Sing it with me! “Five little ducks went out to play, over the hill and far away…Mother duck said quack, quack, quack, quack…” I love that song! And I love singing it with young children! Incorporate this Five Little Ducks on the Pond Free Play Dough Printable for an awesome early childhood lesson!
This preschool five little ducks printable includes mother duck and her babies, as well as a frog, a log, and lily pads. It provides all you need for a hands-on, creative language experience that you can take in a number of different directions. Incorporate math, storytelling, or sequencing activities into your preschool lesson plans with this one printable!
Five Little Ducks Song Activities
You can get a lot of mileage out of this one song! It lends itself beautifully to math activities, language activities, motor skills, and more!
Consider what your students need and go for it! This song is a wonderful way to introduce subtraction. As each duck disappears, you can show the equation, introduce the symbols, and really give kids concrete meaning to the abstract idea of subtraction.
Alternatively, you could relate the same song to addition. Tweak it a bit so the ducks come back one at a time, using addition equations to show the results.
Incorporate large motor skills by making up body actions/movements for each part of the song. Enlist the creativity of your students, you might be impressed by what they come up with!
Work on small motor movements by holding up fingers as the song plays out.
Practice language when the students are familiar with the sequence of the song by asking them to retell it in their own words. Provide pictures to help with the oral retelling.
*Youtube Five Little Ducks performances provide a variety of choices.
How to Use the Five Little Ducks Activity:
Preparing the printable is super easy. Just print the file found below, laminate, and cut the pieces apart.
I would consider printing on cardstock for extra durability. You could also prepare the printable for use on a felt board by adding felt backing to the shapes.
Use a textured play dough roller to create bubbles on top of the water. If you don’t have a roller, consider what other items you could use to press into the playdough, like bottle caps, buttons, or beads.
Pressing and rolling helps develop those fine motor skills that need lots of development in early childhood.
Sing the “Five Little Ducks,” song for preschoolers as children play. Remove a duck each time one of the ducks doesn’t come back. Then, add them at the end of the song when they all come waddling back.
Playdough printables are a great way to work on language and vocabulary. It’s a way to introduce new vocabulary while keeping little hands busy.
Once children are familiar with nursery rhymes and kids’ songs (Five Little Ducks), they can use the playdough printables for the sequence-a-story activity with Five Little Ducks.
Five Little Ducks preschool activities are so versatile. Incorporate super simple learning with five little ducks and their mama! Whether you use it for math skills, language development, or just for fun, I’m sure your kids will love this!
Our Favorite Books About Ducks For Kids:
We can’t live without these!
Once your child’s creativity is sparked with this fun activity, take it a step further with these engaging resources:
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
National Geographic Readers: Ducks (Pre-reader)Duck & Goose
Duck for President
A Cuddle For Little Duck
5 Little Ducks
Pete the Cat: Five Little Ducks
More from our Shop
Find even more engaging activities in the Life Over C’s shop!