Recipes for Fun and Learning

Getting Ready for School

by Carolyn Buhai Haas

When Summer is over, it 's time for children to return to their day care centers or schools. Time for more "formal," structured activities. Here are some reading readiness activities that will be fun and challenging for toddlers and preschoolers, and help lay a foundation for the task of learning to read.

Carolyn Buhai Haas has written many cre- ative activity books. Her books include Pur- ple Cow to the Rescue, (Little, Brown) and Look at Me: Activities for Babies and Tod- dlers, CBH Publishing (available for $8.95 plus $1.50 postage and handling, from CBH Publishing, 446 Central Ave., North- field, IL 60093).

MAKE YOUR OWN BOARD BOOKS

Babies, and even two and three-year-otds, enjoy looking at sturdy cardboard books, especially if the illustrations are simple and colorful. Try making your own, a project that although time-consuming, can give your children reading enjoyment for several years.

YOU NEED: • heavy cardboard

• colorful magazine pictures

o markers, scissors, glue

• cloth tape, paper punch, metal rings

• clear contact paper

YOU DO: 1. Depending on the age of your child, find large, colorful magazine

pictures of simple objects, animals or people. (For babies under one year, pick out pictures that relate to "first words", like cup, shoe, cookie, milk, dog, cat, flower, etc.) Two-year-olds will understand body ,parts, clothing, table foods, games and toys ... and other objects and events that can be verbalized.

2. Cut out the pictures (or draw them, if you wish) and glue them onto a piece of sturdy cardboard, one object to a page. The size of the pages could vary from as small as 3" x 3" up to 8" x 12", with fewer pages for small babies and more for older ones.

3. Cover each page (back and front) with clear contact paper so the book can be washed and will be durable.

4. Next, punch two or three holes through each page and attach them together with ribbon or metal rings (babies love those). Then "read" the book with your infant, pointing to each object and saying its name. Soon baby will be "reading" his board book all by himself!

VARIATIONS:

For older children, write a word or a short sentence below each picture.

Cut out an object, glue it to cardboard and outline the picture with markers. This will make the object stand out.

Instead of cardboard, substitute cloth or construction paper (not as durable, but easier to assemble for 2 or 3-year-old children).

40 DAY CARE AND EARLY EDUCATION

PICTURE PLAY

YOU NEED: • cardboard or large index cards

• magazine pictures

• glue

• scissors

• clear contact paper

YOU DO: 1. Look through old magazines to find colorful pictures of everyday

objects, toys, animals, people, clothing, and so forth.

2. Cut out and paste or glue the pictures onto a piece of cardboard or an index card. Label each one, if you wish.

3. For durability, cover each one with clear contact paper.

Now you have a set of picture cards with which to play innumerable games, depending on the age of the child,

["Look-atsj Tape one or two pictures to the crib or playpen, changing them often. ,,a

J Name-it J Later, ask the child to name each object as he looks at it. Soon he will be naming the objects himself, without any coaching.

FALL 1986

[,,This-is 1 Show the pictures-- one at a t ime- - to the baby, naming what each one is. For instance, point to a teddy bear and say, "This is a teddy bear."

Show the chi-ld a p=cture and ask her to bring it to you. "Bring meyourcup , your shoe, a book, a block," etc.

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P! CTU R E PLAY As your toddler turns into a two or three-year-old, try some harder games:

JColors7 Point to the colors in the pictures, name them, and then see if the chi ld can remember. (This won' t happen until at least the second year, however, so don't get discouraged.) "What color is the banana, the wagon, the dog?"

JHow many?J Count the number of items on a picture (buttons on a dress, eyes or ears on a face, wheels on a truck, f lowers, apples, grapes, and so forth).

LTell-mej Have the chi ld tell you a story about the object on the card, adding more pictures as the story unfolds.

[Hide-'emsj Hide a picture somewhere inside your house or center, or in the yard. See if the toddler can f ind it by giving her "c lues" such as "It is next to the rocking chair, .... It is under a p i l low," "It is in your wagon."

JHunt-for_'s:jMake up a short treasure hunt by hiding three or four p ic ture clues under or behind various objects. Give the player the first card, which might be a picture of a te lephone; ask him to look under the telephone for another picture. Under the phone you will have placed a picture of a red book; under the book a picture of the refr igerator ... and inside the refr igerator will be the treasure - - an apple, a piece of cheese, a glass of orange juice ... or the prize might be a small toy hiding behind his pil low, or a new box of crayons, or his favorite toy or book.

What other games can you th ink up for your chi ld to play with the picture cards?

42 DAY CARE AND EARLY EDUCATION