Try something new and green for St. Patrick's Day--Pickles!

Pre-Story Activities

Chop sweet and dill pickles into small bowls and place them on the table. Let the children sample both kinds and compare the taste. Talk about the texture and color and how they are made from cucumbers. You can graph which the students most enjoy.

Before removing the pickles from a jar, let the children try guessing how many are inside. Then count the pickles with the children to see if their guesses were correct.

Story

Pickles To Pittsburgh, by Ron Barrett (Illustrator) and Judi Barrett (Author)

In this charming sequel to the classic Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Kate and Henry eagerly await Grandpa's return from a vacation that his postcard says has been one of the best and most unusual ever. Thinking about that postcard Kate drifts off to sleep that night and...

"With Henry as my co-pilot..." she visits the strange land of Chewandswallow -- a land characterized by massive amounts of food, immense carrots, leafy jungles of lettuce, and tuna fish sandwiches so gigantic they have to be moved by helicopter. What the people of Chewandswallow are doing with all that food is most intriguing of all. Fans of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs will applaud this return trip with its underlying message of generosity and a world community

Post Story Activity

Create pickle puppets. Cut pickle shapes out of green construction paper. Let the children draw on facial features. They can glue on green arms and legs. These can be made from construction paper. You can also attach with brads so the arms and legs can move. Attach popsicle sticks to the backs of the pickle shapes for handles.

Great Web Site

Don't over look the teaching ideas and materials available from I Love Pickles.org.