Reading Activities for Kids

A lot of the children we spend time with have a stack of their favorite books. Instead of just reading their books, we can enhance the reading experience by planning activities to do that go along with their top picks.

Here are a few ideas:

1.     We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. You can reenact the book with the children by hiding teddy bears around the house. To dramatize the experience, let the kids use binoculars and flashlights to find the different bears. While searching for the bears, encourage conversation and imaginative play by asking the children what sounds they hear and what they see. You can pretend you hear growls and see bear tracks.

2.     Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is all about the alphabet. Just reading the book is a great learning activity, but you can make it even more interactive by planning a craft to go with the reading. One activity to do along with the book is simple: all you need is a baking sheet, magnetic letters, and a palm tree (you can create this yourself with construction paper). Tape the palm tree to your baking sheet. Then, with the magnetic letters, you and your kids can mimic the actions in the book.

3.     The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The Very Hungry Caterpillar gives you lots of opportunities to do color recognition (along with food recognition) and opportunities to practice counting. After you finish reading the book, you can create the very hungry caterpillar with just a few items: play dough, pipe cleaner, and sticky eyes. Look at the picture below to show you how to create the caterpillar. Now you have included sensory play and fine motor skills.