UNDER THE BIG TOP
BOOKS:
Clifford at the Circus by Norman Bridwell
Paddington Bear at the Circus by Michael Bond
Carousel by Donald Crews
You See a Circus, I See… by Mike Downs
Circus by Lois Ehlert
Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer
Last Night I Dreamed a Circus by Maya Gottfried
Spot Goes to the Circus by Eric Hill
Oliver by Sid Hoff
Harold’s Circus by Crockett Johnson
Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
Circus Shapes by Stuart J. Murphy
See the Circus by H.A. Rey
Curious George Goes to the Circus by Margaret Rey
If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss
Circus McGurkus 1,2,3! By Dr. Seuss
Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus with Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
(“ABC” tune)
Everybody circle round,
Lift the canvas off the ground,
Pull and pull and watch it rise,
Big Top grows before our eyes.
Everybody circle round,
Lift the canvas off the ground.
*Raise parachute “tent” while singing.
"The Clowns in the Circus"
("Wheels on the Bus" tune)
The clowns in the circus go ha, ha, ha
Ha, ha, ha,
Ha, ha, ha.
The clowns in the circus go ha, ha, ha,
All day long!
*Additional verses:
The lion in the circus go grr…
The elephants in the circus go errr…
The monkeys in the circus go eek…
"The Ringmaster in the Ring"
("The Farmer in the Dell" tune)
The ringmaster in the ring,
The ringmaster in the ring.
Hi-ho, the cir-cus.
The ringmaster in the ring.
The ringmaster takes a clown...
...elephant...
...lion...
...tiger...
...monkey...
...trapeze artist...
...acrobat...
...tightrope walker...
WRITING:
1. Journals- “My favorite circus act is the _______.”
2. Ringmaster, Ringmaster, What Do You See? class book-
Each student completes a page for the book:
Ringmaster, Ringmaster, what do you see?
I see a lion looking at me.
Lion…
Elephant…
Clown…
Strongman…
Tiger…
Bear…
Horse…
Seal…
Audience
MATH:
1. Estimation- Estimate how many animal crackers are in a jar.
2. Sequencing- Have children put balloon shapes with numerals written on them in numeric order.
3. Counting- Have children place the correct number of animals (animals counters or animal crackers) on circus tents with numerals written on them.
4. Patterning- Have children create a pattern using animal stampers.
5. Graphing-Graph animal crackers.
-Graph favorite circus animal.
6. Color Identification- Create clowns and write a color word on each of their hats. Children place the corresponding color pom pom nose on the clown's face.
SCIENCE:
1.
2. Circus Mix Snack- Mix popcorn, animal crackers, and raisins. Peanuts can be added if no children have peanut allergies.
3. Ice Cream Clowns- Place a scoop of icecream on a plate to represent the clown's head. Place an icecream cone upside down on the icecream scoop to represent the hat. Distribute M&M's for children to make eyes and noses.Add a red icing gel mouth.
4. Classify pictures of circus animals by the number of legs they have.
ART:
1. Paper Plate Clown Faces- Cut out construction paper clown hats and glue on paper plate. Add facial features using markers. Glue on pom pom nose.
2. Paper Plate Lions- Glue yellow yarn or strips of yellow construction paper around paper plate. Add facial features using markers.
3. Class Circus Train- Give each child a rectangle shape. Child draws an animal on the rectangle and glues on two black circles to represent the wheels.
4. Circus Tent- Children color and cut out a circus tent. Glue foam animals (I purchased mine from Michael's craft store) on to the tent. Animal crackers can be substituted for the foam animals.
5. Animals in a ring- Draw a ring on construction paper. Children use cookies cutters to paint animals in the ring.
6. Popcorn Buckets- Children fill in a popcorn bucket pattern with ripped pieces of red and white construction paper. Children then glue real popcorn on to the top of the bucket.
7. Spoon Peacocks- Children color peacock tail pattern. Glue plastic spoon on as head and body. Draw eyes with Sharpie and glue on beak and feather.
8.. Clown Hats- Children paint construction paper using Do-a-Dot paint bottles or bingo marker bottles. Form the paper into a cone shape and staple. Staple construction paper "pom pom" on top. Punch two holes in hat and tie yarn on.
