You can create many preschool activities based on "Have You Seen My Duckling?"
"Have You Seen My Ducking?" by Nancy Tafuri is the story of a mother searching for her "missing" duckling. If you carefully examine the illustrations, however, you will see the duckling hiding on every page. The story has very few words and therefore makes an excellent book to use, along with academic activities, in your preschool classroom.
Simple Subtraction
The mother in the story has eight ducklings to keep track of. However, she loses one of them and spends the story trying to find it. Use this to introduce the simple idea of subtraction to your preschool students. Take eight plastic ducks and place them on the floor of your classroom. Count the eight ducks with your class, and then remove one of the plastic ducks. Then, count the remaining ducks with your students. Repeat this activity and change the number of ducks you remove from the original eight. This lesson helps children begin to understand the connection between the ducks and simple mathematics.
Find the Duckling
Read "Have You Seen My Duckling?" with your students. The first time through, simply read the few words in the book and look at the pictures. Talk about the plot with your children and then ask them to help the mother duck find the missing duckling. Look through the book once again and on each page ask your children to find the duckling hidden within the illustration. Invite them to play this game with one another and take turns locating the duck throughout the story.
Duck Paper Craft
Create your own mother duck using plain paper. Provide your students with a basic line drawing of a duck. Copy this to heavy paper so that the duck craft is sturdy enough for young children. Provide them with washable paints or markers to color the duck. Encourage the students to color each part of the duck's body to match the mother duck in the story.
Paper Plate Duck
Read the story with the children and create a paper plate duck to hide in your classroom, similar to the hidden duck in the illustrations. Take one paper plate and use this as the base for your duck head. Fold another plate in half and color it orange. Glue it horizontally on the white plate to make the duck's beak. Use a black marker to draw the duck's eyes and other facial features. Play a game with your children by hiding the duck somewhere in the class and ask them to find it.
