Muddle and Match

It is finally starting to feel like fall around here! I am loving and hating that. I love the weather changing but I also hate that it is getting colder. Spencer LOVES to play outside. He doesn't care what the weather is like, he wants to be outside. It is nice that he wants to be outdoors but this mamma gets cold after awhile and wants to come inside. I have been thinking of some fun things to do inside for when I when I need to warm up. We of course have been reading TONS of books, playing with play dough, coloring, etc. The other day we were reading Muddle and Match and I realized what great books those are! These books are great for children of all ages. There are an abundance of possibilities for learning with these books. Here are a few ideas:

Babies and toddlers

• Let them flip through the pages. Spencer loves to just turn the pages in these books. The pages are a little different then his normal books. He loves seeing his creations that he makes.
• Talk about body parts.

Preschoolers

• These books are fantastic for building phonemic awareness! Have your child clap, stomp, shake when they hear a certain beginning sound. This is an activity that my preschoolers loved to do and it really helped them to be able to hear the differences in sounds.
• Introduce top, middle, and bottom. The pages on these books are separated into thirds. While reading the story tell your child to turn a certain section (top, middle, or bottom).

Elementary

• Have them create their own version of Muddle and Match. They can create their own creatures, animals, or people and then come up with the story. This activity will promote creativity and alliteration.
• Have a competition to see who can come up with the most creations in the book.

There are 4 different titles in this series: Adventure, Imagine, Jungle Animals, and Monsters. You can see the entire collection here.

I'm a Dirty Dinosaur

My goal with this blog is to give parents ideas of how to make books fun for them and their children. Today I read I'm a Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian and Ann James. This is one of Spencer's favorite books. Whenever he sees it, he starts growling like a dinosaur.  It is so much fun! I love sitting down and reading with him. Spencer is 15 months old. His attention span is not very long. When I read this book to Spencer I always use fun voices, do actions, and of course growl. This helps his short attention span to last for the story and it is a great time for him and I to have fun and be silly.

This book is fantastic because it teaches the following skills:

• Language development
• Body parts

Additional activities you can do: 

• Use a toy and do the action words (shake a maraca, tap a stuffed animal, etc)
• Make your own dirty dinosaur with paper and crayons, pudding, paint, or mud