Easy and Affordable Storybook Activities
Children's books have a magical essence about them not only for children but for the parents and teachers who read them as well. Reading a story before bed is tradition many families practice but I'd like to invite you to dig a little deeper into this practice. Here are 3 follow up activities to consider proceeding with the following afternoon.
1. Create Puppets: Have your child(ren) create paper bag puppets for the characters in the story. Using old socks or drawings taped on to popsicle sticks or pencils will work too. These puppets can be created as simply as with just markers or you can enhance the creations using pompoms, construction paper, yarn, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, glitter, and stickers. If you or your child is feeling really inspired scenery to go along with it using a large piece of paper, poster board or an old box. This is a great opportunity to ask you child(ren) questions about their thoughts on the story or to create alternative scenarios to play out. Maybe you use these character puppets to play out a struggle or situation that your child is currently experiencing.
2. Create Musical Instruments: Creating musical instruments can be a fun experiment with sound for kids. I find putting dried beans or rice in between two paper plates and gluing the paper plates together around the edges makes a great tambourine that kids can decorate. Explore with different kinds of contents inside to create various kinds of sounds. The fun part about this is you can add on cardboard piece extensions to make the plate into a fish, dinosaur, face, or animal to match the character in the story. Have the child make up a song about the story or main character. Use the noise maker to add rhythm to the reading of the book. Just remember to have fun with it!
3. Make Costumes:
Large paper bags or poster board that had an a looped piece of yarn attached to slip over the child's neck are the easiest ways to go with this. They provide a nice base that will allow the child to all kinds of decorative accessories to the outside. Try cutting a paper plate in half and cutting out two eye holes to form a basic mask. Remember you can always add extension pieces. It doesn't have to be elaborate or perfect. A basic gist will go along way for a child's imagination. Find props around the house that resemble pieces to the story and act out the story together.
I hope you found inspiration in these ideas. With any of them, I encourage you to ask open ended questions to challenge you child(ren) to dig deeper into their learning while having fun at the same time. Stay inspired everyone!
3. Make Costumes:
Large paper bags or poster board that had an a looped piece of yarn attached to slip over the child's neck are the easiest ways to go with this. They provide a nice base that will allow the child to all kinds of decorative accessories to the outside. Try cutting a paper plate in half and cutting out two eye holes to form a basic mask. Remember you can always add extension pieces. It doesn't have to be elaborate or perfect. A basic gist will go along way for a child's imagination. Find props around the house that resemble pieces to the story and act out the story together.
I hope you found inspiration in these ideas. With any of them, I encourage you to ask open ended questions to challenge you child(ren) to dig deeper into their learning while having fun at the same time. Stay inspired everyone!
