ALPHABET Read:
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin (j Eac MARTIN)
Albert’s Alphabet by Leslie Tryon (j E-pb T)
Click clack, quackity-quack : an alphabetical adventure by Doreen Cronin
&
" Put letters on vanilla wafers with icing.
" Make pretzel letters with frozen bread dough
cut into strips.
" Do an activity from Alphabet Art: With A– Z Animal Art & Fingerplays
by Judy Press, j 745.5 Pre or
Kathy Ross Crafts Letter Shapes by Kathy Ross, j 745.5 Ros.
BAKING Read:
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Bunny cakes by Rosemary Wells
Cook-a-doodle-doo! by Janet Stevens
&
" Bake cookies or cupcakes together.
" Decorate store bought cookies with icing and sprinkles.
BATS Read:
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Bats Around the Clock by Kathi Appelt
Baby bat's lullaby by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Bat loves the night by Nicola Davies
Bats Creatures of the Night by Joyce Milton (j 599.4 Mil)
&
" Make bat wings and ears for yourself (p. 10, Bats,
Butterflies and Bugs: A Book of Action Toys
by S. Adams Sullivan, j 745.5 Sul)
BIRDS Read:
Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert
Maebelle’s Suitcase by Tricia Tusa
My Spring Robin by Anne Rockwell
Gossie & Gertie by Olivier Dunrea
&
" Make a muffin cup bird (p. 14, The Little Hands Art
Book by Judy Press, j 745.5 Pre)
" Make a picture using bird seed.
BLUE Read:
Blueberry Shoe by Ann Dixon
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
The case of the hungry stranger
by Crosby Bonsall (j Er BONSALL)
The great blue house by Kate Banks
Dog Blue by Polly Dunbar
A Blue so Blue by Jean-Francois Dumont
&
" Make blueberry pancakes or muffins.
" Make pictures just using different shades of blue crayons.
" Make blue Goop by mixing together blue food coloring, 1 cup
cornstarch, and 1 cup of water. Store in a Ziploc bag.
" Count all the blue things in your house.
BUGS Read:
Little Bug by Dick Gackenbach
The Beetle Bush by Beverly Keller (j Er KELLER)
Insects are My Life by Megan McDonald
I love bugs! by Philemon Sturges
&
" Make egg carton bug eyes (p. 28, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs by
Better Homes and Gardens, j 745.5 Bet)
" Make an egg carton bug (p 20, I can cut and stick
by Ray Gibson, j 745.54 Gib)
" Make bug covers for toy cars and have bug races
(p. 24, Bats, Butterflies and Bugs by S. Adams Sullivan,
j 745.592 Sul)
BUTTONS Read:
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Buttons by Brock Cole
Bone button borscht by Aubrey Davis
&
" Make pictures with some buttons.
" String old buttons together for a necklace.
CARS & TRUCKS Read:
I Stink! By Kate McMullan (j Em MCMULLAN)
Trucks, trucks, trucks by Peter Sis (j Em SIS)
Tooth-Gnasher, Superflash
by Daniel Pinkwater (j Em PINKWATER)
This is the van that Dad cleaned by Lisa Campbell Ernst
&
" Make a map of your neighborhood on large pieces of brown
craft paper or an old sheet. Play on it with your toy cars.
(p. 9, All Around Town by Judy Press, j 745.5 Pre)
" Make a traffic light out of a milk carton. (p. 112, All Around
Town by Judy Press, j 745.5 Pre)
CATS Read:
Angus and the Cat by Marjorie Flack
Mama Cat has three kittens by Denise Fleming
My cat Jack by Patricia Casey
Who said meow? by Maria Polushkin
&
" Make a craft from Cat Crafts by Linda Hendry,
j 745.5 Hen
" Paint a picture your cat will love, laminate it with
clear contact paper and make a placemat for your cat’s dish.
" Make a picture of a cat using just circles, triangles and squares.
COLORS Read:
White is for Blueberry by George Shannon
Lunch by Denise Fleming
Warthogs paint by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Colors Everywhere by Tana Hoban
&
" Paint with water colors on coffee filters.
" Make pom-poms out of different colored yarns. (p. 36,
The Rainy Day Book by Jane Bull, j 745.5 Bul)
" Make space bubble pictures with powdered paint,
dishwashing soap and straws.
(p. 24, Paint Fun by Ray Gibson, j 745.5 Gib)
COUNTING Read:
Chicka, chicka 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin Jr. (j Eac MARTIN)
Teeth, tails & tentacles : an animal counting book
by Christopher Wormell (j Eac WORMELL)
Cat count by Betsy Lewin (j Eac LEWIN)
&
" Decorate graham crackers with icing numbers
" Count everyday objects in the house , like pillows,
windows, or beds.
" Make a number craft from Kathy Ross Crafts Numbers by
Kathy Ross, j 745.5 Ros
" Use markers to decorate large lima beans to use as counters,
or color dried pasta with food coloring.
DOGS Read:
Harry and the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
McDuff Moves In by Rosemary Wells
Puppies! Puppies! Puppies! by Susan Meyers
Gracie's baby Chub Chop by Gillian Johnson
&
" Make a dog from a paper bag (p. 6, Funny Bags
by Betsy Pflug, j 745.5 Pfl)
" Make a paper puppy card (p. 146, The Kids Can
Press Jumbo Book of Easy Crafts by Judy Sadler,
j 745.5 Sad)
" Make a craft from Dog Crafts by Linda Hendry,
j 745.5 Hen
" Paint dog bones and use them as stamps to create a picture.
Laminate it with clear contact paper and make a placemat for
your dog’s dish.
DRESSING UP Read:
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Angelina Ballerina by Katherine Hollabird
Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
The dress I'll wear to the party by Shirley Neitzel
&
" Make a pasta necklace (p.16, The Make-Something
Club by Frances Zweifel, j 745.5 Zwe)
" Make a flower hat (p. 56, Rainy Day Play by Zigzag
Publishing, j 745.5 Rai)
" Make a purse out of a brown lunch-sized paper bag decorated
with stickers, crayons and glitter,
with braided yarn for a handle.
DUCKS Read:
In the Rain with Baby Duck by Amy Hest
Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack
Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck by Lisa Westberg Peters
Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen
&
" Make paper plate ducks (p. 20, Alphabet Art: With A– Z
Animal Art & Fingerplays by Judy Press, j 745.5 Pre)
FAIRIES Read:
Cinderella by Charles Perrault
The Three Spinning Fairies by Lisa Campbell Ernst
Elsie times eight by Natalie Babbitt
Fritz and the mess fairy by Rosemary Wells
&
" Make fairy wands with straws, ribbon and paper stars
decorated with glitter.
" Make fairy houses with natural materials- pebbles, grass,
leaves, twigs, seashells, acorns, pinecones.
" Make fairy wings (p. 30, Fairy Fun by Marla Schram
Schwartz, j 745.5 Sch)
" Make fairy cakes in miniature muffin tins decorated with
icing and colored sugars.
FISH Read:
The little fish that got away by Bernadine Cook
Ten little fish by Audrey Wood (j Eac WOOD)
Hello, Fish! by Sylvia A. Earle (j 597 Ear)
Little Fish lost by Nancy Van Laan
A Fish out of Water by Helen Palmer (j Er PALMER)
Swimmy by Leo Lionni (j Eb LIONNI)
&
" Cut out & decorate fish from colored paper and attach paper
clips to their tales. Attach a magnet to a piece of string tied
to a dowel rod. Go fishing!
" Make a craft from Sea Life Art & Activities by Judy Press,
j 745.5 Pre.
FOOD Read:
Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig
I will never not ever eat a tomato by Lauren Child
How to make an apple pie and see the world
by Marjorie Priceman
Full, full, full of love by Trish Cooke
&
" Color pictures on paper, laminate with clear contact paper
and use for placemats .
" Make potato or apple print pictures (p. 14, Food Crafts by
Chris Deshpande, j 745.5 Des)
" Make dinner together from one of our great cookbooks.
Find them at j 641.5.
FOODS FROM ASIA Read:
Yoko by Rosemary Wells
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman
Apple pie 4th of July by Janet S. Wong
Dim sum for everyone! by Grace Lin
Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park
&
" Make a Japanese lunchbox (p.29, Hands-On Asia ,
by Yvonne Merrill, j 745.5 mar)
" Make sushi together (Sushi for kids by Kaoru Ono,
j 641.692 Ono)
" Try different foods from around the world in The Little
Cooks by Eve Tharlet (j 641.59 Tha)
Practice using chopsticks.
FROGS Read:
Jump Frog Jump by Robert Kalan
Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley ( j 597.87 Cow )
The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog: A Traditional Tale
by Ana Martin Larrañaga
&
" Make an origami jumping frog (p. 16, Paper Pandas and
Jumping Frogs by Florence Temko, j 736.98 Tem)
" Make a frog sock puppet (p. 12, The Make-Something
Club by Frances Zweifel, j745.5 Zwe)
" Make a frog paper-plate puppet (p. 42, Crafts from your
favorite fairy tales by Kathy Ross, j 745.5 Ros)
GAMES & SPORTS Read:
Tumble bunnies by Kathryn Lasky
Luke goes to bat by Rachel Isadora
Chip and the karate kick by Anne Rockwell
Little Granny quarterback by Bill Martin Jr.
&
" Design and paint your own team t-shirts
(Crafty T-Shirts by Petra Boase, j 746.6 Boa)
" Make a bowling game you can play inside or outside with old
soda bottles. (p. 38, The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book by
Judy Press, j 745.5 Pre)
GARDENING Read:
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Whose Garden is it? by Mary Ann Hoberman
Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming
&
" Do a project together from Sunflower Houses
by Sharon Lovejoy, j 635 Lov
" Decorate plain styrofoam cups with faces and plant grass or
radish seeds for hair.
" Make a grassy head with an old stocking
(p. 76, I can make that! by Mary Wallace, j 745,5 Wal)
HATS Read:
The Hat by Jan Brett
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
A Hat for Minerva Louise by Janet Stoeke
&
" Make and decorate hats (p. 100, Making Cool Crafts
& Awesome Art, by Roberta Gould, j 745.5 Gou)
LEAVES Read:
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
Now it’s fall by Lois Lenski
Fall leaves fall! by Zoe Hall
Leaf jumpers by Carole Gerber
Tell Me, Tree by Gail Gibbons (j 582.16 Gib)
&
" Collect leaves and make a leaf man on paper.
" Collect leaves and glue them around a paper plate to make an
autumn wreath (or spring or summer wreath.)
" Dip leaf cookie cutters in paint and stamp a white cloth to
use as a table cloth.
" Iron colored leaves between two pieces of waxed paper
(p. 43, I saw a purple cow and 100 other recipes for learning
by Ann Cole, j 745.5 Col
MONKEYS Read:
Five little monkeys play hide-and-seek by Eileen Christelow
Curious George by H. A. Rey
Monkey Mo goes to sea by Diane Goode
Tom and Pippo's day by Helen Oxenbury (j T OXENBURY)
&
" Eat slices of bananas with peanut butter.
" Make your own monkeys with two long pipe cleaners.
" Use one pipe cleaner for the body. Make a circle at one end
for the head; the other end will be the tail. Cut another pipe
cleaner in half and use these for the arms and legs. Make a lot
of monkeys, link them together, and hang them from
doorknobs, overhead lights, trees, curtain rods.
MUSIC Read:
Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett
Lentil by Robert McCloskey
Punk Farm by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Our marching band by Lloyd Moss
&
" Make musical instruments (The Kids Can Press
Jumbo Book of Music by Deborah Dunleavy, j 780 Dun)
" Make tambourines by putting dried beans between 2 paper
plates decorated with markers and crepe paper streamers.
OWLS Read:
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Good-Night, Owl by Pat Hutchins
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Owls by Gail Gibbons (j 598.97 Gib)
&
" Make a picture of an owl with a potato (p.42,
Making Things by Ann Wiseman, j 745.5 Wis)
" Make an owl with a paper bag (p. 13, 175 Easy-to-do
Halloween Crafts by Sharon Umnik, j 745.59416 Umn)
POPCORN Read:
The Popcorn Dragon by Jane Thayer
Popcorn by Frank Asch
The Popcorn Book by Tomie DePaola (j 641.331 Dep)
&
" Make popcorn to eat and create pictures on colored
paper with popcorn and glue.
SCIENCE Read:
Science Fair Bunnies by Kathryn Lasky
Amelia Bedelia, rocket scientist?
by Herman Parish ( j Er PARISH)
Pearl and Wagner : two good friends
by Kate McMullan (j Er MCMULLAN)
&
" Do simple science experiments from:
What’s the Matter in Mr. Whiskers’ Room by Michael
Elsohn Ross (j 507.8 Ros)
Rub-a-Dub-Dub Science in the Tub
by James Lewis (j 507.2 Lew)
Janice VanCleave’s Play and Find Out about Science
by Janice VanCleave (j 507.2 Van)
SNAKES Read:
Crictor by Tomi Ungerer
To bathe a boa by C. Imbior Kudrna
The day Jimmy's boa ate the wash by Trinka Hakes Noble
&
" Make a snake from an old necktie (p. 26, Crafts for kids who
are wild about reptiles by Kathy Ross, j 745.5 Ros)
" Make a snake card (p.8, I can cut and stick by Ray Gibson,
j 745.54 Gib)
SNOW Read:
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats,
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert,
Oh! by Kevin Henkes
Katy and the big snow
by Virginia Lee Burton (j Em BURTON)
Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Branley (j 551.5784 Bra)
&
" Cut out snowflakes and hang them from the ceiling.
" Make snowman pictures with cotton balls, scraps of fabric,
and twigs for arms.
" Make snow castles with sugar cubes.
" Make a snowstorm jar (p. 5, Projects for Winter by Celia
McInnes, j 745.59411 Mei)
SPACE Read:
Alistair in Outer Space by Marilyn Sadler
Mooncake by Frank Asch
Astro Bunnies by Christine Loomis
Dimitri, the astronaut by Jon Agee
Man on the Moon by Anastasia Suen (j 629.45 Sue)
&
" Make a paper-towel tube rocket ( Crafts for Kids Who
are Wild about Outer Space by Kathy Ross, j 745.5 Ros)
" Make aliens out of colored clay (Space & Art Activities by
Polly Goodman, j 745.5 Goo)
" Make a space picture with black paper and glitter
" Make a star finger puppet with an old CD disc (p. 18, Crafts
from your favorite children’s songs by Kathy Ross,
j 745.5 Ros)
SPIDERS Read:
Be Nice to Spiders by Margaret Bloy Graham
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
Diary of a spider by Doreen Cronin
&
" Make an egg carton spider (p. 26, Holiday
Handiwork by Gillian Souter, j 745.59416 Sou)
" Make spider web pictures (draw spider webs with white glue
on black paper, cover with glitter, let dry.)
SQUIRRELS Read:
Nuts to You! by Lois Ehlert
Micawber by John Lithgow
I'm Alvin by Elizabeth Rice
Earl the Squirrel by Don Freeman
&
" Make a cork squirrel (p.32, Crafts to Make in the
Fall by Kathy Ross, j 745.5 Ros)
TRAINS Read:
Freight Train by Donald Crews (j Em CREWS)
Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown (j Em BROWN)
Full steam ahead by Faye Gibbons (j Em GIBBONS)
The little train by Lois Lenski (j Em LENSKI)
&
" Make a milk carton train (p. 32, Vroom! Vroom!
by Judy Press, j 745.5 Pre)
WIND Read:
The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins
Like a Windy Day by Frank Asch
How does the wind walk? by Nancy White Carlstrom
&
" Make windmills (p.42, The Fantastic Rainy Day
Book by Angela Wilkes, j 745.5 Wil)
" Do activities from I Face the Wind by Vicki Cobb, j 551.518
Cob
YARN & STRING Read:
The Squiggle by Carole Lexa Schaefer
Farmer Brown shears his sheep by Teri Sloat
A big ball of string by Marion Holland (j Er HOLLAND)
&
" Make a picture on white paper with colored yarn.
" Make string people with twist ties and embroidery floss.
(p. 114, I can make that! By Mary Wallace, j 745.5 Wal)
These are just a few suggestions for enriching the stories that you read to your children.
There are hundreds more stories and ideas waiting for you in the children’s library.
" Find more craft books at j 745.5
Find other great crafts ideas at these websites:
www.enchantedlearning.com
www.kidsdomain.com/craft/
www.dltk-kids.com
http://familycrafts.about.com/
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