A Perfect Fit for Valentine's Day

Cover of the book "The Biggest Kiss"

We had such a lovely time reading the book The Biggest Kiss (by Joanna Walsh and Judi Abbot) today that I felt compelled to blog about it.  I had been searching a long time for books that lead into great discussions about size, length, height, and weight.  I have Leo Lionni's Inch By Inch and Just A Little Bit by Ann Tompert, but I could not find many others for the pre-k/kindergarten level.  I was so happy when I found The Biggest Kiss because it's about kisses from a wide variety of animals.  After reading the book, we had a discussion about which animals are tall, which animals are short, and which animals they would like to kiss.  It was hysterical!  We have also been measuring different plastic animals with snap cubes.  My students are getting really great at estimating how many cubes tall the animals are.  When we first started, two weeks ago, they would tell me "Oh, you need 100 cubes to go to the top of that animal!"  Now their guesses are much more accurate.

A really great song that I found for length is "Herman The Worm" by Mr. Al.  It's a really funny song where a little worm starts off being an inch long, and eats other animals until he's two feet long.  At the very end of the song, he's an inch again, and - well, I won't spoil it for you, but you'll love the ending!

Last night, I made this new Play Doh mat for my children to help them recognize small, medium and large.
Heart Size Sorting Mat

Thank you, Dr. Jean, for suggesting Chocolate Play Doh.  My kids just loved it!  They said the room smelled so delicious.  I also gave my students rolling pins and three different size heart-shaped cookie cutters to really get into this Art Center activity.  Here are a couple of photos of my kids enjoying it:

A student proudly displaying a heart that he cut from Play Doh

Students rolling out Chocolate Play Doh

Another thing I added to my centers today, with Valentine's Day coming soon, was this alphabet board game that the children learned how to play in small group but continued to play with independently in ABC Center.  This game is available in my TPT store!

Alphabet Board Game, with letters inside hearts

Please let me know if you have any great books that you use for your measuring units.  I would be so grateful!