5 Little Ducks Went Out One Day Story Mat and Activities

Practice counting skills, math skills, language development, the sound of /k/, and retelling skills with the repetitive story and song "Five Little Ducks."

What you need:
5 Little Ducks Story Mat printable (KidsSoup Member only)
5 Little Ducks Story Recording Sheet printable (KidsSoup Member only)
Duck pattern printable (KidsSoup Member only)
Red or brown craft paper
Yellow cardstock paper or craft foam
Orange cardstock paper or craft foam
Small wiggly eyes
Scissors
Glue

Five Little Ducks Rhyme Activity

What you need:
Print the 5 Little Ducks Story Mat printable. Glue to red or brown craft paper and laminate for extra strength.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Print the duck pattern printable and trace shapes onto yellow and orange cardstock paper or craft foam. Cut out each shape.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Glue a beak, a wiggly eye, and one foot to one side of each duck. Glue the second foot to the backside.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Five Little Ducks Story Retelling Activity

Place the 5 Little Ducks Story Mat on a table and allow children to participate in retelling and counting down as the story is read.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Five Little Ducks
Original Author Unknown

Five little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away,
When mama duck said,
"Quack, quack, quack,"
Four little ducks came running back.

Four little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away,
When mama duck said,
"Quack, quack, quack,"
Three little ducks came running back.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Three little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away,
When mama duck said,
"Quack, quack, quack,"
Two little ducks came running back.

Two little ducks went out one day,
Over the hills and far away,
When mama duck said,
"Quack, quack, quack,"
One little duck came running back.

One little duck went out one day,
Over the hills and far away,
When mama duck said,
"Quack, quack, quack,"
No little ducks came running back.

No little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
When mother duck said,
"QUACK, QUACK, QUACK!" (use louder voice)
Five little ducks came running back.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Math Stories

Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Understand addition as putting together & adding to, & understand subtraction as taking apart & taking from
K.OA.3 Decompose the number 5 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).

What you do:
The 5 Little Ducks Story Mat and the ducklings are a great visual, concrete representation of the mathematical concepts, and telling stories makes learning fun! Place 5 ducklings inside the pond on the 5 Little Ducks Story Mat.

Start telling a story that goes something like this: A group of ducks were swimming in a pond. How many ducks are in the pond? Yes, one Mom and 5 ducklings. Three of the ducklings decided to walk all the way up to the top of the hill. Now, how many ducklings are left in the pond?

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

The stories can be as simple or complex as you’d like. Children love to act out the stories, count, and answer the questions. Children will learn the concepts of simple addition and subtraction and decomposing the number 5 (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1). Let children come up with their own story problems as well.

Extension:
Print the 5 Little Ducks Story Recording Sheet and let children draw and record their own stories.

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Additional 5 Little Ducks resources available in our KidsSoup Resource Library member site:

Preschool Activities: Media Root	Preschool Activities: Media Root	Preschool Activities: Media Root
Five Little Ducks Booklet	Five Little Ducks Felt Rhyme	Five Little Ducks Went to Play Song