September 17, 2012

Puppets at the Dollar Store

Any thing on a stick can become a puppet.


You don't have to spend a lot of money on puppets.

My personal favorites are made from 
things that I picked up at the Dollar Store.


Add some hair and wiggly eyes to a fly-swatter 
and you have Felicia Fly-Swatter.
She is very fancy. She has a cute bow in her hair. 
She even has a hyphenated last name!


Kids can use her to find 
colors, numbers, letters, etc. in the room.

Felicia comes with rules.  
Make sure you determine the rules first.
You cannot swat your friend no matter
 how many letters or numbers or colors he has on him.



This is Dusty.
He has wiggly eyes and a pom pom nose.
You can find all kinds and colors of feather dusters 
at the Dollar Store.


Give Dusty to one of the kids and have him 
dust off a good book for you to read to the class.


This is my favorite.
Of course, the little girl is my favorite,
 but I like the puppet too.

It is a toilet brush with wiggly eyes and a pom pom nose.
Get it out when it is clean up time.
Sing along....
Clean up time.
Clean up time.
Everyone helps at clean up time.



This is a garden glove.

It is stuffed with batting.
The base is a spatula. That holds the glove in place when you move it around.
At the base of the spatula is a rubber band
 to hold the glove on. 
Add a bandana for a little extra fun.



I really like this puppet. 
You can use it to give someone a "High 5" 
for doing something special.


Or you can give someone a pat on the back.


Or you can wave hello or goodbye.



Or you can just take all the puppets and play with them.

Have fun at the Dollar Store.
Puppets are everywhere.
Pick up some wiggly eyes and a glue gun.
Then all you have to do is use your imagination!





September 10, 2012

Monkeys In the Classroom


Have you found yourself back in school
with a class full of monkeys?

Here are some of Melanie's ideas for 
decorating with monkeys.



But now it is time to bring those 
crazy monkeys to life in your classroom.

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The Five Little Monkeys reader by Dr. Jean 
is a great springboard for lots of lessons.

Decorate a magnetic board.  
Put magnets on the backs of five monkeys.
Have kids remove the monkeys as they sing the song.
You can make a puppet from
a green sock for an alligator.
Have the alligator snap a monkey right out of the tree.


Make a step book of the story.
This book is made from a strip of monkey border
from which I cut individual monkeys.
Kids can sing the song as they read the book.
Use a tongue depressor for the monkey puppets.
The book can be used to teach counting backwards.
When the monkey puppet is facing forward 
the kids count forward.
2-3-4-5-6-7-8
Turn the monkey around and the kids
 pick up the number counting backwards. 
7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Go slowly for the little kids but the older kids love 
to see how fast they can switch gears.
It is fun to watch their brains work 
when they have to switch back and forth.




Monkeys come in all sizes....6" cut outs.
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The largest monkeys are 10" cut outs.

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This is a step book using the small 1" monkey cut outs.





Everyone in your class can make a book!

Missed Me, Missed Me,
Not you gotta kiss me!

If you want to make the book
email me your address and I will send you
a copy of the words so you can just 
cut and glue them on the book.
tommie.netzer@creativeteaching.com








September 3, 2012

Where the good things are....

All the products listed on my blog 
are available at 


But don't forget about your local
teacher supply store.

You can find the store closest to you 
listed on the CTP website.

Go to the bottom of the home page
and click on Find a Store.

Put in your zip code and how far you want to search
and it will give you all the information 
that you need to find
Where is good things are...


Sometimes, you just need to touch it 
and see it for yourself before you order.


Sometimes, you want to check it out to 
see if it really does match.

Visit your local store and tell them 
that Tommie sent you.

CTP loves our dealers!!!

They really are the GOOD THINGS!