Duck Ideas

Take a duck pattern and glue on yellow tissue paper for the feathers

By using the song, 5 little ducks, make a book with the words to the song. They can collage or if they are older, draw short, fat, skinny ducks.

Submitted by: bpcsbc

Paper Plate Duck in a Pond

We have the children paint a large paper plate blue to create a pond. When dry I cut a slit in this to place a duck (or duckling) in which we make out of a small paper plate. The duck then stands up in the pond!!! Some years the children even decorate the outside of their ponds with torn paper green leaves & pipe cleaner /brown tissue paper cat-tails!

The duck is created by folding the small paper plate in half. The rounded edge becomes the bottom and a head/neck cut out of tag is stapled to an upper corner of the flat edge. (If you want to, trim the other side of the flat edge to resemble the ducks tail). To complete our duck, the children colour the beak orange and then cover the rest of the plate/head/neck with squares of white tissue paper. Eyes are created on both sides of the head by a finger dipped in black paint.

Submitted by: sherrisullivan

I make ducks in the spring by finger-painting large duck cut-outs with lemon pudding. We then add goldfish crackers to make the wings. The children love to finger-paint with pudding because they can lick their fingers.

Submitted by: krisplu

To make a cute quacking duck each child will need a yellow plastic Solo (disposable drinking) cup. With the cup upside-down decorate as desired with feathers, wiggle eyes, beak, etc. Poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup (bottom is now the top). Cut a length of string that is long enough to knot, hang down through the cup and 6-8 below. Cut a 2-3 rectangle of sponge. Thread string down through the hole in the cup, knotting at the top to secure it. Tie other end of string to the sponge piece securely. To make the duck quack you moisten the sponge, grip the string that is hanging down with the sponge, and with a jerking motion move the sponge piece down the string. The 'duck' should 'quack'.

Submitted by: rsldaycare

Duck Hats

I went to our local craft store and purchased foam visors (yellow). Then we added (using pieces of foam) a beak (orange) and large wiggle eyes. We also used fabric paint to decorate.

Submitted by: icey

I give the children a duck shape either pre-cut or for them to cut (depending on their abilities). I then give them tons of craft feathers to glue on.

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

Paper Plate Snap Ducks

Fold one paper plate in half. Cut another in half. Hot glue or staple each half of the plate to the folded one around the edge to create a puppet. Paint yellow, add eyes and feathers. Sing Mr. Snappy Duck Song.

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

Press Paint Duck Pictures

Use a duck cut-out. With a spoon, drop small puddles of paint in two to four different colours in the picture. With a clear piece of plexi-glass, press down and watch the colours move and blend.

Submitted by: leonard.perrin

Puddle Ducks

Trace the outline of a duck on white craft paper (about 6 inches tall) Have the children cut out the tracing and cover it with tissue paper squares (crumpled or placed on the end of a pencil and glued to the duck.

Submitted by: leonard.perrin

Chocolate ducks

At Easter, have the children finger-paint with chocolate or vanilla pudding. Trace a duck shape on to the back of the page and cut out. Add a sticker eye and a crepe paper tie for an Easter treat.

Submitted by: amher1972

Using a feather, paint (yellow, brown, green) on a pre-cut duck pattern.

Submitted by: amher1972
Duck necklaces

Shrink a duck pattern to 1 1/2 inches and use it to cut ducks out of wall paper. Punch holes in each and thread with a piece of yellow yarn (24" long dipped in glue on one end and knotted around one duck cut out at the other end

Submitted by: jrwatson

Puffy Ducklings

In advance, take a small amount of yellow powder tempera paint and cotton balls and put in a sealed bag. Shake until you have yellow cotton balls. Give children a duck shape or allow children to practice cutting duck shape. Let children glue the cotton balls to the duck shape. This is a great opportunity to let children use glue bottles by making baby dots of glue for each cotton ball.

Submitted by: rgbgbb5

We cut a duckling shape out of heavy c-paper, I let the children sponge paint with light brown and yellow paint on the duckling shape.

Submitted by: Dennis.L.Copeland

Styrofoam Duck:

Materials needed: 1 medium Styrofoam ball, 1 small Styrofoam ball, toothpick, yellow paint, orange felt, google eyes, orange pipe cleaner (cut in half)

Paint the balls yellow; when dry, attach the small ball (head) to the medium ball (body) by using the toothpicks; cut a beak out of felt and glue to duck head, add eyes, shape the pipe cleaners to form duck feet and attach to the bottom of the duck.

Submitted by: craftycher

Materials-white, black and orange construction paper, scissors, white facial tissue, pencil, white glue

Trace child's hands and one foot on white paper. Glue Hands to side of foot for wings. Tear facial tissue into little pieces and glue on duck shape (made from hands and foot) for feathers. Add a beak, eyes and feet.

Submitted by: ellie

Decorate your classroom

using templates for the younger children, draw ducks on to yellow card. Ask the children to dress the ducks with crayons stick on stuff et. cut out the ducks and hang them on a washing line around the ceiling

Music & Songs:

Submitted by: bjblondie00

Six Little Ducks

Six little ducks that I once knew.
Fat ones.
Skinny ones.
Fair ones, too.
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack.

Down on the river they would go
Wiggle, wobble, wiggle, wobble, to and fro.
But the one little duck
With the feather on his back
He ruled the others with his quack, quack, quack.
He ruled the others with his quack,   quack, quack.

Submitted by: fisher & tlr86112000 7 bjblondie00

Five Little Ducks
Five little ducks went out to play
Over the hills and far away,
But when momma duck says Quack, quack, quack,
Four little ducks came swimming back!

Four little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
But when Momma duck says quack, quack, quack,
Three little ducks came swimming back!

Three little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
But when momma duck says quack, quack, quack,
Two little ducks came swimming back!

Two little ducks went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
But when momma duck says quack, quack, quack,
One little duck came swimming back!

One little duck went out to play,
Over the hills and far away,
But when momma duck says quack, quack, quack,
No little ducks came swimming back!

So momma duck says quack, quack, quack...quack, quack, quack
Papa duck came and said QUACK QUACK
All five little ducks came swimming back!

Also I do this activity on the flannel board and have the children take turns removing the ducks.

Submitted by: rsldaycare

Submitted by: AJ3R
Little White Duck (From Spring Busy Bees) by Julie Israel
(Mary Had a Little Lamb)
If I were a
Little white duck,
Little white duck,
Little White Duck.
If I were a
Little white duck,
This is what I'd do.

I would give a
Little quack-quack,
Little quack-quack,
Little quack-quack.
I would give a
Little quack-quack.
That is what I'd do.

Submitted by: AJ3R
Rhyme--Little Ducklings (From Spring Busy Bees) by Elizabeth Vollrath
All the little ducklings
Line up in a row.
Quack, quack, quack,
And away they go.

They jump in the water
And bob up and down.
Quack, quack, quack,
They swim all around.

Submitted by: barbsbox0104 mchaps5

6 Little Ducks

6 little ducks that I once knew
Fat ones, skinny ones, fair ones too
But the one little duck with the feather on his back
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack
Quack, quack, quack
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

5 Little Ducks

5 little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck called quack, quack, quack, quack
But only 4 little ducks came back.
4 Little ducks...
3 little ducks...
2 little ducks...
1 little duck...but none of the five little ducks came back.
Sad mother duck went out one day
Over the hills and far away.
Mother duck called quack, quack, quack, quack
And all of the five little ducks came back.

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

Two Little Ducks Finger Play

Two little ducks swimming on a lake.
One named Jan.
And one named Jake.
Swim away Jan.
Swim away Jake.
Swim back Jan.
And swim back Jake.

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

10 Little Ducklings Finger Play

10 little ducklings (Move hands back and forth)
Dash, dash, dash!
Jumped in the duck pond. (Make jumping motion)
Splash, splash, splash! (Make splashing motion)
When mother duck called them,
"Quack, quack quack."
Ten little ducklings
Swam right back. (Make swimming motion)

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

Mr. Duck and Mr. Turkey Finger Play

Mr. Duck went out to walk, (Hold one thumb up)
One day in pleasant weather.
He met Mr. Turkey on the way (Hold other thumb up)
And there they walked together (Move thumbs together)
Gobble, gobble, gobble. (Bend one thumb)
Quack, quack, quack. (Bend other thumb)
Good-bye, good-bye. (Bend each thumb once)
And then the both walked back. (Move thumbs apart)

Submitted by: lesa33us

The Duck

I waddle when I walk.
(hold arms elbow high and twist trunk side to side, or squat down)
I quack when I talk.
(place palms together and open and close)
And I have webbed toes on my feet.
(spread fingers wide)
Rain coming down
Makes me smile, not frown (smile)
And I dive for something to eat.
(put hands together and make diving motion)

Snacks & Cooking:

Submitted by: lulu4

Duck Cakes

To make Duck Cakes you will need:
1. Yellow or White cake mix
2. White icing
3. Coconut tinted yellow for feathers
4. Cupcake Papers
5. Black jelly beans for eyes
6. Candy corn for bill

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

Duck Cookies
Use a duck cut-out to make cookies. Decorate them with frosting, sprinkles, coloured sugar and eat.

Submitted by: barbsbox0104

Duck Sandwiches
Use a duck cut-out on a piece of bread. Use spray cheese to colour. May add feathers cut out of American cheese.

Submitted by: mchaps5
DUCK SNACK:
Nutter butter Cookies Candy Corn
Vanilla frosting (Tinted yellow) Chocolate Chips
To make a duck spread frosting over a cookie, then add two chocolate chip eyes and a candy corn beak.

Submitted by: rgbgbb5
We took Yellow sherbet and gave each child a plate, we put one big scoop on the bottom and then on for the head, we took orange gum drops that we flattened, the children loved this, take the gumdrop and put between wax paper and take a rolling pin and flatten. We used these as the ducks bill and two M & M's for eyes.

Science:

Submitted by: Nancy_707

Ducks love to swim even in cold weather. Their feathers are special to help them float and stay warm and even fly quickly away if they need to. Try this experiment. It can be done at Circle time or in centre. Provide a piece of wax paper and a piece of paper towel and a glass of water and eye dropper. Have the child drop water on both pieces of paper. Ask how can we dry these off? The water has beaded up on the wax paper so it's easy to blot up. Explain ducks feathers are like wax paper the water will bead up and then they can shake it off.

Submitted by: jrwatson

Eggs
We often hatch ducklings in the spring. This is a great chance to learn sequencing! We put up a calendar near the incubator and count down until the ducks hatch. Eggs also make a great planter. Using empty egg shells, we fill with good soil and plant a sunflower, bean, or other hardy plant. The children can take the seedlings home and plant them in the eggshell.

Dramatic Play:

Submitted by: teach10210

Duck Hat
You will need an 18 x 24 piece of orange poster board (oak tag). Fold it in half. Draw a half-oval starting from the fold and ending at the fold. Do not cut the fold. This is the duck's bill. From yellow poster board, do exactly the same thing. This is the duck's head. Cut a strip of poster board 2 x 24 This is the strip to fit around the child's head. Measure and cut to fit. Staple ends together in a circle (headband). Staple the duck's head (yellow) around the band (cover the strip). Staple the folded edge of the duck's bill (orange) onto the outside of the strip, aligning the fold with the duck's head (cover the yellow edge of the duck head attached to band). Cut two circles, about 2" in diameter for eyes and glue to head. Draw pupils in centre of white eyes. Draw two breathing holes on the bill.

Submitted by: m1ssk1mmy

To jazz up the dramatic play, I bought oversized yellow sweatshirts (and one black one for the ugly duckling) and used fabric paints to draw wings. I also found sun visors that I turned into large beaks using some fun foam and more paints. The kids loved them!

Games & Outdoors:

Submitted by: MWh2564305

Play duck, duck goose! For a change in the game have them go around the circle doing the duck walk!

Submitted by: Krded

An obvious game to play when your theme is duck, is duck, duck, goose. However, for fun you could have them go around the circle waddling and quacking like ducks.

Submitted by: tapetry

Take those lil' floating ducks and put in a pool of water. Colour/number identifying; Say, pick up a yellow/pink/blue duck or when they pick up a duck ask them what number it is etc. Each child could get a prize for good behaviour such as sitting quietly during storytime, The Ugly Duckling; or some other duck book.

Submitted by: tapetry

Play Duck, Duck, Goose or duck, duck, gray duck;

Submitted by: rgbgbb5
For the Story 'Have you seen my Duckling' We made our duckling shapes and then laminated them, I took them during snack and hid them around our school, in the classrooms, office, etc. Then we went on a trip because our ducklings were missing. We asked everyone we saw, Have you seen our Duckling? They loved asking and then finding him in the rooms.

Submitted by: mriva

WHERE'S THE EGG?
Have the children sit in a circle. Ask one child to be the Parent Duck and have the child leave the room. Hide a plastic duck egg somewhere in your room while the other children watch. Ask the Parent Duck to come back in and search for his or her egg. As the Parent Duck gets closer to the egg, have the other children quack loudly. As the Parent Duck gets farther away from the egg, have the children quack softly. When the egg has been found, choose another child be the Parent Duck and start the game again.

Math Skills:

Submitted by: ReukaufTB

I have done this with young children. A local store sells sponge animals. So, I guess that you can get them anywhere. Well what I had the children do it sponge paint math. I would give them the problem, then they had to sponge paint out the answer. Now...I did buy ducks, so I think that this idea would be wonderful for young children in k, 1 or even 2nd.

Books:

Submitted by: rflick
Five little ducks book

Submitted by: supershopperdee

Read In the Rain With Baby Duck by Amy Hest.
I like to pull out a rain coat and boots before I read the story and ask the children what would it be like outside if we were going to wear this? We then read the book

Submitted by: rmevans

Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey.
I love this book, however it was a bit long for my 2's and young 3's to sit still for. The older ones liked the story

Submitted by: TiffaniC
Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri

Submitted by: rgbgbb5
Have you seen My Duckling,

Felt Boards:

Submitted by: Markdeb324
I use the song 'Five little ducks' on the Felt board but make a game of it with the children. Cut out 10 felt ducks. Have one student place any number of ducks on the board. Count the ducks as a group and start singing the song from there. The song could change its start each day and the children are counting each day as well as learning a song.

Submitted by: lesa33us

Felt board story
felt board pieces-barn, nest, duckling, duck, cow, goose, pig

The Baby Ducklings
At the edge of the lake
in the middle of the farm,
was a beautiful nest,
safe from all harm.

In the middle of the nest,
just hatched from their eggs,
stood two fuzzy ducklings
with four tiny legs.

They flapped their wings
but couldn't fly.
'Where's our mother?'
They asked with a cry.

When no one came,
they decided to roam,
'Let's find our mother,'
then come back home.

So off they went
looking high and low.
'Where do you suppose'
our mother would go?

First they saw a pig
lying in the mud.
'This must be our mother.'
Let's give Mom a hug.

'Grunt,' said the pig
'Surely you can see,
You're much too scrawny
to belong to me.'

Next, the little ducklings
came upon a cow.
'You must be out mother'
So they gave the cow a bow.

'I'm not your mother,'
the big cow mooed.
'You're much too tiny,'
and you eat such funny food.'

The little baby ducklings
looked all through the day.
'Wherever Mother is,
she must be far away.'

'Will we ever find our mother?
is she looking for us, too?
Let's go back home to decide
just what we should do.'

So the ducklings waddled
back to their safe nest,
and since they were so tired,
they took a little rest.

Now while they were sleeping,
they heard a 'great big quack,'
and when they opened up their eyes,
they saw their mother had come back.
By Jean Warren

Field Trips:

Submitted by: peakviewhomeschl
Visit a lake or pond and feed the ducks (if allowed) bread. Talk about the different colours of ducks and see if you and your child can waddle like a duck!

Submitted by: tapetry
Take a walk and go feed the ducks.

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