Pete the Cat Inspired Reading and Gross Motor Game

We loved retelling Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin with our literacy and gross motor activity! This book is just so catchy that kids want to read it again and again so we acted it out.

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If you aren't familiar with Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes or the other Pete the Cat books you can hear the book (and the song) here:

Our favorite part about the Pete the Cat books by Eric Litwin are the catchy songs. In this story Pete sings about loving his shoes! I wrote the refrain on sentence strips then cut apart the individual words. Our preschooler, who is an early reader, put the sentences of the song in order in our pocket chart which keeps her work in place instead of allowing it to slide all around the floor.

We cut out and colored the different piles that Pete steps in his white shoes. Our preschooler E enjoyed helping me make these while her toddler brother was still napping!

I read the story while E acted it out. First she stepped in the pile of strawberries. Oh, no, now her white shoes were red!

She changed the lyrics of our song replacing the color words. We sang it again! "I love my red shoes..."

Uh, oh, she stepped in some blueberries! By this time toddler D was interested in our acting and joining in too.

After each color change E was in charge of changing our sentences. So many early reading skills are occurring here. She is learning concepts of print, the one to one ratio of words, and word spacing as she reads.

Oh, no, D stepped in the blueberries! He loves his blue shoes! He was also definitely taking in his sister's work!

Finally E stepped in a bucket of water. Her shoes were white again but now they were all wet.

We left the pocket chart with the words up in our house for a homeschool preschool literacy center that E loves to revisit often! She can grab the colored puddles and act out the story again with her brother or independently any time she chooses!

This post is part of our series with the Virtual Book Club for Kids. Several other amazing blogs are also bringing you ideas for activities based on Eric Litwin's books this month including Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, I Love My White Shoes, and Rocking in My School Shoes.

Pete the Cat Movement Activity from the Educators’ Spin on It

Three Pete the Cat Activities from Lalymom

Pete the Cat Busy Bag from the Pleasantest Thing

Pete the Cat Button Activities from Inspiration Laboratories

Button Counting, Graphing, and Sorting from Mama Miss

Pete the Cat Activities: Beginning Sound Button Cover from Growing Book By Book

Learning With Buttons – Pete the Cat from 3 Dinosaurs

Preschool Activities with Pete the Cat from Ready Set Read

Pete the Cat Inspired Costume Cat Headband for Dress Up Play and Learning from the Educator’s Spin on It
Pete the Cat Glyph from Playdough to Plato
Crafts and Activities To Do Along with Pete the Cat from Toddler Approved
Pete the Cat White Shoes Literacy Activities from Rainy Day Mum
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons Craft from Coffee Cups and Crayons