort that works on another one of the developmental skills they are building. These elements are all listed below so you can move them around into whatever order works for you!
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Hello song.
Hi, Hello and How Are You (Watch on YouTube) with Let’s All Clap (Watch on YouTube) from Jbrary
Books about Cows
Featured Book: Click Clack Moo
This week’s Virtual Book Club for Kids book is Click Clack Moo. This hilarious story is the first hit in what is now a huge collection of books by Doreen Cronin. It tells the story of cows that go in strike.
The Cow Who Clucked by Denise Fleming
This cow has lost her moo. This book has lots of animal sounds and a repetitive refrain that kids enjoy chiming in on.
Cows to the Rescue by John Himmelman
There is a series of these barnyard romps by Himmelman and they all make my kids laugh out loud. They are full of over the top situations and hilarious illustrations.
Cowlick! By Christin Ditchfield
Growing up with a former farmer as a daddy this was a common term in our house. This is a funny origin story of sorts about the concept of a cowlick.
Songs & Rhymes about Cows
- Old MacDonald Had a Farm (start with a cow!)
- When Cows Get Up in the Morning (Watch Jbrary Sing it)
- Who’s in the Barnyard Rhyme (Watch on Jbrary) – Great one to do with Farm Animal fingerpuppets
Goodbye song.
The Goodbye Train is Leaving. (Watch on YouTube) from Jbrary
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4 Math Activities for Farm Animal Manipulatives
Materials:
- Farm Animal Manipulatives. We have these from Learning Resources.
- Small Cup or Basket for each child.
Math Activities:
Start by giving your child time to explore the manipulatives. My kids always like to do some pretend play with them when they first see them again. You may want to have them out in your play space for a day or two before you try to have them focus on math skills.
Then give each child a container of animals to work with. The math activities you do will depend on what your child is working on, but here are some activities we have done.
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Sort by Animal Type
Have your child lay out all the animals in their cup on the table. Ask, Can you find all the cows? Continue with all of the animals one at a time. This is a basic sorting activity great for 2+.
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Sort by Color
This is the same activity but sorting by color. For example, ask Can you put all of the blue animals here? For older children, my kids enjoy putting the animals in “rainbow order.”
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Then Count
For either sorting activity, when you are done sorting have your child count each group. For toddlers, count together pointing to each animal as you say the numbers.
For older kids you can also lay them out in a graph or put everyone’s totals together in a graph.
Another option is to write the total numbers out on post it notes. Then add together everyone’s totals. For example if Bill has 3 cows and Matilda has 5 cows, how many are there total?
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Make Patterns
If you are doing patterns for the first time, work through a basic ABAB pattern together. For example, lay out a cow, a sheep, a cow and then ask what would come next.
For older kids, have them start a pattern and then rotate around the table and complete the pattern of the person next to them.
Are you a member of the amazing Weekly Virtual Book Club community on Facebook? It is free and fantastic weekly fun. Together a team of co-hosts (including yours truly) share a favorite children’s book and related activities each week. Join our community of over 6,000 creative parents, teachers, and childcare providers!
These are the activities from our team of co-hosts this week! I can’t wait to see what you do with our book club book this week.
Literacy Activities
- Farm First Word Sounds from Teach Beside Me
- Click Clack Alphabet Letter Learning Laptop Activity from JDaniel4’s Mom
- Farm Animal Letter Stamping from Mama Smiles
- Farm Themed Name Recognition from Inspiration Laboratories
- Click Clack Moo Pencil Control Printable from Clare’s Little Tots
- Scissor Skills Printable to Help the Baby Farm Animals Find Their Moms from To Be a Kid Again
Math Activities
- Play and Count with Farm Animals from My Storytime Corner
Movement Activities
- Farm Animal Dice Game from My Bored Toddler
Science, Technology & Engineering Activities
- Farm Themed Sensory Bin from The Moments at Home
- Easy Farm Animal Dump and Sort for Toddlers from Toddler Approved
- Egg Science Experiment with Inertia from Preschool Powol Packets
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