Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Caps for Sale - Day 3


We are currently enjoying Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina.  Day 1 with this book involved reading and retelling the story in various ways, Day 2 was all about learning activities related to the book, and Day 3 included monkey games and monkey snacks.  I should note that even though I am calling this "day 3," the following events happened over the course of several days.


First, we played Monkey See, Monkey Do which is basically follow the leader but it was mostly silly faces for us.

Then, we played Monkey in the Middle.  Two people throw a ball back and forth with one person between them (the monkey in the middle) trying to catch the ball.


If the monkey in the middle catches the ball, the person who threw the ball becomes the monkey in the middle. (Why do my boys love to go outside with only socks on their feet? )

Our monkey snacks consisted of:


Bananas on a stick rolled in chocolate and sprinkles (those sprinkles were all over the floor!) and then frozen.  These came out okay, but not great.  The bananas were a bit mushy and the chocolate fell off.  If you know where I went wrong, or if that is just the way they are, feel free to leave me a comment.


I also made caps.  I don't know if they really look like caps, but it was the only thing I could come up with and the kids were nice enough to tell me they looked like caps. 


I layered two mini vanilla wafers with a dot of frosting in between, and used another drop of frosting to stick a candy "button" on top. 

I have the ingredients for monkey bread, but we haven't had a chance to make it yet.  I'm hoping to get to it soon! 

I have really enjoyed our Caps for Sale unit study.  I love extending the fun beyond the pages of a book!

9 comments:

Amy said...

That is too funny! They make it look so easy in the cookbooks, when it's not! Anyway- because we froze our bananas first, the chocolate hardened onto the banana really quickly. I actually didn't even need to re-freeze the bananas. I think it's just one of those things, that if you do it more than once, they'll get better each time :) And, I made the chocolate super super runny. The sprinkles, and other toppings, I put on a plate, and rolled it in. Anyway- kind of a lot of work, unless you all REALLY like them.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

It's been a while since we've done the bananas, but I know you have to start with really firm, almost green, bananas.

I love the idea of a monkey day!

Ticia said...

Getting to eat a cookie, I'm thinking they're not going to tell you if it doesn't look like them (which it does).

My boys do the same thing, and so does Princess if I don't stop her.

Miller Moments said...

Brilliant activities! :) Sooo fun! I want to be a kid in your house.

Christianne @ Little Page Turners said...

Love the banana snacks! Mmmmm... making me hungry. :)

Jen said...

Fun story related activities! The bananas do look yummy!

Sherri said...

Looks like a blast!!!

Natalie PlanetSmarty said...

Anna would have loved to join sweet snacks and games - so fun. We just got this book in the library, and I am curious to see how she takes to it.

Laura's Ramblings in Color said...

Freeze Bananas.
Choc. coating= 2/3 choc chips, 1/3 coconut oil
Coconut oil hardens on it's own under 70 degrees. It's basically a recipe for Magic Shell.
Enjoy!