If You Give a Mouse a Home {Take-Home Bag!}

Every year in first grade we do a Laura Numeroff unit and after we read the book If You Give A Mouse a Cookie (click HERE to get the book), I introduce my kids to Mr. Mouse!

I snagged this guy up at Kohls a couple of years back for $5! Love those Kohl's Care Book and Stuffed Animal Deals!

He is a well loved little guy-hence the reason his neck is a little droopy! The yearly bathing he gets in my washer machine hasn't helped that either, but trust me he needs it! :) The reason he is so well loved (and so dearly in need of a bath) is that he goes home with each of my sweet kiddos each year in a take-home bag:

After telling my kiddos that Mr. Mouse wants to go home with each of them for a night, they get to write their names down on one of the mouse name cards, which I then put into a small container:

We pick a name each day and one student gets to take home the take-home bag for the night (that contains the mouse and journal). The student will get to take Mr. Mouse home and spend the evening with him. They then get to write their adventures with Mr. Mouse in the journal and draw or include a printed picture of their time together:

All of the instructions are included in a letter from Mr. Mouse that goes in the front of the journal:

The student then brings everything back the next day to share with the class--this is a great speaking and listening activity! That student will then get to pick the next name from the mouse name cards. When everyone in the class has got to have a turn with Mr. Mouse, I always add or finished journal to our classroom library. Did you ever notice how students love reading each others work?

My students LOVE getting to take Mr. Mouse home and I LOVE that the family involvement, writing, and speaking and listening that happens as a result of this take-home bag! If you have an extra copy of the book, you can also add the book into the take-home bag:

If you would like to add this fun "If You Give a Mouse a Home" take-home bag to your Laura Numeroff unit or classroom activities, I have put everything in a packet for you!

Altogether this packet includes:

-Instructions on making and using the take-home bag

-Journal Cover

-Instruction Letter from Mr. Mouse

-Journal Pages (in both ruled and lined options)

-name cards (for choosing a student each day)

-a printable mouse (incase you don't have a stuffed animal mouse)

AND I'm putting it on sale for 50% off for the next 24 hours! Plus the first 2 people to comment, leave their email, and tell their favorite kind of cookie will get it for free!

 And if you weren't able to snag up the cutie mouse from Kohls a couple of years ago and don't want to pay the $30 he is going for now (yikes!) I did find these more affordable stuffed animals from Amazon. Just click on the pictures to check them out:

I'll be reading "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" on Wednesday and can't wait to start sending our take-home bag this year!! So fun!