Here we are, in January! Our preschool theme this month is Baby Animals. I always love the start of a new month and a fresh calendar. So many learning possibilities once again! See the beautiful Mother Goose Time theme poster below the calendar? That’s a little insight into all the baby animals we’ll be learning about this month.
January
I like to introduce each month with the Month of the Year songs that preview what’s coming up for the month. For January, it’s the new year and we can expect icicles and snowflakes. Winter is definitely here. A perfect time to enjoy a cuddly baby animal theme! I’ll say it once again – I love that Mother Goose Time offers us more than just a seasonal and celebrational themed curriculum. My preschoolers learn so much each month!
I appreciate the daily topics this month, that cover such a range. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Mother Goose Time goes above and beyond with their themes. We learn so much more than just about holidays and seasons and I believe this is important. Children are capable and we can give them the opportunity.
Pregnant Moms
The topic for day one is “Pregnant Moms”. How do you know if an animal is pregnant? <<<That’s a good conversation! And kids know. Look at the picture. We can see the animals have big bellies. We discussed how many babies different types of animals have at one time.
Kittens
A cat has many babies at one time. We made cat masks and pretended to be kittens. 
Cats sneak around and pounce on toys or prey. Look what the cats caught – a mouse and a hedgehog!
Piglets
One of the activities Mother Goose Time teacher guide is an Investigation Station for Nursing Piglets. I stuffed a sock with pig counters and invited the kids to feel the sock and guess how many piglets are in the “mama pig’s belly.” After guessing, we dumped them out and counted the pigs.
My oldest four really enjoyed the guessing part! A mother pig (sow) will give birth to around 8-12 pigs at a time. She can have 2 litters a year. That means that a mother pig can give birth to over 20 piglets each year!
Look at all the cute pigs in a row.
Then we made a mother pig with pink play dough. Then we rolled a die and lined up that amount of pigs to nurse on the mama.
That’s one busy mama!
We also listened to this story on YouTube:
That’s just the beginning of the Baby Animals theme for January!