Yoko {Book Summary + Letter Activity}

The Book: Yoko by Rosemary Wells. A book about a little kitty named Yoko who loves sushi. At lunchtime at her school, Yoko quickly realizes her classmates think her food is gross. So her teacher steps in and a classmate soon discovers sushi might not be so bad after all!

The Activity: Matching letters in our name to letters in foods using dotters

• Start by finding some pictures of food (from a magazine, grocery ad, stickers, etc) Place these items on a blank page and spell out each food item leaving a little space between each letter.

• Give your child something to identify the letters in the food that are the same as in their name. We used dotters because they are fun, but they could underline or even circle the letters instead
• We also took time to talk about the importance of our words and respecting others who might enjoy things that we don’t (“Don’t yuck on someone else’s yum.”

If you want to see videos of this activity in action (and more activities like it) follow me on Instagram or Facebook! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!

I Like Myself! {Book Summary + Activity}

The Book: I Like Myself! By Karen Beaumont. A book about a little girl who is determined to love herself no matter what. No matter what people say or if she has purple polka dotted lips, she knows who she is on the inside and loves herself. A perfect book for the beginning of the school year and for teaching self affirmations! ❤️ (See a preview in the COMMENTS!)

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The Activity: Uniquely you (name/letter recognition and positive self talk)

• Write your child’s name in big letters on a piece of paper
  
• Set out some small items and glue for child to decorate the letters of their name! I used a bag of sequins I got on Amazon and some small stickers. They could also use paint, markers, dotters—>whatever you have on hand.
  
• Make sure to go over each letter and sound in their name as they are working
  
• I also had my boys share what they love about themselves and then we looked in the mirror and said nice things to ourselves as I know the importance of self affirmation especially at the beginning of something new (like the school year!)

If you want to see videos of this activity in action (and more activities like it) follow me on Instagram or Facebook! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!

Freight Train {Book Summary + Freight Train Sponge Stamps}

The Book: Freight Train by Donald Crews. Follow a colorful freight train on it’s journey through tunnels, over bridges until it is going, going...gone. Simple words and fun illustrations make this a great book for all the train lovers.

The Activity: Sponge stamping to create your own freight train (inspired by @buggyandbuddy)

• Start by cutting 3 rectangular sponges in half so you have 6 total sponges, one for each color. (We chose to only use one shade of blue.) Set out a few paper plates with the paint on them.

• Have your child use the sponges as stamps and re-create the freight train from the story.

• Use a marker to connect the train cars when the paint has dried.

• After my kids made their train I let them have full artistic creativity over their next creations. My five year old made his next train fast and blurry like one of the illustrations. I love allowing them artistic freedom to see what they do.

If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on Instagram or Facebook! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!

Ruby the Copycat {Book Summary + Copycat activity}

The Book: Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathmann. A book about Ruby, the new girl in class who just want to fit in...so she becomes a copycat. Things don’t work out quite as she expected and Ruby learns the importance of being true to who you are.

The Activity: Copycat!

• Start by grabbing a baking sheet or round cake pan and adding some flour to it.

• Make a few cards with letters, numbers, words or shapes you want your child to COPY.

• Show your child one card at a time and have them copy what is on the card using the flour. And then repeat!
• To add some interest, write out a few actions on your cards to have them copy. (Bark like a dog, jump like a bunny, fly like a bird, etc.) Then let them make up their own unique drawings in the flour or actions for you to try!

If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on Instagram or Facebook! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!

I'm A Dirty Dinosaur {Book Summary + Dirty Dino, Clean Dino Activity}

 

The Book: I’m A Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian and Ann James. A book about a dinosaur who just loves mud. He adds mud to his head, then his face, belly, etc and has fun rhythm and repeating words making this a great story for acting out!

The Activity: Dirty Dino—>Clean Dino

• Start by having your kids help you make chocolate pudding (and try not to eat it all).

• Grab two plastic bins and some plastic figurines (we used dinosaurs to go with the book, but you could use any toy that will easily wipe clean)

• Fill the first bin with chocolate pudding (the mud) and fill the second bin with water. (I recommend doing this activity outdoors as it is messy!)

• Read the story and have your kids act out the story as you read it. When the Dino has finally had enough of being dirty, have your child put their Dirty Dinosaurs in the water (the swamp) to get clean!

*And if you want to add this book to your collection, you can shop this book from my Usborne site, click here: Shop Usborne!

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Growing Vegetable Soup {Book Summary + Soup Sensory bins}

The Book: Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. A book about a family who plants vegetables in their garden and then takes care of them together so that they can turn their vegetables into soup.

⁣The Activity: “Making” Vegetable Soup sensory bins

• Grab a bin or basket to use as your “garden.” Fill with dried beans (or anything you have for a sensory bin filler: crushed cereal, rice, whatever!
• Grab some fake fruits and veggies (or draw some, cut them out and throw them in) and put them in the container you chose. Add in some other items if you have some: small shovels, gardening gloves, bugs, grocery bag, watering can, etc)
• Grab a big cooking pot and some kitchen tools (wooden spoons, empty seasoning containers, ladles, etc)
• Read the story and have your kids pretend to grow the soup and then make and “eat” the soup!

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Let's Play {Book Summary + Line Activity}

The Book: Let’s Play! by Herve Tullet. An interactive book that takes you on a fun journey with a dot. (Check out his other dot books: Press Here and Say Zoop!)

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The Activity: Learning Types of Lines and creating patterns

• Go over the different kinds of lines that the DOTS played on in the book (straight, wavy, curly, zig zag, dotted)
• Have your child practice drawing different kinds of lines for their DOTS to travel on.
• Have them peel colored dot stickers and place them on their lines. You could also encourage the creation of patterns, create one for them and have them finish it, etc. So many different ways to play with lines and patterns with this book!

If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on Instagram or Facebook! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!