Mr. Popper's Penguins

"It was an afternoon late in September. In the pleasant city of Stillwater, Mr. Popper, the house painter, was going home from work." - Mr. Popper's Peguins

Mr. Popper's Penguins was a very fun read aloud. I think it was my favorite read so far this year. There are a couple of fun and free directions that you can go in to extend this book.

1) Extend through art:

A free penguin lapbook can be found at Lapbook Lessons.

Here you can find a craft/math activity for making a glyph. It's really a site worth checking out.

Here is a picture of our Art Wall of penguin art projects.

2) Extend through Science or Geography:

My favorite Website I found for Mr. Popper's Penguins is the Webquest I found here. They link to an awesome virtual tour of Antarctica. My kids loved this site!

Another idea is to study famous explorers (especially the ones the penguins were named after).

Your child could read an article with you from National Geographic or make a collage out of interesting pictures found in the magazine.

Visit the zoo. Penguins are so fun to watch. Here are some picture of the penguins at the Tulsa Zoo. They aren't the type in the story, but I thought I'd share anyway.

3) Extend through emotion and literary comprehension:

Ask your child to write about or discuss the changes in Mr. Popper after he receives Captain Cook. How does feeling close to one's dreams change their behavior and the way they treat themselves and others?

Don't forget a fun snack too. Make a penguin body out of Oreos®. Add a dab of frosting to attach candy corn for a beak and mini M&M's® for eyes.

If you're too tired to put the energy into a snack, just pick up some Goldfish crackers and voila . . .penguin food.

I hope these links, pictures, and ideas prove helpful to you.

Happy Learning!