Fun with a Brown Bear

I was shopping at a department store recently and noticed their promotion is currently featuring Eric Carle books and stuffed animals. What a fantastic opportunity to get some really great books for youngsters! Some of the classic Eric Carle books have been remade into board books and beginning readers so that a broader range of ages can enjoy his classics like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? The library even owns an audiobook version that has all four “Bear Books” together in one kit with both an English and Spanish version included.

Next Thursday, March 1, children's librarians will present an Every Child Ready to Read workshop for parents and children ages birth - 5 featuring Brown Bear, Brown Bear. Parents will learn how to incorporate singing, talking, reading, writing and playing into this favorite book to help teach children about colors and animals and give them important pre-reading skills. This program is full, but you can get on the waiting list by going to the library's online events calendar. And watch for more Every Child Ready to Read workshops based on popular children's picture books in the coming months. Guest post by Heidi T.

No puppets? No problem.

Imaginative play is one of the most meaningful and effective ways to teach children...it's also fun and inexpensive (let's face it, those last two seal the deal for me).  You don't need elaborate puppets like the ones made by Folkmanis, (although they make great gift suggestions for grandparents who tend toward toys of the noisy and plastic variety). 

You can make almost any book into story pieces with your computer (or one of the library's if your printer is like mine and always seems to be out of magenta) and some laminate or clear packing tape.  Books with familiar characters or repeating refrains work best for this type of play, and free clip art images are a cinch to find online. 

Example: Today in storytime I handed an animal to each child and we did a group retelling of Bill Martin's classic, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?  The children helped "tell" the story by bringing up the animals placing them on our easel.  Making a game out of stories like this one can help children understand and remember the parts in a story.