We are reading “Tickle Me!”

I love reading to Griffin but I am always on the look out for books that he can enjoy independently. Our latest find is a lovely Lady Bird book “Tickle me“.

“Tickle Me” is a hardy, 10 page first counting board book . The book opens up with a friendly invitation ” Hello, Baby! Are you ready to play?” We are then introduced to 5 sets of characters Teddy, Bunnies, Monkeys, Jelly Fish and Zebras. Each set of characters has a dedicated page and then are combined with the next characters on the following page as the count continues. This repetition is a brilliant for helping baby to know what is coming next.

Each page is bright and colourful with, happy characters and large tactile sections. All of which means this book keeps Griffin’s attention for a long time and I can leave him with the book to enjoy independently.

Each character also has an instruction to go with it so Mam and baby can play with the book together. For example we start “Ready, steady, tickle one teddy!” the instruction is “Tickle your baby’s tummy too”

We have loved reading this book and though I like the punchy rhythmic text it would have been even better had it rhymed too.

We go back to this book again and again and I would heartily recommend it.

You can pick up “Tickle Me!” from Amazon for £7.99

 

10 Top Tips to make a hand & foot print alphabet.

Woohoo our hand and foot print alphabet is finished- please see our complete alphabet below my top tips. Hope you like it.

Top Tips for making a hand and foot print alphabet.

1. Get organised – this will save a lot of time. I jumped straight in and ended up painting Griffins foot brown 3 times when once would have done.
2. Before you start make a list of all of the “items” that will make up your alphabet.
3. Assign either hand or foot to each item.
4. Assign a main colour to each item.
5. Be conscious of phonics – I originally had “i is for ice cream” which is not phonic.
6. Four legged animals are your friend.
7. Add detail sparingly. I mostly just added small details with a Sharpie.
8. If your child is young use distraction tactics occupy them whilst you paint and print.
9. Don’t lay paint on too thick – it is just more paint to smudge.
10. If all else fails a sleeping baby is a cooperative baby 😉
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    

Role play masks – Goldilocks

I am currently attending a Family Learning course called Story Time for Tots at my local Sure Start centre. Each week we focus on a different book and create a fun activity to use when reading.

Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.

This is a classic morality tale that has been told for generations. We are reading the Ladybird Touch and Feel edition, retold by Ronne Randall and illustrated by Emma Dodd.

Role Play Masks

I have spoken before how Griffin loves using character masks when we are reading books. It is a brilliant way for him to interact with the story at such a young age.

We made these masks just from paper that we then laminated.

The masks below are brilliant for generating discussion about emotions. The bears are very unhappy about Goldilocks’s trespassing.

We really enjoyed making these masks and would encourage anyone who is trying to make the most of story telling for very small children to give them a try.

I will be making my own templates soon which I will upload so they are available for everyone to download.

We are almost there : Foot & hand print alphabet.

Yes we are nearly there! It has been great fun making our foot and hand print alphabet. We have had lots of false starts along the way, so I will be adding hints and tips as to the best way to make your own hand and foot print alphabet when our project is complete.

In the meantime here are our latest letters.

How to make a Story Sack – The Gruffalo

I originally discovered Story Sacks when I applied for a Family Learning course at my local Sure Start centre. I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk with other Mams about reading with their children and also learn how to engage children with books. The course also had free creche facilities which allowed Griffin to be in an environment with other children without me (and gave me a little time without him too.)

What is a “Story Sack”?

In a nutshell a story sack is a bag full of games and activities that can be used in conjunction with books to expand and enhance the story. This can include colouring sheets, games, toys and role play masks. You can purchase ready made Story Sacks or, like us, you can make your own at very little cost.

The Gruffalo Story Sack.

At the Story Sacks course I attended the book we focused on was The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. We started the course by becoming familiar with the book and why the book was so good for children. This included discussions on the benefits of rhyming prose which is brilliant for helping children to anticipate what comes next in the story as their language skills develop.

Time to fire up the laminator.

Here are a few of the things we made for our Story Sack. The only equipment we used was paper, pens, lolly pop sticks and a laminator.

Masks

As Griffin is only 10 months old this is the best item in the Story Sack for his age. We made the masks using ready made templates which we coloured in to match the characters in the story. We have used the masks a few times in our reading and Griffin finds it hilarious. He loves looking through the masks himself, although he does not quite understand that the picture should be facing outwards rather than against his own face.

Story Board.

This is a great interactive activity whereby we travel across the story board with all of the Gruffalo characters. At the moment I move all of the pieces for Griffin, but I am sure older children will have great fun moving the pieces around themselves. The story board also offers scope to make up your own story revolving around the Gruffalo characters. Again I am sure this will be brilliant for encouraging children who cannot yet write to make up their own stories.

 

Gruffalo Jigsaw.

Another easy little game made with just paper and pens. We coloured the Gruffalo and then cut and numbered the pieces to make a jigsaw that children would love. This helps with both visual and sequencing skills as the children put the pieces together to build up the final picture.

Building on this idea we also made a “go fish” matching style game by doing another jigsaw and placing the pieces face down. Two for the price of one!

Add the features.

This is a really fun activity which helps children identify facial features. We love to read the description of the Gruffalo from the book as we add the pieces to his face. I am sure older children will have great fun making a Picasso style Gruffalo.

 

And Finally…

A Story Sack would not be a Story Sack without it’s own dedicated bag in which to keep all of the games and activities. We used a standard hessian bag which we decorated with characters from the book.

I had so much fun making this Story Sack and it has given me lots of ideas for making more sacks. I hope that this has inspired you to make your own Story Sack too.

 

 

Baby’s Very First Black & White Books

We have spoken about “high contrast” books in another post in reference to books for babies under 6 months old. Griffin is now 9 months old and continues to love the “high contrast” books but he has now moved on to books that include more detailed pictures and colours.

We love the Usborn Baby’s Very First Black and White Books series. They have this series at our local baby social group and Griffin always gravitates towards the “Going Out” book.

 

Update: Foot & hand print alphabet.

Our foot and hand print alphabet is coming along nicely. Griffin seems to be understanding more what he needs to do. With much practice our hand prints are definitely improving and we are no longer needing 5 plus attempts to get what we want. I must confess however on a couple of occasions I waited until he was asleep (eek).

I am so excited to get this project finished as I think it will look brilliant when we get our book made up.

Here are a few more of our letters.

To see what we have done so far click here – alphabet.

 

Taking a trip with High Contrast books.

My first thought when I encountered “High Contrast” was, have I had too many drugs during labour? I had never seen these type of books before and on first glance these books left me cold. Where were the beautiful illustrations, the delightful prose, the wondrous storytelling? What was obvious, however, was that Griffin was very much intrigued by these bold images so what was happening?

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, or its apparently boring content.

For the unacquainted, “High Contrast” books, are board books designed for babies that contain pages solely depicting black and white ( with the occasional colour blob thrown in)  geometrical designs.

 

 

 

The key to the benefits of “High Contrast” books lies in the way a baby’s eye develops. When a baby is born their eyes are physically able to do everything an eye can do for the rest of their life. However baby’s brains are very busy in the new world which leaves insufficient room to process all of the information their eyes are delivering. Initially babies can only focus 8-12 inches away and find it difficult to distinguish colour and detail. High Contrast images give baby something simple to focus on.

Research.

Development psychologist Dr Robert Fantz tested this in the 1960’s by introducing babies to a plain grey card and a bold black and white checker board card. Fantz observed that the babies eyes always tracked to the checker board pattern.

Further research in the 70’s by behavioral scientist Dr T G R Bower discovered that upon showing babies black and white shapes on cards and plain red, white or yellow cards, the babies consistently were attracted to the black and white shapes.

From years of research it is generally accepted by experts that babies can focus better on high contrasting colours, black and white being the highest contrasted and geometrical shapes. Interestingly it has been found that babies find circles particularly appealing as they are easier to navigate in one fluid movement as opposed to squares where the eye has to jump around corners.

Try it yourself.

These experiments are easy to replicate at home so why not give it a go? You can make flash cards yourself using various geometrical images or there are also many ready made books on the market. Our favourite “high contrast” book for babies is Hello Baby by Roger Priddy, available on Amazon for £4.99.

Foot & hand print alphabet, not quite as easy as a,b,c

I am always looking for fun things to do with Griffin which will encourage his development and painting has become a weekly messy play activity for us.

I saw a fantastic Facebook post where someone had used their child’s foot and hand prints to make pictures of the letters of the alphabet. Brilliant, I thought, this will combine messy play and letters. I swiftly headed to the craft box to get out all of the paints and get started on our very own foot and hand print alphabet.

Things did not immediately go to plan. Have you ever tried to get a 9 month old to hold
their hand in one position for more than a millisecond?

The first hour was spent mainly with him covering himself in red paint whilst I desperately tried to get our alphabet started with “A is for Apple”.  The dining room was beginning to look like a crime scene. Finally we got the hang of it (reams of paper and gallons of paint later). Here are a few of our efforts.

This was certainly not as easy as ABC but we are getting there. My final intention is to make an alphabet book of the prints that Griffin and I can enjoy when the time comes.

When we have finished our project I will post the alphabet in full.