Preschool Multi-Sensory Lesson Plan with Pat the Bunny
Teaching Tools for Education
Grade: Preschool
Lesson Duration: 30 – 60 minutes
Objective: By the end of this preschool lesson, children have made an edible craft and used all five senses. Teaching tools like the folk game “London Bridge” improve their gross motor skills and exercise the senses of hearing, seeing and touch. An interactive reading of “Pat the Bunny” furnishes a multi-sensory educational adventure.
Prior Knowledge: This lesson builds on preK curriculum core skills such as following directions, listening and taking turns.
Materials Needed – Teaching Tools
One copy of “Get Out the Mad Cookies” (you will need to scroll through the recipes)
Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book) by Dorothy Kunhardt
Teach Lesson
Read the book, Pat the Bunny. Encourage learning by asking discussion questions as the children take turns patting the bunny or playing peek-a-boo with the bunny.
If the class is large, borrow several copies of the book from the local library and recruit some volunteers to help with the activity. All of the children get a chance to participate without waiting when teaching tools are used efficiently.
Edible Teaching Tools
“Get Out the Mad Cookies”
This fun activity encourages communication and teamwork. The children work with adult supervision during learning opportunities such as understanding the recipe or performing the measuring and mixing actions. Teachers can use teaching tools such as this craft to explain to students appropriate ways to express angry feelings.
Kneading the dough is a good tactile activity. Measuring the ingredients involves the senses of hearing and seeing. Teaching kids to form the dough into shapes, or use it to make letters of the alphabet, improves fine motor skills. While the cookies bake, encourage learning and fitness by playing the movement game “London Bridge”. This teaching tool acts as a transition activity to exercise the large muscle groups and improve gross motor skills to the overall lesson plan.
Discussion Questions
- How did the bunny’s fur feel?
- What did you like best about the story?
- How did the sandpaper feel?
- What does the sandpaper remind you of?
- Who did you see in the peek-a-boo mirror?
- How did the flowers smell?
Extend the Lesson at Home
Send home a copy of the recipe for “Get Out the Mad Cookies” so parents can mix up a batch and reinforce the concepts. Kids coloring pages featuring bunnies or bunny crafts are another great way to extend the multi-sensory learning experience. For instance, use a bunny coloring page and glue on cotton balls to represent the bunny fur. Any or all of the recommending reading books are excellent teacher resources to extend the lesson and reinforce the lesson.
Recommended Related Reading
Try one or all of these books to extend the lesson for your students:
- Little Bunny on the Move by Peter McCarty
- Where’s Spot by Eric Hill
- Peter Rabbit’s Songs and Rhymes by Beatrix Potter
- Five Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth
- Five Silly Monkeys by Susie Brooks
- Five Wishing Stars by Treesha Runnells
- The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Using a multi-sensory lesson plan for preschool classes is a good way to engage children no matter what their learning style. Following a lesson plan helps teachers stay on track and cover key teaching points.
References
- Author’s classroom experience as an educator
- SXC: Stock illustration: Rabbit/bunny (Image ID: 1270140) under royalty free license