Activity Planning Sheet

Name: Name of activity: Gary the Guinea Pig Felt Board Story

Date and time of activity

Target group: Large Group Curriculum Area: Math

(circle one) Small Group (circle one) Language

Individual Science

Center Activity Social Studies

Art

Music

Concept: Nutrition

Behavior Objectives:

1. The children will be presented a felt board story titled: “Gary the Guinea Pig”

2. The children will have the opportunity to retell the story using the felt board pieces

Materials needed:

1. felt board pieces: an orange carrot, yellow corn, blueberries,green vegetables such as broccoli and celery, purple cabbage, a red tomato and a guinea pig

2. felt board

3. “Gary the Guinea Pig” by Virginia Foster

Teacher preparations for the activity: Make the felt pieces from felt or laminated cardstock with Velcro on the back.

Beginning Transition: Talk to the children about the importance of trying everything on their plates and how some things that don’t look good are tasty.

Step by step procedure:

š Present the story to the children using the felt board

š Tell the children how Gary tried all of the foods and decided that all colors of food are good

š Allow the children to use the pieces to retell the story of Gary

Closure, ending transition: You can allow the children to color a copy of each of the foods to create their own felt board stories

Evaluation: Observe the children as you tell the story. Are they actively involved?

Gary the Guinea Pig

By Virginia Foster

Gary the guinea pig had a nice cage with water, a house, and a special spot for his food. He did not like to run. He did not like to climb. He did not like to jump. Mostly Gary slept because he liked to dream. And he loved to eat green.

Gary thought that green was the best color in the whole world. He dreamed about everything good in green-grass, lettuce, cabbage, parsely, and ever so many other things.

One morning he walked out to his special spot for food. He stared at his bowl. He could not believe his eyes. There was no green. There was something long and thin and orange. It was a carrot. Gary did not know whether he could eat orange, because he had always eaten green.

Gary the Guinea Pig sniffed the carrot. It smelled good. He nibbled a little of the pointed end. It tasted good. In fact, it tasted great!

Great thought Gary, orange tastes great! He ate the carrot quickly and dreamed all day about orange. And that night for dinner, when he walked to his bowl, he had orange again.

All night Gary dreamed about green and orange. He woke up in a happy mood. He liked dreaming in two colors. He walked out to his bowl, squeaking.

He stared at his bowl. What was this? He did not see green. He did not see orange. He saw something round and red. It was a tomato. Gary did not know whether he could eat red because he had always eaten green or orange.

Gary the Guinea Pig sniffed the tomato. It smelled good. He nibbled a little of the fattest part. It tasted good. In fact, it tasted great!

Great, Gary thought, red tastes great! He ate the whole thing. All day he thought about red. He was glad he was learning about other colors.

Thinking about these colors made Gary feel very hungry. That night he had red again for dinner. All night Gary dreamed about green and orange and red. Three colors made fine dreams. He was feeling quite cheerful when he woke up the next morning. He squeaked happily as he walked out to his bowl.

He stopped and stared. He could not believe it. He did not see green. He did not see orange. He did not see red. He saw yellow-some little yellow grains! They were corn. Gary did not know whether he could eat yellow because he had always eaten green or orange or red.

Gary sniffed the corn. It smelled good. He tasted a bit of one grain. It tasted good. In fact, it tasted great!

Great, Gary thought, yellow tastes great! He ate all the grains and dreamed all day about yellow. That night he had yellow in his bowl for dinner.

He dreamed the night away, dreaming about green and orange and red and yellow. He had pleasant dreams with so many different colors. He squeaked a little song as he hurried to his bowl the next morning.

He stared at his bowl. What could this be? He did not see green. He did not see orange. He did not see red. He did not see yellow.He saw some purple leaves. It was purple cabbage. Gary did not know whether he could eat purple, because he had always eaten green or orange or red or yellow.

Gary sniffed the leaf. It smelled good, just like a green one. He nibbled a leaf. It tasted good. In fact, it tasted great!

Great, Gary thought, purple tastes great! He ate all the leaves and dreamed about purple all the day through. For dinner he had a good purple cabbage again.

All night he dreamed about wonderful things. He dreamed in green, orange, red, yellow, and purple. He loved these colors. He loved all those foods. The next morning he danced a little jig as he squeaked a song on his way to breakfast.

He stared at his bowl. There was something new. He did not see green. He did not see orange. He did not see red. He did not see yellow. He did not see purple. He saw some little round blue things.They were blueberries. Gary did not know whether he could eat red because he had always eaten green, orange, red, yellow, or purple.

He sniffed the blueberries. They smelled good and sweet. He took a bite out of one. It tasted good. In fact, it tasted great!

Great, Gary thought, blue tastes great! He emptied his bowl quickly and dreamed all day about blue. And later, of course, he had wonderful blue for dinner.

He was about as happy as a guinea pig could be. He went to sleep that night and dreamed a whole rainbow.

The end