The Kissing Hand…Make Books Come Alive #4

For Children, acting out a book, or other activities is a way to expand imaginations, develop language, explore drama, promote literacy and build vocabulary.

So, are you using your children’s story books as a springboard into play?  Children love books and want to read them over and over..and over!  So use play as a way to expand and enrich their book experience.

Oh, and it is just plain fun !

Want to try something new and fun?  Choose a book, for this post, lets choose, “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn.

Don’t have the book at home?  NO worries, you can watch and listen to it (and others) on You Tube at “Nook Online Storytime.”  use this link:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nook+online+storytime

The Kissing Hand Activities

               

What a great book! This book is so helpful in preparing children to be away from home or from their parent/s. The occasion may be their first day at school, or a sleepover, summer camp, a parent or child being hospitalized, being babysat while parents go out, or for foster children who miss their parents. Whenever there is a time a child will be away from you and feels scared, read this book with them, if possible.

Enrichment Activities

Language Development:

Feelings.  Nervous, happy, sad, glad, mad, upset, warm, sleepy, super, sick, shy, scared, angry

       

How did mother’s kiss make Chester feel ? (toasty warm inside)

How did Chester feel at the beginning of the story? Why did he feel that way?

Did the kiss help Chester when he was at school?

Why did Chester kiss his mother’s hand?

Feeling Activity:

Using a mirror, what does your face look like when you feel: happy, sad, angry, sleepy, surprised…

How about using the camera and take your child’s feeling photos to use with the feelings chart?

Make a feelings chart for family members.  How do you feel today? Here are two ideas that could help you make up your own.  For my house, I need to consider space!

Let’s Bake

Make heart shaped cookies or hand shape ones, if you have a cookie cutter that shape.  Place a Hershey’s kiss in the middle of either one.

Crafts

Potato art stamps, finger paint hand print art,paper plate mask, paper bag racoon,

Temporary Tattoos

You Will Need:

Parchment Paper (wax paper),Pencil, Marker (regular or permanent) Wet sponge  Note: regular marker will wash off easily.  Permanent marker will last longer (but will not wash off as easily!)

Draw hearts on the parchment with pencil, then completely colour them in with the pencil.  On top of the pencil shading, use a marker, of any colour, to completely cover over it.  Now, flip the parchment over and place the drawing on a smooth area of the body.  The marker colour needs to be against the skin.  Place a wet (not too wet) sponge over the parchment and wait 30 seconds.  S L O W L Y peel off the parchment from the skin.  Hurrah, you have made a temporary tattoo!

I do hope you and your family enjoy these activities from The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.

Next Week:  My own book, Kieran the Pirate.

Photos courtesy of: Book cover: vickiblackwell.com  Scared Girl: riskychronicles.com  Sad Baby: face-and-emotion.com   Angry Boy: indianapublicmedia.org  Happy Boy: cleo deLancey personal photo  1st Feelings Chart: kidpointz.com  2nd Feelings Chart:https://www.etsy.com/listing/176328005/feelings-chart-children-feelings-chart  The Kissing Hand Craftivity: teacherspayteachers.com  Paper Bag Racoon : ditk-kids.com   Paper Plate Racoon Mask: blogs.familyeducation.com  Poem and Hand Art: whenlifehandsyouabrokenheart.blogspot.com   Potato Print: laughingkidslearn.com  Temporary  Tattoo: MeriCherry.com

The Mitten…Make Books Come Alive #3

For Children, acting out a book, or other activities is a way to expand imaginations, develop language, explore drama, promote literacy and build vocabulary.

So, are you using your children’s story books as a springboard into play?  Children love books and want to read them over and over..and over!  So use play as a way to expand and enrich their book experience.

Want to try something new and fun?  Choose a book, for this post, lets choose, “The Mitten” by Jan Brett.

Don’t have the book at home?  NO worries, you can watch and listen to it (and others) on You Tube at “Nook Online Storytime.”  use this link:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nook+online+storytime

What a wonderful, wonderful, story and book!  The illustrations  are just so adorable. If you haven’t read it, it is about a young boy, who gets a pair of knitted mittens from his grandmother, and loses one in the forest.  Several animals, of all sizes, squeeze into it to enjoy its snugly warmth.  A fun story, with a funny ending.

Here are a few Enrichment Activities:

Cause and Effect:  Ask children 4 + years, the first half.  The answer is in italics.

                   What happened when…?

The animals squeezed into the mitten : the mitten stretched out.

The bear sneezed: the animals flew out of the mitten.

The animals were cold: they went into the mitten.

The mouse sat on the bear’s nose: the bear sneezed.

Real or Make Believe? 3 + years

Can a bear fit in a mitten?

Would a mouse sit on a bear’s nose?

Would a badger share his space?

Language Development:

Real Animal Habitat: 4 + years

Where do these animals live?  What do their homes look like?  What are their homes called?

Bear – den,   Rabbit – warren.   Badger – warren,  Owl – nest,  Mouse – nest,  Fox – den,  Mole- fortress, tunnel or burrow,  Hedgehog – den.

Play / Act out:

Using masking tape, make a large mitten shape on the floor.  See how many of your family members you can fit into this shape. Try it by standing in the shape, then by lying down.  Try to predict how many will fit, with everyone taking a guess first.  Perhaps use a blanket to cover everyone.  Is it snugly and warm?

…try white (snow) play-dough, a mitten and animal figurines. I found the  most wonderful play-dough activity for this book.  Here is a link to a wonderful blog called MySmallPotatoes: http://mysmallpotatoes.com/2012/12/06/weekly-kids-co-op-the-mitten-an-enchanting-small-world-activity-inspired-by-an-enchanting-storybook

                

Crafts for Fine Motor Skills: lacing, cutting and painting.

Sequencing Activity:

I found a song, sung to Farmer in the Dell that is a fun way to sequence this story, from Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/183451384797521348/

This post came from:   http://www.firstgradewow.blogspot.com

LapBooks: a parent/child project worthy of taking on.

LapBooks are a brilliant way for kids to get together all the stuff they can find out about an activity and show it off.

I have found a couple great links to get you started.

http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com/lapbooks.html

and this one has some great printable pages for preschool.

http://www.shirleys-preschool-activities.com/printable-crafts.html

I am hoping that you enjoy these activities from “The Mitten”, by Jan Brett.

Next Sunday we will look at “The Kissing Hand”, by Audrey Penn.

If You Give a Pig…Make Books Come Alive – #2

For Children, acting out a book, or other activities is a way to expand imaginations, develop language, explore drama, promote literacy and build vocabulary.

So, are you using your children’s story books as a springboard into play?  Children love books and want to read them over and over..and over!  So use play as a way to expand and enrich their book experience.

Want to try something new and fun?  Choose a book, for this post, lets choose, “If You Give A Pig A Pancake” by Laura Numeroff.

Don’t have the book at home?  NO worries, you can watch and listen to it (and others) on You Tube at “Nook Online Storytime.”  use this link:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nook+online+storytime

Let’s Cook:

Making pancakes with any child is easy and fun! It may be messy too, but that easily cleans up. You will need to make both large and small pancakes.  Large, for the pig’s head, one small for the nose, alternative is a slice of pineapple (whole round) or banana slice.  Make two smaller pancakes for the eyes if you choose.  Then decorate.  Use chocolate chips, blueberries or raisins for the irises and nose holes.  You can make ears from ripped pancakes or use fruit such as cut strawberries.

or

Here is a good pancake recipe:  Feeds 4.

Pre-mix the following dry ingredients.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 Tbsp baking powder

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

In a separate bowl mix the following and then add to the dry ingredients.

2 eggs

2 cups milk

4 Tbsp oil

If you give a pig a pancake it may want some syrup!

Language development:

Does your family call pancakes by a different name? Some people call them hotcakes, flapjacks, flap-cakes or griddlecakes.

Think of words that start with P or the “p”  sound.  Like: pig, pancake, pajamas, peaches, pizza, paper, plate. Can you and your children think of more P words?  Make a list.

Sequencing Activities: for older children 3 and up.

What did the pig want first, second?  Then what happened? What will the pig want next?

Art Activities:

or, or:

or:

I hope you try this and have fun with bringing this book to life!

3 Little Pigs…Make Books Come Alive #1

For Children, acting out a book, or other activities is a way to expand imaginations, develop language, explore drama, promote literacy and build vocabulary.

So, are you using your children’s story books as a springboard into play?  Children love books and want to read them over and over..and over!  So use play as a way to expand and enrich their book experience.

  Oh, and it is just plain fun!

Want to try something new and fun?  Choose a book, for this post, lets choose, “The Three Little Pigs” by James Marshall.

Don’t have the book at home?  NO worries, you can watch and listen to it (and others) on You Tube at “Nook Online Storytime.”  use this link:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nook+online+storytime

If there are too few children to act it as a play, how about this craft idea from pinterest?

OR:

If there are enough people, you can each have a role and act it out.  Get some rolls of brown paper. These are great for many things (art work, wrapping paper, table covers) and draw/paint the walls for the little pigs houses (straw, stick, brick).  Paper Plates make awesome masks!

Make a hat for each player:     

Make a mask:

Have fun, your child will love the hands on activity and YOU !

Coming Soon: tips for enrichment ideas in future blog posts:

“If You Give a Pig a Pancake” by Laura Numeroff

” The Mitten” by Jan Brett

“The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn

“Kieran the Pirate” by Cleo deLancey

If you have a book that you would like to see, or want ideas for, please leave a comment and I will do my best to find you some enrichment activities.  Thank you.

Record successes

A neat idea I would like to share with you!

Get a large jar and label it  Family Success Stories or Family Name Great Stories. You decide how to decorate it.

Add stories of family successes and milestones.  It maybe a trip to the zoo, participation in a marathon or other charitable work.  Perhaps some reading milestones at school or at home.  How about adding that badge at scouts or graduating to a new music or dance class? Did the little one learn to ride the two wheeler? Did Dad or Mom get a raise at work or other work life milestones?  You decide what those successes may be. Remember to celebrate the little things as well.  Build self-esteem as a family.

If they can, have all family members add to this jar, not just Mom or Dad.  Have Grandparents or other extended family members join in the celebration of the “good things” jar as well!

Decide as a family when to take the jar down and celebrate those milestones.  Perhaps every three months or  six months.  Plan a “celebration” around this.  Pizza / movie party — Outdoor activities-like a day in the park or skating in the winter — a dip in the pool at the  local swimming center — O ! so many ideas to celebrate as a family.

Photo credit: Good Things Jar: www.benignobjects.blogspot.com