From Head to Toe by Eric Carle: Printable Activities and Worksheets

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Title: From Head to Toe

Author: Eric Carle
Publisher: Puffin Books (1997)
Language: English
Themes: animals, body parts, action verbs
Age-range: infant-preschool, 4 – 8 years

From Head to Toe is a colorful and energetic book that will have young readers clapping their hands, stomping their feet, and wiggling their toes!

Giraffes can bend their necks, monkeys can wave their hands, and donkeys can kick their legs. And so can you! Throughout this interactive book, the animals of From Head to Toe invite young readers to copy their antics as they play.

Through Eric Carle’s vibrant collages and simple instructions, children will learn the importance of listening, exercising, and taking on a new challenge. Join the giraffes, monkeys, donkeys, seals, and more for a frolicking, fun adventure.

Culture and Vocabulary:

animals (a penguin, a giraffe, a buffalo, a monkey, a seal, a gorilla, a cat, a crocodile, a camel, a donkey, an elephant, a parrot)
body parts (head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, back, hips, knees, legs, foot, toe)
action verbs (to turn, to bend, to raise, to wave, to clap, to thump, to arch, to wriggle, to bend, to kick, to stomp, to wiggle)

Grammar:

sentences structure: I am a (+ animal name) and I (+ action). Can you do it? I can do it!
forms of can (can you?, I can, I can’t)
difference between a and an (an elephant)
possessive pronoun (my)
personal pronouns (I, you)
interrogative sentence
irregular plural noun (foot/feet)

Phonology:

the -s at the end of words can be pronounced in different ways /s/ or /z/
pronunciation of interrogative and exclamatory sentences (Can you do it? I can do it!)
accents of words (‘penguin / ‘buffalo / ‘monkey / gi’raffe /go’rilla)
[h] sound (head, hands)
[əu] sound (shoulders, buffalo)
[a:] sound (giraffe, arms) and [i:] (seal)
[i] sound (giraffe, penguin, monkey)
[ˆ] sound (buffalo, monkey)
[l ] sound (gorilla)
[ə] sound (gorilla,buffalo)

Teaching suggestions:

Create a word wall of vocabulary from the unit (animals and body parts). As you review vocabulary, ask students match the pictures with the words.
Move like the animal in the story is moving.
Sentences structure: Can you… ? Yes I can do it/No I can’t do it/Yes I can…/No I can’t…
Incorporate exercise and use vocabulary from the book as you lead the students “can you …?” “I can…”: Can you wave your arms like a monkey? I can do it! Can you stamp your feet like an elephant? I can do it! Can you bend your knees like a camel ? I can do it.
Grammatical structures There is/there are, What is it?/What’s this? It’s a … (+ animal).
Encourage students’ creativity by having them ideas for other animals that could have been in the story (cat, dog, fish, tortoise, mouse..), and then have them demonstrate how those animals move.
Song “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes“ and “If you’re Happy“.
Eric Carle’s books (Brown Bear What Do You See, The Very Hungry Caterpillar…). Discuss how Eric Carle wrote all of those books, and he draws the pictures too.
Zoo of London