Teaching your kids to count can be both frustrating and hilarious.
When my son first started counting he got the numbers all mixed up. 1, 4, 9, 10 was usually how it went. I thought that it was so cute that I didn’t have the heart to correct him.
Fortunately, a big part of teaching something new is demonstration and repetition. Which is why counting songs are the best. They’re very repetitive and with this free printable game, it’s become easier to demonstrate too.
With the free printable game you get 10 cheeky monkeys and one very hungry crocodile. Just print them out (you can laminate them too if you like) and put some Velcro dots on the back and use them with a felt activity board like I did.
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Another option is to glue the cheeky monkeys onto some craft sticks and give them a tree to climb. Check out this post from Picklebums, Kate made a great cardboard tube for the monkeys that doubled as a posting activity for her kids.
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Song lyrics
Since we have a crocodile hand puppet, that’s what I use with this game. My son loves feeding the monkeys to the crocodile puppet. Not to mention anything else he can find, blocks, cars, you name it.
With each verse of the cheeky monkey song the crocodile eats a monkey. You’re 10 cheeky monkeys soon dwindle down to a dismal 0.
If you don’t know the actions, don’t worry. I have them right here for you and they’re guaranteed to get a smile out of even the smallest cheeky monkey.
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Song actions
Line: “10 cheeky monkeys…”
Action: Hold up 10 fingers, or however many monkeys are left.
Line: “Teasing Mr Crocodile…”
Action: Put your hands up to your ears and wave them back and forwards.
Line: “Along came Mr Crocodile…”
Action: Put your palms together and make them ‘swim’ like a fish.
Line: “SNAP…”
Action: Clap your hands together.
Then start all over again.
To get your free copy of the cheeky monkey and the crocodile printable, just click the download button below.