Preschool Activity - Toy Book

If your child is constantly crabby and misbehaving, consider your household environment. Too much choice can sometimes overwhelm a child, as can too much noise. Consider "retiring" some of the noisiest toys you have for a week or two and see if there is any change in your child's behavior. By doing this you will have reduced both the number of choices available to your child for a play thing as well as the amount of noise made while playing. If your child seems more calm, make noise level a factor future toy purchases. You can also have a special box that toys get rotated into and out of. This will keep the same-old playthings more exciting, while cutting down on the overwhelming pile of toys that tend to gather in the living room.

FUN PRESCHOOL ACTIVITY: MY TOY BOOK

TEACHING OBJECTIVE/BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

Making My Toy Book is a fun way to help your child begin to recognize words as you help him prepare for a more formal reading program. Making his own books with your help makes learning to recognize sight words easy. Of course, the more frequently he reads his books the better his word recognition will be. A word of caution; listen to him read his book often to be sure he is reading the word that is written on the page.

You can use these "one word to a page" books to help him learn the sounds of letters, also. Once he knows the names of the letters in a word, demonstrate the sound the first letter makes and ask him to repeat it to you. Soon he'll be able to sound out many words after practicing with his own book. If you encourage him to make many such books he'll gradually develop his own library of books that interest him. Here are a few suggestions of books he might like to make with your help.

A book about his house could contain pictures of doors, windows, curtains, furniture, etc. You might use photographs of family members for a book about his family or pictures you took of friends for his Book of Friends. Food I Like might be another good book to make. Talk with your child about what he would like to make his books about. You may be surprised at his creativity as well at how many sight words he masters through making and reading his own books.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Newspaper or magazine ads depicting various toys
Scissors
Glue
81/2"x11" sheets of paper
One piece of construction paper
Stapler
A marking pen

ACTIVITY STEPS:

1. Cut out a number of familiar pictures of toys such as a ball, a car, a doll, etc.
2. Glue each picture on a separate piece of paper.
3. Print the name of each toy under its picture.
4. Fold the piece of construction paper in half to make covers for your book.
5. Put all the pages inside the covers.
6. Staple the book together.
7. Print MY TOY BOOK BY (YOUR CHILD'S NAME) on the cover.
8. Read the new book together.