Would you like to develop your pre-schooler’s literacy skills with a creative bookmaking craft? These bookmaking projects help children from two to six years old understand concepts like left to right reading, dictating words, spelling and writing skills, following multiple directions and describing pictures in a book.
Peek a Boo
Peek a Boo books stimulate your kids language skills and conversational skills. Take a file folder and cut a hole in the middle. Let your child choose a variety of magazine pictures and put one of them into the folder without letting your child see it. Once the picture is in the folder, let your child guess which picture it is by the area that shows through the hole.
Encourage your child to describe the part of the picture that appears in the hole. You can move the picture around until your child guesses correctly. Carry on a conversation with your child, saying what you see and asking what your child sees through the hole.
Sandwich Baggie Book
These great homemade books are durable and creative. Cut out construction paper to fit inside the baggie. Let your child draw pictures or glue pictures on the construction paper. Ask your child what the picture means to them and write it under the picture. Place the picture back into the baggie. Add as many book pages as you want in separate baggies and connect the bags together with rings, yarn or pipe cleaners. Your child will be so proud of the book he or she created and will be able to recite each page for you.
Excursion Book
Take a walk around the neighborhood or in the park with your child and talk about what you see. When you get home, ask your child to tell you about the walk. An example would be, “We went to the park,” “We saw a dog,” “I went on the swing,” etc. Write each item on the chart and have your child draw a small picture illustrating each item. This idea also works for the baggie books. This craft helps your child think about things in a sequence and develops creative writing skills.
Make literacy fun for your kids and they will learn how to identify words, label pictures, recognize objects and learn how to use words to convey what they see.
