"Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina

THE BOOK: 

"Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina is one of my favorite books from my childhood. My father masterfully read it aloud to me as a kid. The story follows a peddler who sells caps in a town for 50 cents each. He falls asleep under a tree, only to find a group of monkeys has stolen his hats. The man must then find a way to get his caps back.

USE THE BOOK:

This book is a perfect read aloud for age 3 in preK all the way up to third grade. It is a great group read aloud as the kids listening can act out the part of the monkeys and make the infamous "Tsz! Tsz!" noise.

Patterning with Caps:
Patterning is a huge development in preK and K; it is a foundation for math and literacy.

Grade Levels- preK, K

Materials-
Worksheet printouts
Scissors

Process-
1. Print out the worksheets below. You can either use the colored copies or the plain ones. If using the plain ones, give each child two sheets totaling 10 caps. If using the colored copies, print enough caps so each child has at least 10 caps of various colors.

2. Have children cut out the caps you provide.

3. Now have children make a pattern with the caps. Have them try a pattern such as:

ABABABA
ABBABBA
ABCABC
ABBCCCABBCCC

4. Before they glue down the caps on the peddler, have them practice at least 5 combinations.

My 4-year-old making patterns.

5. Have the kids draw and color a background.

6. Then, have them glue a special pattern of caps atop the peddler's head.


CENTERS OPTION- 

If you would like kids to use this as a repeatable center, pre-cut the items and place them in a sandwich bag (I made all items to fit in there easily). Then tape the sandwich bag to the back of the book for easy storage.

Attach tape to the bottom of the bag and
adhere the bag to the book.

The attached bag of materials.