Reading to Children Category
5 Tips To Help Your Toddler’s Language Development
Toddlers hit all sorts of milestones faster than a blink of an eye, but if you are afraid your toddler is lagging behind on speech and language development try some of these 5 easy tips.*
Read MoreBringing Your Child’s Book to Life Fun Activity & Craft
Reading to your child has many benefits from developing language to growing imagination. We have blogged about bringing your child’s books to life including I Am A Bunny & Skippyjon Jones. We had a request to bring A Cuddle for Little Duck to life and we had fun doing it! We liked A Cuddle for Little Duck because it is a sweet book of the simple joys of everyday living and the importance of cuddles – what’s not to love about that!
What you need:
- A Cuddle for Little Duck book
- Yellow & orange construction paper
- Non Toxic glue
- Googly eyes
- Scissors (adult use only)
- A nature trail, forest preserve, prairie, pond or pet shop if you can’t go outside in nature.
- Open arms for cuddles
What to do:
- Read the book A Cuddle for Little Duck
- Act the scenes: run through the meadow (a prairie, park, empty lot, yard, will work), go to a pond to look at frogs (pet shop will work in a pinch), sit under a tree and tell your child a story (mommy duck tells a story at lunch to baby duck), put on some music and shake your tail feathers like little duck
- Cut a big yellow circle from construction paper for ducks body, a smaller one for head and 2 ovals for wings (teach your child shapes while you do this)
- Cut small triangle from orange construction paper for beak and two bigger triangles for feet
- Glue all the parts together to form a duck
- Glue on to face the beak and googly eyes
- Be sure to give lots of cuddles throughout the day
If there is a children’s book you would like us to bring to life, please let us know by leaving a comment!
Summer Reading Activity for Kids
Reading to children has so many benefits and you can extend those benefits by reinforcing the story that you have read. A couple of months ago we blogged about bringing your child’s books to life by reading them and doing activities with I Am A Bunny book. Today our craft focuses on the lively series of Skippyjon Jones. We love the Color Crazy book because it teaches children their colors as well as using their imagination. After all, why can’t four Chihuahuas be red? 
What you need:
- Skippyjon Jones Color Crazy book
- Crayons
- Paper
What to do:
- Read Color Crazy book together
- Reenact the book by drawing the scenes on a piece of paper: a blue sun, a purple puddle, etc.
- If your child is just learning her colors, reinforce this by asking her what color Skippyjon Jones colored the sun, etc.
- If your child is older, fold pieces of paper in half & put them inside each other to make a booklet. Have them make their own color crazy book. Ask them what color they would like to make the sun, a puddle, a bunny, etc.
What fun ways do you bring your child’s books to life?
Help Your Child Have Fun With Summer Reading
School is out for the summer, but that doesn’t mean your child’s reading should stop. You can make summer reading fun with this summer reading tree. For every book your child reads, his or her reading tree receives a leaf. Make a game of it by trying to have the tree full of leaves by summer’s end!
What you need:
- White paper
- Non-toxic glue or tape
- Brown marker
- Scissors (adult use only)
- Different colors of construction paper for the leaves
What to do:
- Have your child draw the trunk of a tree on the white construction paper.
- Label the tree with your child’s name to personalize it.
- Cut out leaves for the tree so your child sees them which will encourage him or her to want to fill the tree up with leaves.
- For every book that your child reads write the name of the book and author on the leaf and glue or tape it to the tree.
- Hang the tree in a prominent place to encourage your child to read.
Be sure to keep the tree as a memento. It will be fun to pull out at a graduation to show the seeds of learning that were planted early on.
Bringing Your Child’s Books To Life Activity
There are many benefits to reading to your child for developing imagination, speech, reading skills, etc. You can bring your child’s favorite books to a new level by turning them into real life adventures. All it takes is some imagination and fun. Today’s book we are bringing to life is I Am A Bunny by Richard Scarry.
What you need:
- I Am A Bunny Book
- Bunny Ears or make your own by cutting out bunny ears from construction paper and gluing or taping to a headband. You can even wear a yellow shirt & red pants/overalls like Nicholas does.
- Outdoor space
- Camera
- Journal
What to Do:
- Read I Am A Bunny
- Put on your bunny ears & head outside
- Since it is currently Spring, reenact the Spring pages of I Am A Bunny by going to a field to look at the flowers (we don’t encouraging picking them) and talk about the different colors. See if you can find dogwood or daffodils like Nicholas does in the book. Talk about how Springtime brings flowers after the long winter. Try to find butterflies & “chase” them like Nicholas. If you live near a butterfly garden or sanctuary visit it to see the butterflies (or build your own!).
- Take photos of your book adventure and put them in your notebook/journal.
- With each season do the activity Nicholas does & record it. It will take a year to complete your book, but at the end you will have a wonderful memory of your I Am A Bunny living adventure.
What ways do you bring your child’s favorite books to life? If you have a children’s book you want us to bring to life on a Fun Friday, leave us a comment!
Tip Tuesday: Reading, Seat Belts, and Playgroups!
One of our favorite things about the Baby Matters blog is that we meet moms at all different times during their pregnancy. This blog offers a lot of information and we want to make sure you haven’t missed any of our past tips. Below are a few of our favorites from the archives.
- Reading to your child to help her grow: Reading aloud with your child for just 20 minutes a day strengthens relationships, encourages listening and language skills, promotes attention and curiosity and establishes a strong reading foundation. Enjoy a few tips on setting your child on the path to literacy.
- Seat Belt Safety During Pregnancy: As your baby bump grows it may be increasingly uncomfortable to wear a seat belt, but your seat belt is key to you and your baby’s safety. Read a few tips on how to protect your baby.
- How to Have a Successful Playgroup: Michelle LaRowe, mom and nanny, wrote an article on playgroups. We thought it was so insightful that we had to share it with you. Get some tips on how to have a successful playgroup.
Adventures At Your Library Beyond Books
Reading opens up worlds of adventure, exploration, education and fun. Your local library has books beyond belief, but also has so much more for your kids especially on rainy Spring Days! Not only can you check out great books at the library, your kids can join story hour, puppet plays, toddler music time, get free passes to your local museums and city attractions, get help with homework and much more.
If you haven’t been to your local library in awhile, google it online and check out the kids corner or events page and let the adventure begin!
Good Night IPad
We are huge fans of the popular bedtime book Goodnight Moon but this video of a spin off off Goodnight Moon did make us laugh.
Storytime with the Lorax
We are very excited that The Lorax is coming to theaters, but nothing can capture imagination like reading Dr. Seuss’ original The Lorax book. We have often talked about the benefits of reading to your children and we love that Target Stores support this.
This Saturday all Target stores across the country are having a Dr Seuss Storytime reading of The Lorax. We applaud Target’s Read Across America program. Reading opens a child’s imagination and you can take that even further with these easy crafts & activities to go with a Lorax celebration. Get ready for a treeriffic (ok a little corny) fun with your kids.
Lorax Tree Art
What you need:
- Cotton balls
- Non-toxic paint
- Pipe Cleaners
- Non-toxic marker
- Non-toxic glue
- Construction Paper
What to do:
- Talk to your children about why trees are important, what they are used for & how important it is to take care of them.
- Have your child put his/her name at the beginning of this sentence on the construction paper, “(child’s name) listens to the trees.”
- Give your child several cotton balls & pipe cleaners cut into various lengths.
- Have them dip a cotton ball in the paint and then swirl it on the paper to form a tuff-top tree like in The Lorax.
- Glue pipe cleaners on paper to form the tree trunk.
Try these fun tree related activities from our friends at National Wildlife Federation to complete your Lorax celebration.
What is your favorite part of The Lorax?
Celebrating National Family Literacy Day
Celebrate National Family Literacy Day
Reading with your children is vitally important for their success, both in academics and in life. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it is recommended that parents read to their parents each and every day (even to newborns)! The Healthy Children Organization offers parents great tips for reading to and with children of all ages. To celebrate National Family Literacy Day, Kolcraft staff members are sharing their favorite books to read with their children!
- Brent, Kolcraft’s graphic artist, loves to read his 2 year old daughter Time For Bed by Mem Fox. The book’s soothing rhymes and beautiful illustrations are perfect for bedtime. Another of his daughter’s favorites is Miss Spiders New Car by David Kirk.
- Sam, one of Kolcraft’s engineers, enjoyed reading Mr. Brown can Moo! Can you? by Dr. Seuss to his kids when they were little. The antics of Mr. Brown are fun for young children learning their sounds. Another family favorite is The Napping House by Audrey Wood.
- Hyon, the head of Kolcraft’s fashion team, has two daughters who love to read magical Disney princess stories. Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson is another of her daughters’ favorite books. Young kids will love the hilarious tale of woodland creatures and a hibernating bear.
- Shannen, Kolcraft’s resident stroller guru, loves to read her son Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. Her son also enjoys reading Baseball by Murray Books. This fun fact-filled book is shaped like a baseball and is sure to delight any young sports fan.
What is your child’s favorite book?
