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• Sesame Street - "Mexico on Sesame Street"
  Rosita is feeling homesick for her abuela and for Mexico. Big Bird and friends decide to bring Mexico to her by decorating Sesame Street to look just like Mexico! Rosita is truly surprised and grateful when she realizes what everyone has done. To everyone's surprise, Rosita's abuela shows up, too!
• Caillou - "Caillou's Surprise"
  A Surprise for Miss Martin: When Caillou finds out that Miss Martin's birthday is coming up, he wants to do something very special for her. He, Leo and Clementine decide to throw her a surprise birthday party. The party is a huge success! A Surprise Sleepover: Sarah is playing at Caillou's house when a sudden rainstorm causes a power outage. It's a little scary at first, but when the candles are lit the situation turns into a fun adventure.

Do in Class

• Clifford: Surprises! - Craft wonderful things to surprise friends, and discuss feeling surprised.
• Dragon Tales: Let's Dance - Use the idea of a "surprise" to help play a game about patience and waiting.
• Maya and Miguel: Pizza Surprise - Make a surprising pizza dessert.

Play Online

• Barney: Color Surprise - Guess the big surprise Barney paints for you.
• Caillou: Find Gilbert - Search for familiar objects and discover hidden surprises using the mouse.
• Sagwa: Exploring the Palace - Create storytelling adventures in the exciting world of China long ago. Surprise animations reward children for exploring different areas and completing each scene.

Read

• 365 Penguins
  By Jean-Luc Fromental and Joëlle Jolivet
  Published November 2006 by Abrams Books for Young Readers
  On the first of the year, a box with a penguin is delivered. Inside is a note: "I'm number 1. Feed me when I'm hungry." The pattern is well established by the end of the week with the arrival of number 7. Who is sending the penguins, and why? You'll discover the identity of the sender and the reason why he's mailing penguins at year's end. In the meantime, you'll have fun calculating penguin totals and seeing how they can be arranged in easily counted groups. The surprise ending promises an unbearable New Year.
• The Most Perfect Spot
  By Diane Goode
  Published May 2006 by HarperCollins Publishers
  One morning Jack invites his mother for a picnic. He knows the most perfect spot. When they set out for Prospect Park, all goes well, at first, "but ... suddenly, who knows why" things go awry. A spill in the lake, clods of mud kicked up by passing horses, rain and more test their patience. In the end, they do find the most perfect spot, but there's a surprise.

*As most PBS children's programs offer one year extended taping rights for teachers, please feel free to tape them now and save them for use in your classroom during the school year.