Pete the Cat
Suggested Age: Toddler and Preschool
Submitted by Iris Kaneshige, State Librarian, McCully-Moiliili Public Library
Book: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin
This is a getting dressed / clothes-themed project for toddlers and preschoolers. The extension activity is an alternative way of telling a story instead of just using the book itself.
Activity: Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (Adapted from: storytiming.com)
This activity is based on the book by the same title. It is great for number development, learning about clothing and positional words. The story itself is appealing as it has a singing component that repeats throughout the story.
Materials:
- Glitter glue in silver or white
- 1 blue felt piece (8.5” x 11“)
- White, yellow, blue, red, orange, and pink pieces of felt
- Black sharpie pen to outline the shirt
- Glue
Templates:
Instructions:
- With the glitter glue, draw Pete’s body on the blue felt as show in the illustration.
- Cut the buttons out of felt (but do not glue them so that they can be “popped”off at the appropriate places in the story).
- Cut the shirt out of yellow felt
- Glue the whole shirt except for the piece in the middle so that the middle piece can be lifted up to show the stomach and the “button”—the story’s finale. Some prefer gluing the tippy top of the middle piece to prevent losing it even though the felt top should stick securely to Pete’s felt body.
- This is the finished product. Everything is drawn or glued directly onto the blue felt piece except for the shirt, buttons and the inner middle piece of the shirt.
Related book: How do I put it on? by Shigeo Watanabe
