﻿If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Activities for the Classroom Pin Me

Classroom Activities for If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

written by: Jennifer Fidalgo • edited by: Sarah Malburg • updated: 2/8/2012

Laura Numeroff''s book titled, 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" introduces students to economical theories such as goods and services. Activities include reading, art, math and cooking.

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    Reading Activities

    Prereading Activities

    • Have students identify with the story by asking the children what kind of cookies they like. Ask students what they have along with their cookies. Identify any additional items that they would need with their cookies.
    • Before reading the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, ask students what will happen if a mouse was given a cookie. Ask students what the mouse will need after he is finished eating the cookie. Continue asking students what else he would need. Have students to identify the cause and effect.
    • Practice prediction making with students by asking them what they think will happen next in the story. Reinforce cause and effect again. Make a chart based on student responses.

    Guided Reading Activities

    • While reading the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, ask students to identify any sentences with difficult words. Use the sentences to have the student figure out what the word means. Write the word on an index card to review at a later time.
    • After reading, share the items the mouse wanted in the story such as a cookie, an empty milk carton, a hand mirror, scissors, a picture of a broom and a mop, a piece of material for a blanket, a small book, crayons, a small notepad, a pen and tape. Then use the props to retell the story. Have students take turns retelling the story using the props.
    • Copy pictures from the story and have students sequence the events in the story. This can be done by students individually or grouped as pairs. Read-Write-Think has a resource to print for cutting the pictures and making a sequencing book.

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    Math Activities

    Review Shapes

    • Pass out construction paper with shapes drawn on them. The shapes should include circles, triangles, rectangles and squares in various sizes.
    • Review the shapes with the students.
    • Have the children cut out the shapes and paste them together to make a mouse.

    Teach Economic Principles

    • Discuss the things that the mouse wanted in the story.
    • Make a list of the students' answers. Continue doing this until all the items that the mouse wanted in the story are listed.
    • Explain that the demanding mouse had many wants and that these are things that could be physically touched.
    • Explain that some of the things that the mouse wanted in the story were services and that this is something someone does for another person.
    • Students can group the items the mouse wanted as goods and services. This can be done as a group activity or individual assignment.
    • Explain that people have unlimited wants and needs. Put students into groups and have each group create their own stories of unlimited wants and needs. Have students fill in the blanks to the following statement. "If you give a ______ a _______ ..." Have students continue adding to the list of wants and needs until 10 sentences are given. Students can take turns sharing their stories.
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    Cooking Activities

    Students can make their own cookies. These are quite easy to do. Make sugar cookies ahead of time. Have the students ice them with brown icing. Then, create the face and add the ears with chocolate chips. Last, add a licorice for the tail.

    Check with your school's policies on what kind of cookies are allowed. Some schools will want sugar-free or low sugar mixes used for cooking. Others may prefer oatmeal cookies or dark chocolate chip cookies with whole wheat flour. Stevia is a natural sugar substitute that can be added to cookie recipes if needed.

    What other If You Give a Mouse a Cookie activities have you done in the classroom? Please share any additional ideas below.


  • Classroom experience.