The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is the perfect book for children beginning kindergarten or preschool. They can relate to the main character, allowing for great conversations around the fear and anxiety everyone feels when they start something new. It’s also a wonderful book choice for a Fun Friday.
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About the Story
The Kissing Hand is a sweet story about a little racoon named Chester who is about to start kindergarten. Chester is worried. He doesn’t want to leave his home, his mother, or the things that are familiar to him. To help ease Chester’s worries, Mrs. Racoon lets Chester in on a family secret…The Kissing Hand. Now whenever Chester is feeling anxious or alone, all he has to do is press the palm of his hand to his cheek and feel the warmth of his Mother’s love.
The Kissing Hand Reading Activities
Reading to children should be a wonderfully engaging experience. You can read the story once or many times. Start with a brief introduction to get your audience excited. While reading, make sure to stop periodically and ask questions. Students should think about the question and share their answers with a partner.
Text Dependent Questions for The Kissing Hand
Make sure to include text dependent questions. Text dependent questions are a great way to check for comprehension and begin training your students for thoughtful and respectful book discussions.
Here are a few examples of text dependent questions.
- How is Chester feeling at the beginning of the story? How do you know?
- What secret does Chester’s mother share with Chester?
- What is a kissing hand? Show me.
To learn more about text dependent questions and get ideas on how to make your read aloud better, read 3 Steps to Create Meaningful Experiences Through Read Aloud. You can also purchase our Interactive Read Aloud resource for The Kissing Hand. Read on for more information about this great resource.
Interactive Read Aloud for The Kissing Hand
Make your read aloud come alive with this 3 day Interactive Read Aloud for The Kissing Hand!
This resource comes complete with:
- 3 days of detailed lesson plans with book introductions, text dependent questions, vocabulary, and common core standards
- 14 differentiated writing pages
- Story elements anchor charts
- Cute and fun craft to decorate your classroom or send home to showcase student work
This resource aligns with the science of reading. It is research based, easy to implement and aligned with the common core standards.
The Kissing Hand Writing Activities
After reading and discussing the book, ask your students to write about it. I recommend modeling and using word banks. This can be a great opportunity to use Interactive Writing.
Here are some writing prompts you can use.
- What was your favorite part of the story?
- Write about a time when you were starting something new.
- Who was your favorite character in the book?
- How did Chester feel at the end of the story?
Here are some FREE writing templates for you to use.
Cute and Easy Crafts for The Kissing Hand
In our Interactive Read Aloud for The Kissing Hand there is an adorable raccoon that is easy for your students to make. It’s also easy for the teacher. All you have to do is print it and your students do the rest.
You may want to do a directed drawing of Chester. Directed drawing is a step-by-step approach to teach children how to draw. It’s a great way to build their confidence, so they can begin to view themselves as artists. To learn how to lead a directed drawing lesson read Teaching Little Ones How to Draw .
Another fun favorite is this cute cut and glue raccoon puppet, great for building fine motor skills. You need to model and make this puppet (sometimes step by step) with your kids. Cut all the rectangles and squares ahead of time, (I’m so grateful for the paper cutter). Lay them out, making sure that each shape is clearly labeled with the number needed. All they have to do is cut the corners off of the rectangles and squares, and glue them on the paper bag.
The Kissing Hand Math Activities
If you are doing a whole day of The Kissing Hand, you need a great math activity to go along with the theme. Both of the following math activities build number sense, counting accuracy, and an understanding that numerals represent quantities.
How Many Kissing Hands?
One really fun math activity is to find out how many kissing hands are in the room. Gather your students together and ask the question, “How many kissing hands do you think are in this room today?” Tell them to estimate (guess) and not count. Have them make their predictions and record their answers on the white board. Add some information by telling them how many students you have. Ask if anyone wants to change their guess. Now, discuss ways to solve this problem. Finally, solve the problem and record the correct answer. An easy way to solve this problem is to line up your kids and count their hands. Don’t forget to count your own! To commemorate this activity, you can make a kissing handprint recording sheet to hang up or send home.
How Many Hershey Kisses?
Estimating the number of Hershey kisses is another great math activity for The Kissing Hand. Show your children a jar full of Hershey kisses. Don’t use too big of a jar, not everyone can count that high. Ask the class to estimate how many kisses are in the jar. Record their answers. Now show them what 10 kisses look like. Ask if they want to revise their guess. Finally count the kisses with your students.
Snack Ideas for The Kissing Hand
The best snack is a Hershey kiss. Of course, you are going to give them the kisses from the estimating jar. Tell your students you want to give them their very own kissing hand. Have each child hold out their hand while you place a Hershey kiss in each one.
The Kissing Hand Science Activities
We can’t forget science. Did your students notice that Chester goes to school at night? What a great opportunity to teach your students about nocturnal and diurnal animals. If you have plastic animal figurines, your students can sort them using the attributes nocturnal and diurnal. This activity can be done as a whole group, with the teacher sorting and the students deciding where to put the animals or in small groups with the students doing the sorting. If you don’t have any small plastic animals… buy some or get parents to donate them.
More Fun Friday Activities
We love using picture books, glorious, amazing picture books, to create meaningful learning for children. So, if you want to have a full day of fun with a fantastic children’s book, check out some of our other Fun Friday book ideas.
Let us know if you use any of these fun resources with your kids. We love seeing pictures and hearing about how other classes enjoy these activities.
