One day three children playing outside decide to take a nap under a big oak tree. As they drifted off to sleep, little did they know that they are lying upon a path or "bridge" that the animals cross one by one, starting with the smallest.
As parents read this book to their children at bedtime, they should mimic the animals walking across the bridge on the children's bellies. Small ants tickle, frogs hop, porcupines poke, and the snake slithers - don't move or he may bite!
This is a wonderful way to bond with your children and send them off to sleepy land with giggles and tickles. It is also a unique way to teach children about different animals, they're sizes and the sounds they make. Many times while playing Animal Bridge with my own children, I would let them pick the animals that came next over the bridge, even choosing the final ENORMOUS animal for the climatic ending. This could be a dinosaur eating them up, an elephant squishing them with kisses, or a beached whale flopping around and rolling all over the bed!
