5 Little Monkeys Fold 'Em Up

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My bloggy pal Hilary over at Raising Fairies and Knights started a fun new Monthly Crafting Book Club this year - a challenge to create activities to go along with some of the most beloved children's books out there.

We're almost halfway through the year and have already had some great fun:

January - Animal Action Dice Game for the book Barnyard Dance.
February - Cause & Effect Box for If You Give a Moose a Muffin.
March - an alphabetical scavenger hunt for Dr. Seuss's ABC.
April - handwashing fun to go along with The Piggy in the Puddle.

Now it's time for May's book selection, which happens to be one of our favorites:  Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

I knew I wanted to create something along the same lines as what I did for my 5 Frogs on a Log printable, since these two stories are so similar.

I came up with something I might have used in my classroom, had I needed a foldable or graphic organizer to go along with a lesson on this book.

This idea is so simple, but it's the perfect accompaniment to the story and your little monkey will return to it again and again to play with.

First, download your free Fold 'Em Up printable here.

You'll want to print out just the first page (page 2 of the document) and then feed the paper back through so that you can print out the last page of the printable on the back.

These pages are set up so that the two sides will be matched up correctly when you print, but you'll want to make sure you know how your printer needs its paper fed.

I always have to print a test page to determine how a new printer works.  To do this, I write "top" at the top of a sheet of paper and then feed it in to the printer (make a note of how you feed the paper in!)  

Open up a word document and type the word "top" and then hit print.

Play around with how you feed the paper until your "tops" line up.

Once you've got the paper-feeding figured out, then you'll know how to stick the paper back in for the backside of this printable.

And if you can't figure out your printer, you can always just print out the two pages and then glue them together.

Although you'd think card stock would work well for this project, it's best to use just regular paper, so that everything folds up correctly (folding card stock means progressively thicker folds!)

Also, it's a good idea to go ahead and make your first fold ahead of time (then straighten it back out), because that will help make sure the rest of the folds are all lined up.

This all sounds far more complicated than it really is, I promise.

Now you're ready to sing the song or read the book:

5 little monkeys, jumping on the bed...

I tried to match the bedspread to the one in the book...

4 little monkeys, jumping on the bed...

Now you fold the top down, toward you.

3 little monkeys, jumping on the bed...

2 little monkeys, jumping on the bed...

1 little monkey, jumping on the bed...

No little monkeys jumping on the bed!

In our house, both the Mama & the Daddy would be jumping on the bed after all the little monkeys went to sleep!  (No! Not that kind of jumping! Keep it clean, people!)

In addition to playing with this foldable, this book is great for dramatic play - you and your child can take turns being the doctor (we use this) and the mama with the phone (we have an old dial phone that Gv plays with).  Gather up some stuffed-animal monkeys to do all the jumping, unless you happen to use your bed as a trampoline.



Does your little monkey love this book as much as mine?  I'd love to hear!  Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.

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