Books
There is no shortage of children's books about jumping! Here are a few titles we have in our library:
9781416978848
When a bug sleeping on a jug is chased by a frog, he has to jump to get away. But then that frog (who’s sleeping on a log) is in for a similar surprise! He’s attacked by a cat…who needs to jump away from a dog…and on it goes, until not even a shark is free from getting a little fright!
Extension: Each spread includes several rhyming words to go with each animal ("I'm a hound, I'm a hound, I'm a round little hound, and I'm sleeping very sound.") Make a list of animals that are not in this book, and see what rhymes you can come up with for each of them. You can also hear the song this book comes from at fischart.com/kidsmusic.html.
9780688139544
This is the turtle that slid into the pond and ate the snake that dropped from a branch and swallowed the fish that swam after the frog — JUMP, FROG, JUMP! This infectious cumulative tale will soon have the young frogs you know jumping and chanting with joy.
9780525675785
Follow a little bot, teddy bear in hand, and a friendly frog as they jump with a tiger, swing with a monkey, roar with a lion, stamp with an elephant, and march with a whole troupe of colorful wild animals.
Extension: Copy the animals, of course! Take a trip around your house, inside or out as the weather dictates, jumping/swinging/stomping like different animals.
9780761351412
Jenny loves to jump! But when jumping gets her into trouble, she sadly decides to retire her pogo stick. Then her school decides to hold a fundraising fair, and she discovers that her unique skill can be used for a very special purpose.
Extension: Can you locate a pogo stick to try your hand at (or feet as the case may be)? It's harder than it looks! Challenge each other to see how many times you can jump without falling now, and how much you can improve with a week of practice.
9781410303776
This is a fun series with a countdown of the top ten animals in several different categories. Plenty of science and geography slipped in while the kids are reading about these amazing record breakers.
Rhymes and Writing
What else but:
Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candlestick
Many kids (and adults) don't know the old classic nursery rhymes. Check out a book of Mother Goose and see what they think of them! Try some rewrites: what else could Jack jump over? How can you change the other words so it still rhymes?
Why is "Jack" such a common name in rhymes and fairy tales? How many can you think of? (Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Little Jack Horner, Jack the Giant Killer, etc.) Make a list of characteristics of each Jack and see how many similarities there are.
Food
Snack on a candlestick! No, not a real one: Use a pineapple ring for a base, half a peeled banana for the stick, and a grape for the flame. Or, could you construct candlesticks out of cheese sticks? Celery? What else? Nibble your way through lunch with different fruit and vegetable combinations, toss in a hot dog or some sausage, and you have a fairly balanced meal snuck in.
Another idea: Make some food that jumps! Popcorn immediately comes to mind, but there is another recipe in the "Other Web Sites" section for a more substantial meal.
PE
What else could Jack jump over? What can YOU jump over? Try different heights as well as lengths. How many juping jacks can you do? How many times can you jump rope? That can lead into...
Math
Use a piece of masking tape as a starting point, and see how far each person in the family can jump. Mark each jump with a piece of tape with that person's name on it. Talk about variables in scientific experiments - why is it important to have only one variable, and keep everything else the same? What variables could there be besides the person jumping?
- do we jump with both feet together, or leap with one foot in front?
- do we get a running start or jump from a standing position?
- how many jumps does each person get? One jump, or best out of three?
Once everyone's best jump is marked, graph the results. Perhaps put the distance across the bottom of a line graph, then use age or height or leg length along the side. Is there a noticeable correlation between the two?
Science
When I was little, novelty shops sold little packets of "Mexican jumping beans." I was rather horrified when I got older to learn those were actually seed pods with living moth larvae inside, twitching to get away from the heat of the hand they are held in. They can be kept alive long enough to hatch (in fact, that is how I accidentally discovered what they were), but the majority dehydrate and die.
Probably leaving out the death part, use online sources to learn about this amazing self-preservation technique, and talk about how other unhatched or unborn creatures react to stimuli. Your kiddos may be fascinated to learn how unborn babies will react to light, loud noises, and Mom and Dad's voices! You may have stories of how they reacted to certain foods as well. And then there is a certain young man who reacted to Mom and Dad's voices during the ultrasound by flashing them the "loser" sign:
Sigh.
Other Web Sites
Don't try this at the library: https://www.seeker.com/parkour-for-beginners-5-moves-you-can-master-quickly-1765401410.html
https://www.livestrong.com/article/164734-kids-jumping-games/
I haven't tried this, but it looks like fun to make: http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/jump-in-the-pan-chicken-222604
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