Little
Miss Muffet
Little
Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating
her curds and whey.
Along
came a spider and sat down beside her,
And
frightened Miss Muffet away!
Additional
Verses:
Little Miss
Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her frosted
flakes
Along came a
spider and sat down beside her.
And said “Oh
my goodness sakes!”
Little Miss
Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her
tuna fish.
Along came a
spider and sat down beside her,
And said,
“Aren’t you a sweet dish!”
Little Miss
Muffet sat on a tuffet,
Eating her
peanut butter.
Along came a
spider and sat down beside her,
And said,
“Can you spare another?”
We
usually revisit Little Miss Muffet during October and Halloween time.
Favorite
Lessons and Activities:
·
Along Came a
Spider Class Book – What might have happened if Miss Muffet hadn’t run away? Encourage your little ones to speculate with
a class book that will inspire creative thinking! To prepare, write this adapted verse two
times on the tops of separate sheets of paper: Little Miss Child’s Name,
sat one her/his tuffet, Eating his/her curds and whey. Along came a spider and sat down beside
her/him, And this is what he/she had to say.
Make a version for the girls in your room (with her is the appropriate
places) and a version for the boys (with the words his and him). Duplicate the poems (along with a blank
speech bubble) to make the correct number of copies of each version for your
class. Then snap a photo of each of your
youngsters holding a bowl and spoon. To
make a class book page, personalize the verse with the child’s name. Then have the child glue her photo to one
side of the page, below the verse. Have
her draw a spider next to her photo, below the speech bubble across from the
picture. Then have her dictate what the
spider said to her when he came along.
Assemble the finished pages behind a construction paper cover with the
title “Along came a Spider.” Share the
book with your students before placing it in your reading center for everyone
to enjoy.
·
Story Sequence – using the
four picture cards I found in a Frank Schaffer book, we sequence the order of
the nursery rhyme. The four pictures are Miss Muffet eating, the spider coming
beside her, her looking frightened, and her running away.
·
Who’s
Sitting Where? – Write each word of the first two lines of “Little Miss Muffet”
on a different sentence strip, but use different colored sentence strip for the
underlined words: Little Miss Muffet/Sat on a tuffet. Place the
sentence strips in a pocket chart, and invite students to read the sentences
aloud. Encourage children to change the
underlined words to give Miss Muffet a new name and place to sit. Remind students that the new words must rhyme. For example, students might change the lines
to: Little Miff Mare/Sat on a chair, or
Little Miss Mane/Sat on a plane. Encourage students to illustrate these images
on paper, and bind them together into a class book titles “Who’s Sitting
Where?”
·
Sounds from
a Spider – Give each student or pair of students a copy of a large spider
shape to cut out. Ask students to write
a letter of the alphabet on the front of their spider cutout and a word or
picture that begins with that letter on the back. For example, d and dog. Invite individual or pairs of students to
stand before the class and show the sides of the spider cutouts with the
letters. Teach the class the following
version of “Little Miss Muffet”:
Little
Miss Muffet
Sat
on a tuffet
Eating
her curds and whey.
Along
came a spider
And
sat down beside her
And
gave her a d word to say.
Ask each student in turn to turn
over his or her spider and reveal the word or picture. Ask the class to repeat the word. Invite a new student or pair of students to
share their letters and words. Change
the verse to include the new letter, and have the class chant the rhyme again.
·
Making Eight
– Distribute a copy of a spider to each student. Ask them to cut out the spider and then count
the spider’s legs. Encourage students to
use one color crayon or marker to color some of the legs and another color to
color the remaining legs. Show students
how to write an equation for this on the spider’s body. For example, a student who colored three legs
red and five legs blue would write 3 + 5 = 8 on the spider’s body. Ask students to turn over the spiders and
repeat the activity.
·
Space for
Spiders – Explain to students that a tuffet is a low seat. Make several copies of a spider page
available to students. Ask students to
cut out the spiders. Invite students to
estimate how many spider cutouts would fit along the length of their chair, the
teacher’s chair, their desk, the teacher’s desk, and other places. Encourage students to use the spider cutouts
to determine the actual number of spiders that fit in these spaces.
·
Thumbprint Spiders – Fold
paper towels in half, place them in shallow containers, and pour a small amount
of black tempera paint to make paint pads.
Give each child a piece of white construction paper. Have the children press their thumbs onto the
paint pads and then onto their papers to make prints. Let them make as many prints as they
like. When the paint is dry, have the
children add eight legs to each of their thumbprints with black felt-tip
markers to make spiders.
·
Making a
Spider Web – Show the children a real spider web or a picture of one. Talk about the shape of the web. Tell the children that spiders make webs to
catch insects that they eat. Then let
the children make their own giant web out of yarn. Have the children sit on a circle. Give a large ball of silver or black yarn to
one child. Have that child hold the end
of the yarn and gently toss the ball of yarn to another child. Have that child hold the yarn and toss the ball
to another child. Repeat until each
child is holding a section of yarn and the web is complete. Then ask the children what they would like to
catch in their web.
·
Flannelboard
Fun – Copy of picture of a spider and Little Miss Muffet. If desired cover the patterns with clear
self-stick paper or laminate them for durability. Attach strips of felt to the backs of the
patterns. Place Little Miss Muffet on a
Flannelboard. Point out the tuffet and
the bowl of curds and whey to your children.
Then recite the “Little Miss Muffet” rhyme, moving the patterns
accordingly.
·
Body Parts Rhyme – Give each
child a plastic spider ring. Recite the
following rhyme (written by Susan M. Paprocki) and the children move their
spiders as directed.
The
teeny tiny spider
Began
to crawl on me,
I
found him on my leg,
To
be exact, my knee.
The
teeny tiny spider
Crawled
upon my chest,
This
was such a long trip,
He
took a little rest.
The
teeny tiny spider
Header
for my arm,
It
tickled quite a bit,
But
I knew he meant no harm.
The
teeny tiny spider
Crawled
up on my finger,
He
landed on my thumb,
But
he didn’t want to linger.
I
helped him to my face
And
placed him on my nose,
Then
he lost his balance.
And
fell down on my toes.
The
teeny tiny spider
Went
upon his way,
He
clearly had enough,
Of
his crawling today.
·
Talking
About Fears – Talk bout how Little Miss Muffet was frightened by the
spider. Then encourage the children to
discuss things that frighten them. Be
careful not to belittle them for having fears.
Let them know that we are all afraid of something. As the children if they can think of ways to
handle their fears.
·
Which
Spider? – Fill eight small paper bags with newspaper and tie the tops
closed with string or yarn. Turn the
bags upside down and draw a simple spider face on each one. Tape a different number of crepe paper spider
legs (from 1 to 8) to each bag. Make a
yarn “hanger” for the top of each bag.
Place a “tuffet” or tool in the middle of the room and ask children to
sit around it. Have one child sit on the
stool and pretend to be Little Miss Muffet.
As you recite the rhyme, lower one of the bag spiders down beside the
child. Ask the other children to tell
you which spider “sat sown beside her” by counting the number of legs on the
spider. Then let Little Miss Muffet
select another child for the next turn.
·
Counting
Eight – Show your children a real spider or a picture of one. Have them count the number of legs on the
spider. Then set out a variety of small
objects such as marbles, cotton balls, or crayons. Let your children use the objects to make
sets of eight.
·
Miss Muffet
Game – Divide the children into two groups. Have one group pretend to be Miss Muffets and
sit on chairs. Have the other group
pretend to be Spiders. As you sing the
first verse of the song, have the Miss Muffets pretend to eat their curds and
whey. As you sing the first three lines
of the second verse, have ach Spider stand by a Miss Muffet. On the last line, have the Spiders scare the
Miss Muffets and make them run away.
Then have the Spiders and the Miss Muffets switch roles.
(Sung
to: “Oh, My Darling Clementine”)
I’m
Miss Muffet, I’m Miss Muffet,
I’m
Miss Muffet now today.
I’m
Miss Muffet on my tuffet,
Eating
all my curds and whey.
I’m
the Spider, I’m the Spider.
I’m
the Spider now today.
I’m
the Spider just beside her,
I
make her run away.
(Written
by Lois E. Putnam)
·
Curds and
Whey – Warm 2 cups of whole milk and add 1-teaspoon vinegar. Stir as the curds separate from the
whey. (Curds as milk solids and whey are
the liquid. Yu can let the children
taste the whey, but they probably won’t care for it.) Strain the curds; place them between paper
towels and press out the excess liquid.
Serve the curds chilled as cottage cheese. Or, whip the curds until smooth, stir in
vanilla or peanut butter and use the mixture as a spread for crackers.
·
Little Miss
Muffet Spider Finger Puppets - Use a kitchen knife to press a
finger sized hole into a two-inch styrofoam ball.
Have each child use tempera paint to paint the ball the color of his choice.
When the paint is dry, have him press eight pipe-cleaner legs into the ball and
glue on wiggle eyes. What fun to play with!
·
Rebus Rhyme
- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/Littlemiss.shtml
·
Sequencing
Cards - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/seq/muffet.shtml
·
Egg Carton
Spiders - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Spider.shtml
·
Little Miss
Muffet Emergent Reader - http://www.thevirtualvine.com/littlemissmuffet.html
·
Lesson Plan
- http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/poetry/littlemissmuffet.html
Pocket
Chart Story Innovation
Little
Miss/Mr. Muffet (or child’s name)
Sat on
his/her __________.
Eating his/her
__________.
Along came a
___________.
And sat down
beside him/her
And
frightened _________ away.
Favorite
Snacks and Recipes:
Little Miss Muffet’s Curds and Whey
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
Warm milk and add
vinegar. Stir as curds separate from the whey. Curds are the milk solids and
the whey is the liquid that is poured off. The children can taste the whey but probably
not be thrilled with it. Strain the curds from the whey, then dump the curds
onto a paper towel and gently press the curds with more paper towels to get out
the liquid. Refrigerate. Eat as cottage cheese. You can also eat them at room
temperature. Stir until they are smooth. Add different flavorings (such as,
cinnamon, orange flavoring, vanilla, etc.). Use as a spread on crackers. Serves
12.
Spider
Marshmallows
For each spider,
use one large marshmallow for the body and one small marshmallow for the head
(attach with 1/2 a toothpick). Make eyes from mini M&Ms, legs from
pretzel sticks. Cover with chocolate sauce, if desired.
Chocolate Spiders
Large block of Milk
Cooking Chocolate
2 Tablespoons of
Crunchy Peanut Butter
1 Packet of Chang
Noodles
Some desiccated
coconut
1. Melt the cooking chocolate slowly in a saucepan, stirring as it melts.
2. Mix the peanut butter
(you can warm the peanut butter first) with chocolate.
3. Mix the melted
chocolate and peanut butter, with coconut, pour over the noodle mixture. Be
careful not to break up the noodle sticks.
4. Put them in
spoonful sized dollops on greaseproof paper and let them set.
Spider’s Web
A crispy rice-cereal circle made with melted
chocolate and peanut butter if a web pattern is piped on top. Draw the tip of a
knife or a wooden skewer, even a toothpick, through concentric circles of
melted chocolate, creamy peanut butter or cake-decorating gel to form the web
pattern. Alternate directions each time, dragging the point from the center to
the outer edge, then from the outer edge toward the center.
Oreo Cookie Spiders
Use an Oreo for the body. Attach 8 legs made from pretzels
or thin black licorice. Add 2 orange m&m’s for the eyes using a touch of frosting.
Peanut Butter Cracker Spiders
Make 2 "sandwiches" from 4 Ritz crackers spread with
peanut butter. Lay them side-by-side on a plate, sticking them together
with more peanut butter. Attach peanuts
or raisins for eyes, and make legs from pretzels.
Spider Sandwiches
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread ( use raisin bread!)
1 T Strawberry cream cheese
8 Raisins
8 Pretzel Sticks
1 piece of black string licorice
You will also need:
1 paper plate
1 plastic knife
Measuring spoons
round biscuit cutter
Directions:
Cut
bread into circles with biscuit cutter.
Measure and spread cream cheese on one piece of bread.
Place the other bread circle on top.
Put the 8 raisins on the top piece of bread for eyes.
Place 4 pretzels coming out of each side for legs.
Add licorice string at the top to look like your spider's drag line.
Spider
Web Pumpkin Cheesecake
18 Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, finely crushed (about 1 1/2
cups)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
3 (8-ounce each) packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
3 large eggs
1 cup Breakstone's or Knudsen Sour Cream
1 square Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
1.
Preheat oven to 350°F if using a
silver 9-inch springform pan (or 325°F if using a
dark 9-inch nonstick springform pan).
2.
Mix cookie crumbs and 2 tablespoons butter;
press firmly onto bottom of pan. Set aside.
3.
Beat cream cheese and sugar in large
bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add pumpkin and
pumpkin pie spice; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after
each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
4.
Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until center
is almost set; cool slightly.
5.
Carefully spread sour cream over top
of cheesecake. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake;
cool before removing rim of pan.
6.
Place chocolate and 1 teaspoon butter
in small microwaveable bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM (50%) for 30 seconds; stir
until chocolate is completely melted.
7.
Drizzle over cheesecake in spiral
pattern. Starting at center of cheesecake, pull a toothpick through lines from
center of cheesecake to outside edge of cheesecake to resemble a spider's web.
8.
Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.
Spider Web Cupcakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 tablespoon of milk
Method
Cream the butter and sugar
Add the eggs one at a time and mix in well.
Add the vanilla and milk
Sieve in the flour and baking powder
Mix gently together
Put into cupcake liners
Bake at 375F for 20 minutes with large liners or 12 to 14 minutes for small
ones. Cool
Add coloring at the end of the mixing such as red, yellow, black or orange. Use
writing icing to create a spider web. Add silver balls to give the effect of
water on a web or dew on a web. For a
fun touch put a spider ring in the middle of the web.
Scary
Spiderweb Cupcakes
|
1 box
Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil's food cake mix |
|
Water,
vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box |
|
1
container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting |
|
3 drops
red food color |
|
4 to 5
drops yellow food color |
|
1 tube (0.68
ounce) Betty Crocker® black decorating gel |
|
48 large
black gumdrops |
|
1. |
Heat oven
to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Make and cool cupcakes as
directed on box for 24 cupcakes. |
|
2. |
Tint frosting
with red and yellow food colors to make orange frosting. Spread frosting over
tops of cupcakes. |
|
3. |
Squeeze
circles of decorating gel on each cupcake; pull knife through gel from center
outward to make web. To make each spider, roll out 1 gumdrop and cut out 8
strips for legs; place another gumdrop on top. Place spider on cupcake. Store
loosely covered at room temperature. |
Spooky
Spider Web Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 (18.25
oz.) package Pillsbury® Yellow Cake, or any flavor
1 cup water
1/3 cup
Crisco® Pure Canola Oil
3 large eggs
BUTTER
CREAM FROSTING
4 cups
powdered sugar
1/3 cup
Crisco® Butter Shortening
OR 1/3 stick
Crisco® Butter Shortening Sticks
1-1/2
teaspoons vanilla extract
7-8
tablespoons milk
Red and Yellow food coloring, mixed to make
orange
Black food coloring
OR 1/2 cup
melted chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Heat oven
to 350ºF. Line 24 cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Bake and
cool cupcakes as directed on package using water, oil and eggs.
3. Combine
powdered sugar, shortening and vanilla in medium mixing bowl. Slowly blend in
milk to desired consistency. Beat on high speed for 5 minutes, or until smooth
and creamy.
4. Reserve
1/2 cup frosting to tint black. Tint remaining frosting orange. (One or two
drops of food color can be used to tint each cup of frosting.)
5. Frost
each cupcake with orange frosting. Using a piping bag or a resealable plastic
bag with the corner cut off, pipe a spider web onto each cupcake. Place a
plastic spider ring into the center of each web.
Websites:
http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/missmuffet/index.htm
http://www.alphabet-soup.net/goose/muffet.html
http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/wil/Little_Miss_Muffet.pdf
http://www.freekidcrafts.com/little_miss_muffet.html
http://www.kinderkorner.com/spiders.html
http://www.thevirtualvine.com/littlemissmuffet.html
http://www.pre-kpages.com/littlemm.html
http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1631.html
http://www.first-school.ws/activities/nrhymes/msmuffet.htm
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