Summertime is here! We have been enjoying the warmer weather around here, playing outside as often as possible and planning fun summer activities. As you are making your way through your summer reading list with older kids, don’t forget the littlest ones in your family as well. There are lots of fun summer board books out there to teach babies and toddlers about the joys of summer. I gathered this list of adorable board books to help you introduce them to the hottest season!
Category Archives: Toddlerhood
Transportation Books for Little Travelers
Is your child enamored by planes, trains and other things that go? My daughter loves to point out all of the cars, trucks and planes that she sees. If she hears one while we are inside, she runs to the windows to figure out what it is. The loud noises, the bright colors and the shiny metal all combine to make machines very interesting for small children. There are so many great transportation books out there to complement this love of vehicles and machines. In addition, if you are preparing to travel with your family, reading a book about your mode of transportation can also be very helpful! Check out this list of transportation books to get you started.
Teaching Dental Health to Kids with the Brushies!
Teaching your kids to brush their teeth can sometimes be a struggle. My daughter has gone through stages of loving to brush her teeth, and also hating it. At her first visit to the dentist, he told me that we would need to floss her bottom teeth because they were very close together. After a few failed attempts, she suddenly loves to floss them on her own! By making it a fun game, she took over the activity herself, and actually enjoys it. Using a fun story and imaginative characters is a great way to get kids interested in dental health. It can also help them to understand the importance of proper dental hygiene. I was thrilled when I found this awesome company which does just that. And we had a lot of fun creating these dental health activities for kids!
Reading at the Grocery Store
I am a firm believer that learning opportunities can be found anywhere. My parents often used every day situations to teach my sister and I various lessons and skills that would be helpful to us in our lives. While driving home from places, my mother would encourage us to give her directions home. When we would go on walks, they would encourage us to point out familiar things and name them. All of these lessons helped my sister and I to become avid readers and learners. I am starting to do the same with my daughter, and she is already eager to learn from the world around her.Shopping is one of the tasks which my daughter and I do together that affords us lots of fun learning opportunities. We have been learning and reading at the grocery store since she was a few months old.
Learning Fun with Usborne Books & Discovery Toys!
I believe that books are one of the best ways to teach kids about the world around them, so I am always excited to find new books that can educate. In addition, anything that brings books to life is a winner in my book. Therefore, I was excited when I was approached by Allison Silletto to review an Usborne book matched with a toy from Discovery Toys! What better way to get kids excited for a new book, than pairing it with a fun and educational toy?
21 Awesome Chalk Activities to Keep Kids Learning in Summer!
Summer is here which means it is time to get outside and play! We have been spending as much time as possible out in the sun and my daughter has a newfound fascination with chalk. There are so many ways to use chalk to teach and reinforce important concepts to kids, from letters and numbers to colors, shapes and more! In an effort to keep the learning going this summer, I decided to round up some of the best learning activities that use chalk so we would have plenty to keep us busy!
5 Things Experts Don’t Tell You About Reading to Kids
We live in a world of Instagram and Pinterest, where “perfect” families make “perfect” crafts and have “perfect” lives. Let’s be serious. We post the good pictures on social media, but how many outtakes did it take to get that perfect shot? Reading to kids falls under this umbrella too. I have posted photos on my Instagram of my daughter and I curled up and reading together. And that totally happens! But I will not lie to you. There are definitely days where that perfect picture is NOT what happened!
Easter Board Books for Little Ones
Easter is coming! I love all of the fun books available to welcome the Spring season and celebrate the Easter holiday. Whether or not you are religious, there are a wide variety of fun Easter board books to introduce the symbols and traditions of the holiday to the littlest of bookworms! There are books from some of your child’s favorite characters, as well as some familiar children’s book authors. I hope you find a new favorite to share with your youngest readers this holiday!
Activating Prior Knowledge
When it comes to teaching reading, activating prior knowledge is one of my favorite strategies. By using past experiences, or tapping into knowledge they already have, you can help kids to comprehend the stories and texts that you are reading. You can easily model this strategy for your kids while you are reading aloud to them, while also encouraging conversation. This can be done with children as young as toddlers!
Hanukkah Board Books For The Littlest Bookworms
As Hanukkah approaches, don’t forget to include the youngest readers in your family! There are so many great Hanukkah board books to introduce kids to all of the traditions and fun of the holiday. Familiar characters including Elmo and Curious George celebrate the holiday with their friends while interactive lift the flap books entertain the youngest of readers. Below is a list of great board books to introduce young infants and toddlers to traditions ranging from playing with dreidels to lighting the menorah.
