Sensory Experiences for Eric Carle’s

The Very Quiet Cricket

By Francesca Villetti

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 By Francesca Villetti

Sensory Experiences for Eric Carle’s The Very Quiet Cricket

1. A Listen and Response Experience:

Help the Very Quiet Cricket

2. A Searching Experience:
Find the Very Quiet Cricket

3. An Observation Experience:
Look Closely at Crickets

4. A Cricket Poem

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 1. A Listen and Response Experience:
Help the Very Quiet Cricket

Ages: Two – four years old

Exploration: We can help the Very Quiet Cricket.

Objectives: To engage the children’s empathy for a character in need; to introduce the skill of
listening for, and responding to, verbal prompts in a story.

Materials: The storybook The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle.

Activity: Assemble the children in a group. Show the book and read the title.

Discussion:
Do you know about this insect? It is a cricket. Crickets like to sing their chirping songs at night.
You may have heard them all chirping together on warm summer evenings. Crickets make their
chirping sounds by rubbing their wings together. Can you rub your wings together to make a
sound? (Show this motion by rubbing your hands and forearms together.) Do you hear any
chirping sounds? (Of course, there will be no sounds.)

I will read the story of the Very Quiet Cricket. You will see that the little cricket n the story is
also having trouble making sounds. He will need your help. So when you hear me say, “Oh!
The little cricket wanted to answer so he rubbed his wings together, but nothing happened.
Not a sound. Oh!”, try again to make a sound by rubbing your arms together.

To the teacher: The purpose of this exercise is to engage listening skills, to extend attentive-
ness by asking the children to respond to the dialogue of the story, and to emphasize the
concept of helping a character in need. At the end of the story, after the children have tried
and tried to make the chirping sound along with the cricket, they will experience great satis-
faction when the final pages are opened to reveal a chirping sound.

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 2. A Searching Experience:
Find the Very Quiet Cricket

Exploration: We can find the Very Quiet Cricket.

Objectives: To involve the children in a kinesthetic activity that is motivated by the sense of
hearing.

Materials: The storybook The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle.

Discussion: Crickets like to hide. They like dark places where they can hide and chirp.

Activity:
There is a cricket hiding somewhere in the classroom. Close your eyes very tightly and listen.
(The teacher takes the book The Very Quiet Cricket to another area of the classroom and
opens the book to the last page, where the cricket sound occurs.) Don’t open you eyes yet!
(Teacher returns.) Now, open your eyes! Who would like to go to where they think the cricket
chirped and bring the book back to us? (Repeat until all children have had a turn.)

3. An Observation Experience:
Look Closely at Crickets

Exploration: Crickets are insects that are interesting to watch.

Objectives: To involve the children in an observation of authentic crickets; to engage empathy

by having the children consider how to keep the crickets alive

Materials: Cricket photographs, glass or plastic tank with a lid, paper towels, six large crickets

Discussion and Demonstration:

(Display a cricket poster.) Here is a picture of a cricket. In my tank, I have six real crickets.
Where have we seen crickets before? Yes, in the story of The Very Quiet Cricket. What do you
notice about my crickets? What color are they? Are they all the same size? Do you see their
eyes? How many legs can you count? How many antennae? (Engage empathy.) Do you think
the crickets will be happy in this tank? What will they need to help them live? (Listen to re-
sponses, guide discussion to include air, food and water.) We can give them food and water
and then they will be happy for a few days in our tank. Maybe they will chirp if they are happy!

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 The Cricket
By Francesca Villetti

“Cheep, cheep,” the cricket said.

I thought he hid beneath my bed.

But when I peeked there I was wrong.

“Cheep!” Again I heard the song!

I tiptoed to a flower leaf

and found him hiding underneath!

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