Porcupines

Questions:

How do you think it would feel to pet a porcupine?

Read Alouds:

A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester

Hokey Pokey: Another Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler

A Balloon for Isabel by Deborah Underwood

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett

Flannel Boards:

Ouch! by Ragnhild Scamell

Bearsie Bear and the Surprise Sleepover Party by Bernard Waber

Songs:

Song: Oh My Darling, Porcupine

Sung to: “Oh My Darling, Clementine”

I was standing in a forest

Underneath a tree of pine.

There I spied my future bride

And how I wished that she were mine.

Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, porcupine.

You are lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, porcupine.

And my darling, she was snarling—

Should have seen that as a sign.

To impress her and caress her

Was a big mistake of mine.

Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling porcupine.

You are lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, porcupine.

I was standing in a forest

Underneath a tree of pine.

Now I’m sobbing, my hand’s throbbing.

Anyone got iodine?

Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, porcupine.

You are lost and gone forever, but at least your quills are mine.

Action Songs:

“The Hokey-Pokey” by Carol Hammett and Elaine Bueffel

Fingerplays:

Do Not Touch the Animals

Never pet a porcupine.

                [wag index finger]

Never poke a skunk.

                [wag index finger]

Never grab a tiger's tooth,

                [wag index finger]

Or squeeze an elephant's trunk.

                [pretend to squeeze with hands]

Porcupines have prickly spines.

                [pretend to poke with fingers]

A skunk's scent smarts and stings.

                [pinch nose]

Tigers' teeth are razor sharp.

                [bare teeth]

Elephants remember things.

                [tap head]

Never punch a crocodile.

                [wag index finger]

Never pinch a rat.

                [wag index finger]

Never whack a sleeping bear,

                [wag index finger]

Or tickle a bob-tailed cat.

                [pretend to tickle]

Ostrich
Here is the ostrich straight and tall,
                [stand up]
Nodding his head above us all.
                [nod]
Here is the hedgehog prickly and small,
                [cup hands]
Rolling himself into a ball.
                [curl up into a ball]
Here is the spider scuttling around,
                [wriggle fingers like a spider]
Treading so lightly on the ground.
                [let fingers crawl on the floor]
Here are the birds that fly so high,
                [point to the sky]
Spreading their wings across the sky.

[interlock both thumbs and fly with hands]
Here are the children fast asleep,
                [pretend to be asleep]
And in the night the owls do peep.
                [circle eyes with fingers]

 Too Many in the Bed

There were five in the bed

[hold up five fingers]
And the little one said,
“Roll over, roll over.”
So they all rolled over
And one fell out.

There were four in the bed

[hold up four fingers]
And the little one said,
“Roll over, roll over.”
So they all rolled over
And one fell out.

There were three in the bed

[hold up three fingers]
And the little one said,
“Roll over, roll over.”
So they all rolled over
And one fell out.

There were two in the bed

[hold up two fingers]
And the little one said,
“Roll over, roll over.”
So they all rolled over
And one fell out.

There was one in the bed

[hold up pinky]
And the little one said,
“Good Night.”

[pretend to be asleep]

Craft:

Toothpick Porcupine