I'm Bored!!!

Today is a sunny snow day and playtime outside is a priority. But what do you do when you are back inside and the winter crankies start up again?

Winter is the perfect time to build literacy skills -- whether you are playing inside or out. This month we'll show you some web sites that give you ideas for simple minute-to-minute activiites to keep your toddlers busy.( Of course, make one activity a stop at the library. Just picking out a few themed picture books will give you inspiration for all kinds of projects and discussions. Stop in at a storytime, AM or PM, and get the week rolling. Many parents say that their preschoolers "prepare" for next week's storytime theme by gathering up show and tells and talking about "what may happen." )

The Rainbow Resource Room has many activities for parents that use only what you have at home -- or nothing at all! My favorite winter outdoor idea is to take a "Silly Walk" that gets you counting. ( Take a walk with your child. Make up some silly steps to do together. Examples: Take two large steps and three tiny steps counting 1,2 - 1,2,3 - 1,2, etc., as you go.) You've just combined exercise with reading (patterning) and math practice -- and probably worked up an appetite for hot chocolate.

Preschool Playbook has got you covered with "Hot chocolate Anyone?" Here is what you need:
zipper sandwich bags
packaged hot chocolate mix
mini-marshmallows (or shapes)
stir sticks
optional: Hershey Kisses

Work with your preschooler assembling the ingredients for a couple bags to drink after playtime and a couple bags to share. Use large measuring cups or spoons to measure the mix -- let them do the measuring. Count the mini marshmallows and split them into equal piles. Fill bags in an assembly line (patterning again.)

Include the poem if you like:

Here's a little Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water and sip it slow.
It's sure to do the trick.

Two of our favorite wintertime books at the library are The Hat and The Mitten by Jan Brett. Did you know Jan Brett has a website filled with coloring sheets and activities you can make at home? Read her Honey. . .Honey . . .Lion! and then go to the Honey. . .Honey . . .Lion! rythm band project to make some fun and noisy instruments. You don't have to worry if you don't have a printer -- draw and color your own patterns--then shake shake shake your crankies away. Are you stuck at home and can't get out to the library for new stories? You can make y0ur own. Pick out pictures from old magazines (cut these out when you are out of sight if you have a very young child who hasn't yet learned when it is OK and when it is not!) Lay them out on colorful paper and construct a story. Tell your own tale then ask your toddler for a different version. Or, start the tale and ask "What do you think happened then?" Just scramble the pictures for a new story tomorrow. (Laminate the pictures for a great short mealtime activity.)
Remember--Spring is just around the corner.

Early Literacy Skills

To successfully begin to read, a child needs a variety of skills. These skills are the building blocks for learning to read and write. Children who have these skills before they go to school will benefit more from classroom instruction.

We will offer activities in each age range that you can easily do at home or on the go with your child. (See "Your Baby and Reading," "Your Toddler and Reading," "Your Very Busy Preschooler.") These activities will note which early literacy skill they focus on. A trip to the grocery store or a few minutes of interaction each day while cooking dinner can reap years of benefits. Also, be sure to check out "Reading Aloud." This is the single most important activity you can do that will introduce and reinforce literacy skills.

The American Library Association, along with many professional education institutions, focus on the following six skills:

Vocabulary
Knowing the names of things. Your child may know the name of 3,000 - 5,000 things before they enter school. Keep talking to your child. Practicing saying the name of all the things he comes across each day -- in books and in everyday situations.

Print Motivation
A child's interest in and enjoyment of books. A child with print motivation wants to handle books, select books, pretends to read, and loves being read to. Be the role model for your child by showing your own enjoyment in books. Keep them handy in special areas of the home. Always make reading together a fun and special experience.

Print Awareness
Print = words. Point out printed words everywhere you see them -- on signs, in the stores, in the books you are reading together. Knowing that words go from right to left on the page and from the top to the bottom is a valuable skill in beginning reading instruction.
Narrative Skills

Letter Knowledge
The knowledge that letters are different from each other and represent different sounds. Practice the sounds. Trace over beginning letters in books.

Phonological Awareness
The ability to hear and play with the sound in words. Practice by reading and making up rhyming words.

Narrative Skills
The ability to understand and retell stories. Have your child describe to you things he has been a part of -- a party, a trip to the park, swimming in the pool. Let your child retell a story to you that you have read aloud.