"If You Give A Moose a Muffin" by Laura Numeroff is a perfect story choice for a moose-themed circle time. To prepare for the circle time, use clip art to make pictures of all of the items that the moose will want in the story, like a muffin, blackberry jam and a sweater. Then, as you read, place the pictures in a pocket chart or on a felt board. After reading, use the pictures to let the children help you retell the story.
Other moose-themed books are "Moose, Of Course!" by Lynn Plourde and "Looking for a Moose" by Phyllis Root.
Ten little muffins on the window sill.
Moose came along and ate his fill.
Now how many muffins are on the window sill?
Write the moose rhyme on sentence strips and put them in the pocket chart. Make ten muffin shapes to put in your pocket chart below the rhyme. Then read the poem and take away some of the muffins. Count with the class to find out how many muffins are left. Let the children take turns removing muffins from the chart and holding a pointer while the class counts the remaining muffins.
Use this circle time activity to review the sound that the letter "m" makes. Make a large poster with the letter "m" written at the top. Glue pictures of animals that start with "m" and some that don't to the poster. Talk about how the word "moose" starts with the "m" sound. Call on children to come up to the poster and a find other animals that start the same way.
Play a game of "Moose, Moose Where's My Muffin?" after the children have heard the story "If You Give a Moose a Muffin." Send one child out of the room or to one corner of the room where he can't see the circle. Then give one of the children in the circle a paper muffin to hide behind her back. Call the other child back to the circle and have him try to guess who has the muffin.