Goodnight Moon is a classic book by Margaret Wise Brown that teaches so many skills, making it the perfect children’s book to use in therapy activities. We used this book activity and a DIY Goodnight Moon printable PDF memory game. It’s a calming book that inspires sleepy contentment with it’s rhyming text and simple images. The book is a fantastic tools to build visual perceptual skills including figure ground, form constancy, and visual memory. Those skills carryover with our memory game printable you can access below. However, for my own kids, I loved the calming tone that the book offers. It’s a great way to calm down before bed.
For more calm down activities before bed, try these bedtime relaxation stretches.
Our Goodnight Moon activity has been played almost as many times as we’ve read the book! We decided to create a free printable to go along with our memory skills game, so you can play, too.
Goodnight Moon Activity…Memory Game!
Goodnight Moon teaches kids that fear can be caused my our imagination. I loved this explanation of what exactly Goodnight Moon teaches and how this book can be used to help kids build skills.
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Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of those books that we read over and over again. Each time, the kids will sit mesmerized as I read the quiet rhyming words. This is definitely a bedtime book that is loved at all times of the day! When we read through the book, my kids love to look for each item on the pages and find it’s rhyme. It’s almost like a memory game as you read through the book, especially as the mouse moves around the room in the book.
To make your Goodnight Moon memory game, grab a couple of pieces of card stock. We chose brightly colors based on the colors of the book. Because the setting occurs in a green room, we used green paper for our playing board.
You could certainly play this memory game right on a table or floor, but my kids got a kick out of our “green room” and the green paper contained the game for our matches.
Goodnight Moon learning Activities
Make a list of all of the rhyming words as you go through the book. This is a great preschool book activity, but a powerful visual perception activity for all ages. Kids can build visual memory skills as they recall each item and the way it looks throughout the book. Some objects change slightly, such as the position of the mouse. So, when kids look for that image on each page, they are building visual discrimination and form constancy. As you read the book, ask them what rhymes with each word. They can use the book pages as a visual cue to the matching rhyme.
Goodnight Moon PDF
Fill in your game pieces with your own drawings (or kid-drawings!) or use our free printable. You’ll need these three sheets:
>>Draw your own pictures on the blank picture card printable.
>>OR, use our picture word card printable.
>>Printable word cards here. We drew a picture for each rhyme and filled in another card sheet with the written words.
Cut out each block and get ready to play.
We started with a few matching games. I placed the written word on our green room paper and had the kids scan the pile of pictures for the matching image. This is a great way to work on literacy skills as the child matches the picture to a written word, as well as on visual scanning. Arrange the cards from left to right as a pre-reading skill.
We also matched rhyming words. Arrange a few pictures on the left side of the page and have your child place the rhyming match to the right.
We then arranged the words in a block formation on the green paper. The kids scanned the pile of pictures and placed the matches together.
After all of our rhyming games, we played an actual Memory game. You can also modify the memory game to extend out the activity. Match word to picture, rhyming pictures, and rhyming words. This DIY Memory game can be played in so many ways!
GoodNight Moon Activities
First, don’t forget to grab the Goodnight Moon pdf sheets to play this memory game.
Goodnight Moon inspired memory game blank game pieces.
Goodnight Moon inspired picture game pieces.
Goodnight Moon inspired word game pieces.
Then, check out these other Goodnight Moon activities. They are great to help kids understand that sometimes scary things are in our minds and that the thoughts we think are not always as scary as things really are.
Be sure to visit the other bloggers in the Preschool Book Club to see their takes on Goodnight Moon:
This I Spy Bottle from Mama Pappa Bubba is another fantastic visual perceptual skills activity and a calming one at that. Check out these sensory bottles and WHY sensory bottles are so calming for kids as well as HOW to make sensory bottles that make an impact.
This red balloon Art Activity from Buggy and Buddy uses Goodnight Moon’s red balloon with a creative painting activity. Kids can work on fine motor skills and tool use to paint a creative take on the book. Foster scissor use and scissor skills to, meeting therapy goals as well.
Here are more scissor skills activities kids will love.
This Goodnight Moon Scavenger Hunt from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails is a gross motor activity that builds skills in visual perception and visual scanning. Love this idea to encourage core strength and stability!
This Goodnight Moon activity with a Lavender Play Dough kit from Homegrown Friends is a calming olfactory activity that adds sensory play and fine motor skills. Kids will love to pair the preschool book with a play dough activity.
Here is another purple play dough recipe that use crayons. How fun!
Books to Build Awareness Skills
Goodnight Moon and the concepts introduced in the book goes well with this resource for parents, teachers, and therapists. It’s a huge collection of 50 activities based on children’s books and it helps to teach children about empathy, acceptance, awareness of others, and friendship. The social emotional development that kids can gain through play based on popular children’s books is amazing!
Grab the resource, Exploring Books Through Play: 50 Activities based on Books About Friendship, Acceptance, and Empathy, that explores friendship, acceptance, and empathy through popular (and amazing) children’s books! It’s 50 hands-on activities that use math, fine motor skills, movement, art, crafts, and creativity to support social emotional development.
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