August 2021 Fun Book Activities and Curriculum
Read A Loud or Play the Above YouTube Video
Rhymes Rhymes are important for language development for babies and toddlers. Here are some helpful hints as you are reading to your baby. • Start by reading nursery rhymes at circle time: Books Finger plays Flannel boards Hand clapping games Songs and chants. This can be done easy at home on your carpet or on the couch holding your infant. • Most of the rhymes are very easy to act out and the role of fantasy play in the lives of young children is an important part of their development. Have fun and be as silly as you want to be. |
Literacy helps word development even in infants. They soak everything in like a sponge even if they show you what they have learned later on in life. Filling their day with words and songs are important for language development.
Babies and Storytime Parents, click above and find similar book titles to read to your infant, instructions on how to incorporate finger plan and crafts into your child's learning, and activities to help develop your child's large motor skills, introduce pretend play, and even snacks that you can make while reading the book. Flannel Board Activity 1. Print the following pictures by clicking on each link: Hey Diddle Diddle Humpty Dumpty Little Boy Blue Mary Had A Little Lamb 1 Mary Had A Little Lamb 2 Mary Had A Little Lamb 3 Sheep Body Cut-Out Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill Little Miss Muffit Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe 1 Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe 2 Wee Willie Winkie 2. Laminate each picture and then add a piece of Velcro to the back. You can also just print and take a popsicle stick, glue it on the back and make a puppet. 3. You can use contact paper and tape them to the floor and let your child walk or crawl around looking at the pictures on the floor of the different stories as you are reading to them. |
Read A Loud or Play the Above YouTube Video
• Read the title of the book to your child. • Ask him where his ears are and ask him where your ears are. • Tell him, “It’s time to listen!” • Count the number of children on the front page. • Read each poem’s heading and show or act out each of them. Being animated will help keep your child engaged. • As you read body parts, locate them on your child’s body: “Feel your toes, on your feet” or “My nose sneezes! Achoo!” • Ask your child if he likes to do the things seen in the pictures. • Play peekaboo with you child and say, “I’m here!” when you reveal your face. • Point out the items listed in each heading during your everyday activities: “Let’s get in your car seat!” • Read the book once a week to help increase your child’s vocabulary and memory. • Try some of the ideas above. Continue to use your own imagination during book play, too. Have fun with the book and enjoy your time together. New words and sounds your child might learn:
I, see, toes, walking, nose, sneeze, tongue, noisy, puppy, ball, bird, dogs, car, chair, belly, music, snooze, cats, daddy, bath Other Books about Poetry for Children 0-4
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With this book, you will introduce your child to the wondrous world of poetry! This collection of poems covers the everyday activities that occur in every toddler’s life. The poems are paired with vibrantly colored illustrations for you and your child to enjoy!
Poems and Rhymes
Poems and rhymes are important for language development for babies and toddlers. Here are some helpful hints as you are reading to your baby. • Literacy helps word development even in infants. They soak everything in like a sponge even if they show you what they have learned later on in life. Filling their day with words and songs are important for language development. • Read the book to your child and describe what you see on each page. Point to animals and objects and name them. If you come across something on a page and there is a simple song or fingerplay that goes with it add that in and sing with your child before turning the page. |
Play with Me Sensory Bin
To make this sensory bin, buy or gather: • fresh green grass from your yard • small Safari, forest animals and bugs toys • a nature block or pieces of wood • small blue gems Coloring Pages
Coloring is important for children as well as fun. Coloring helps children: 1. Helps develop hand-strength. 2. Offers practice for hand grip. 3. Stimulates creativity. 4. Encourages self-expression. 5. Improves fine motor coordination 6. Helps develop focus. Download the following coloring pages for your child: Coloring Pages |
Animals in the story:
Grasshopper, frog, turtle, Chipmunk, Blue Jay, Rabbit, Snake, and Fawn. Also, Milkweed, bugs, pond. Flannel Board Activity 1. Print the following pictures by clicking on the link: Play With Me Flannel Board Characters 2. Laminate each picture and then add a piece of Velcro to the back. You can also just print and take a popsicle stick, glue it on the back and make a puppet. 3. You can use contact paper and tape them to the floor and let your child walk or crawl around looking at the pictures on the floor of the different stories as you are reading to them. Puppet Characters This activity you can turn into several. 1. Start with having your child make each different character. They can color or paint each one. Blue Jay Bunny Deer Chipmunk Frog Grasshopper Snake Turtle 2. Help your child cut each animal out. If your child is struggling, they may need extra help due to his/her pincer grasp development. Check out the following link to learn how to help your child with scissor skills. 3. Next, glue or tape each picture to a large popsicle stick. If you do not have any, find a stick outside and break it to the size of a popsicle stick. There is a lot of characters so this can be done over several days. 4. From here, have your child use the puppet characters to retell the story. They also can use them while you are reading the book aloud to them. It helps the story be more integrative and fun. Fine Motor Cards
Fine motor cards are fun for pre-school children and help develop hand-eye coordination, encouraging the children's use of their hands, building their fine motor skills while being fun at the same time! Download and print these fun forest animal fine motor cards and ask your child to: 1. Draw the lines to the animal using colored pencils, crayons, or markers. 2. Place beads or other small objects along the path the lines create. |
Family A, B, C's
1. Using A, B, C magnets, write out a list of words that your child brainstorms that describe a family. It can be a feeling, an activity, or a person. 2. Ask your child to find the letters to each word and spell out the word with the magnets. 3. Talk with your child about why the word describes a family. Handprint Family Tree
Create a family tree to educate your kids about your family. A family tree does not just focus on the immediate family members but also focuses on distant cousins and relatives. This means your child will know all your family members better, leading to a deeper sense of belonging. 1. On a large piece of paper, use finger paint to create a family tree with your child's hand print. 2. Once dried, draw your family tree and cut out photos of each family member and tape the photo under their name. 3. Ask your child to find magazine picture that describe each person. They may find pictures for the person's likes, talents, etc. Tape or glue the pictures to the family tree next to the person. |
Families come in many different structures and sizes. Young children often have questions when they notice families that seem different than their own. This is a great opportunity to share your values about families, diversity, and inclusion with your child. Here are a few ideas to guide the conversation. Ask your children:
▪ Are all families the same? ▪ Where do families live? ▪Do all families live in houses? ▪ What about apartments where other families live together? ▪ When you think about the word family, does this also mean your pets? ▪ Can some people be part of your family and still not live at your house? Activities to Celebrate Families
My Family Play Dough Mat
Playing with play dough is a great way for children to develop hand strength and build their creativity. 1. Visit teachingmama.org to download this activity. 2. Print the Family Play Dough mats and laminate them or use self-adhesive laminating paper or carton sealing tape. 3. You can talk with your child about body parts and family members' roles as they use the play dough to make each family member. Don't have play dough on hand? Making play dough is easy and kids love to help. Following a recipe helps kids learn math skills through measuring and mixing the dough helps build hand strength. Try this website for directions on how to mix your own play dough: The BEST Playdough Recipe - The Best Ideas for Kids |
Other Books About Cherokee Legends:
Shell Sorting
Provide a sand pail full of seashells for the children to investigate. You can use shells you have collected at the beach or look in the art section of the dollar store for bags of shells. Provide plates or bowls for them to sort by size, color, type, etc. VARIATION: If you don't have seashells, make a matching game with pictures of seashells! |
Going to the beach is exciting. But it can also be busy. And loud. Sand can feel hot or itchy or sticky...and it gets everywhere! In This Beach Is Loud! a sensitive boy gets overwhelmed by all the sights, sounds, and sensations at the beach. Luckily, this kiddo's dad has a trick up his sleeve to help his son face these unexpected obstacles.
Sensory: Keep in mind everything a child experiences affects their senses in some way. This can be in a positive or negative way. Helping any child when they get sensory overload is important. Sensory overload anxiety can happen to any children who are just extra sensitive or on the spectrum. Even high-functioning and well-adjusted children are prone to the occasional meltdown due to sensory sensitivity. Their brains are still developing and learning how to respond to different sensory stimulation and sensory information. For autistic children, sensory stimuli like extreme odors, loud sounds, fluorescent lights, learning to share and play, unfamiliar surroundings, and any change in daily routine can trigger tantrums and outbursts. Auditory overload and auditory hypersensitivity are not uncommon for autistic children especially when put in a sensory integration environment that is new, has sensory dysregulation, or even new social interaction. They act out in response to sensory signals as well as physical or emotional stress. Outbursts are their way of expressing feelings of agitation, frustration, fear, anxiety or whatever they perceive as a sensory assault. As a parent, it can be hard to know what to do with a child that has a sensory processing issue. Unexpected meltdowns and fits of rage make it hard for children to make friends, succeed at school or team activities, or even leave the house. However, once you learn to recognize your child’s triggers, you can help them learn to better regulate their responses. Sand Art
Materials Needed: colored sand or mix sand poured into cups of different colored paint There are 2 ways to do this!
Sandpaper Rubbings Materials needed: variety of different "grit" or roughness's of sandpaper cut into different sizes, paper, peeled crayons. 1. The children place pieces of sandpaper under paper. 2. The children rub crayons over their papers to reveal the texture (using the sides of the crayons, not the tips). VARIATION: Let the children color ON the sandpaper! |
Books About the Beach
Scarves Activity
Take a few colored scarves or pieces of colored materials and tie them together like wings. Turn on some soft classical music and have your child dance around being a butterfly. Butterfly, Butterfly Butterfly, butterfly, dancing all around (wave scarves) Butterfly, butterfly, now you’re on the ground (lower scarves to floor) In a tree you’re hard to see. (raise scarves) Now you have flown away. (hide scarf behind back) Butterfly, oh butterfly! Please come back some day! (wave scarves goodbye) Learning About Butterflies
Learn more about monarch butterflies by watching a video from National Geographic Kids. Visit National Geographic Kids for more information and pictures. Monarch Butterfly (nationalgeographic.com) Arts and Crafts 1. Use paper, tissue paper, pompoms, pipe cleaners and a clothes pin to create your own life cycle of a butterfly. 2. Take a piece of blank paper and cut out the shape of a butterfly. Add paint with a paint brush or paint dropper bottle. Drop the paint on the paper butterfly to splatter colors on the butterfly’s wings. Matching Game 1. Click and print the butterfly sheet twice and laminate. 2. Cut out the butterflies out so you have a set of each butterfly. 3. Place the butterflies randomly down and ask your child to match the butterflies to make a pair. 4. To make it more challenging, turn the butterflies over and play the matching game with your child to see who can remember where the butterflies are to make a match. The person with the most matches wins. Butterfly Alphabet Puzzle
1. Download and print the Butterfly Alphabet Puzzle. 2. Cut out each butterfly and then cut each butterfly in half vertically. 3. Have your child match the butterflies. As your child matches the butterflies, ask her to name the letter and make its sound. |
Señorita Mariposa is a short but engaging bilingual picture book about the journey of a monarch butterfly. The story is catchy and truly represents the journey of the super generation of monarch butterflies. In this book, Señorita Mariposa is traveling south to Mexico in search of a warmer place. While making the journey south, Señorita Mariposa brings joy to many lives. While reading the book, the reader can easily put him or herself in Señorita Mariposa’s shoes (very small shoes!) and feel what she goes through while she embarks on her journey. Señorita Mariposa travels through different landscapes to show and prove how strong a little butterfly can be. Señorita Mariposa is a beautiful tribute to the monarch butterfly.
Learning about butterflies and a fun and interesting topic for any child. If you can find a caterpillar and bring it into your house and house it in a small aquarium you might get a chance to watch the process of them turning into a butterfly up close. You also cn order kits to do this online. SONG: Flutter, Flutter Butterfly (tune: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star) Flutter, flutter butterfly, Floating in the summer sky, Floating by for all to see, Floating by so merrily, Flutter, flutter butterfly, Floating in the summer sky. SONG: The Life of a Butterfly (tune: Skip to My Lou) I’m a caterpillar, wiggle with me, (wiggle body) I’m a caterpillar, wiggle with me, I’m a caterpillar, wiggle with me, What’ll I be, my darlin’? A chrysalis, now sleep like me, (place hands together and lean cheek on them) A chrysalis, now sleep like me, A chrysalis, now sleep like me, What’ll I be, my darlin’? A butterfly, come fly with me, (flying motions) A butterfly, come fly with me, A butterfly, come fly with me, Come fly with me my darlin’. Now all together, let's do all three. A caterpillar, a chrysalis, a butterfly — three. (do all three motions in order) Move your body like this with me. The life of a butterfly, darlin’. Learning Numbers
1. Take different colors of construction paper and cut out flowers. On each flower write numbers from 1-10 on each. Using a butterfly that you make with your child, role dice to place your butterfly on the corresponding number. Have your child say the number out loud and trace the number with their finger. Other Books About Butterflies
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