Reading Skills
Use the rhyme pattern ________ in (or on) a ________ with other animals
to build awareness of sounds: cat on a mat, goat in a coat, etc.
Play Hinky Pinky, a game of rhyming an adjective and a noun and
giving clues to what the rhyme is. The zanier the better. "What's a
bashful insect pest?" "A shy fly." The rhymes can use one-, two-,
three-, or even four-syllable words.
Safety
The driver sheep makes an obvious mistake in SHEEP IN A JEEP. What
mistake do the passengers make? What's the first thing to do when you
get in a vehicle? What could the sailor sheep wear to be safer when the
ship is in danger?
Manners
How many etiquette goofs do the sheep make in SHEEP OUT TO EAT?
(Slurping, burping, and spilling, for starters.) Are there special
manners to use with company, or in a restaurant? What should a person
do after making a mess at the table? Do the sheep have good manners at
the end?
Cooking/nutrition
In SHEEP OUT TO EAT, SHEEP TRICK OR TREAT and RACCOON TUNE, the
characters have appealing and unappealing foods to choose from. What's
healthy? What tastes good? Write up your own menu for a restaurant.
What are the worst foods to put together? Make up a recipe card for
Ew-ewe Stew.
Science
Margot Apple has added to the adventure of SHEEP ON A SHIP by filling
the waves with sea creatures. Can you find a shark, a starfish, and an
octopus? Is there really such a thing as a bird with blue feet?
In RACCOON TUNE, raccoons raid garbage cans. Find out what raccoons
eat in a town, and in the wild.
Outdoor skills
Read SHEEP TAKE A HIKE and walk with a compass to locate north, south,
east, and west. You might mark a path by tying strips of cloth around
tree branches. If someone gets lost what should the person do? What
supplies does a hiker need for a short hike? A long hike?
Math
Take a real menu, or one that you make up, and add up how much it costs
to have a meal. If a sheep orders a bowl of cream of clover soup at
$3.00, a slice of mixed grain cake at $2.00, and a cup of tea at $1.50,
how much will it cost?
Count sheep!
