Value Bookshop’s Reading Notes

Looking for some creative activities for young children? Here is one that I did recently.

The kids were mucking around with the white board, so I decided to give them a bit of creative focus. I asked them to draw me dinosaurs of their own creation. Since they are dinosaur fans, they were game for it. Here is their list of dinosaurs:

• Packasaur
• Transaur
• Ponaisaur - biggest pony in the world
• Tranmopsaurs
• Nampsalamsaur - biggest banana in the world (dinosaur was in the shape of a banana)
• Lamanasalamonsaurs - biggest egg in the world

Those are some pretty weird names huh? Well, to me that’s a healthy sign of imagination at work.

Besides dinosaurs, you could do a similar activity with your children on the following topics:
1. If your girl is into princesses, why not ask her to design a range of dresses and accessories. You could further guide her creativeness by discussing the topic of appropriate dressing e.g. “what should she wear to go running?”, “how about some office clothes?”, “Ken is having a birthday party, what kind of dress is she going to wear?”

2. If your child likes automobiles, have them create their own line of cars, trucks etc… You could introduce the activity by saying “draw me a car you would like to have when you grow up”, “what kind of car would you buy for me,” and “how about grandpa, what car do you think he will like?”

3. One of the first preschool themes we teach our children is ‘animals’. How about having them create their own kind of animal? what would they call it? What do they eat? Where does it stay?

I find the best way to successfully carry out preschool activities, is to tune in to your children’s interest. The activity I did with my children would not have gone as well if it were about trucks or insects. So pay attention to your children’s play and get ideas from there.

Another important factor to note is the benefits of reading to your children. When doing the “create-your-dinosaur” activity with my children, I realized that their creativity was spurred on by knowledge they had gained from past reading. For example, how did they come up with those fantastic dinosaur names? Why didn’t they just name their dinosaur Tom or Alice? It’s because they’ve learned that dinosaurs have funny names, it usually ends with “saur” and the names are usually pretty long. So, put “enhance creativity” in your list of “ten reasons to read to your children.”

So have fun with this activity. And while you are laughing at their silliness, also know that this kinds of preschool activities not only encourage creative thinking, but also is a rehearsal for writing or other forms of self expression like art and drama.

Here is a rhyme and a game to help your children learn to tell time and also to count. And if not, it is just loads of fun to do.

1. Rhyme: Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Tick tock, tick tock
I’m a little cuckoo clock.
Tick tock, tick tock
Now it’s almost ______ o’clock!
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! (As many times as the hour you chose).

With babies, you could just hold them and rock from side to side as you go tick, tock. Then at the end when you go “Cuckoo! Cuckoo!”, toss them or just lift them up high with each “cuckoo.” I get lots of giggles from my baby when I do that. This is how I get an arm workout too. Hehehe.

For preschoolers, you could use this rhyme to teach counting and time. First of all, teach them what 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock etc… looks like. Then randomly pick a time and show it on a clock. Have them say the rhyme (and do the swaying actions of the tick-tock), and see if they insert the right time when they say “Now it’s almost ____ o’clock!” Then they can jump to every “Cuckoo” at the end.

2. Game: What is the time Mr. Wolf?

The one that plays the wolf, randomly chooses in their head what time is breakfast/lunch/dinner. Then this is how the conversation goes:

Others: What is the time Mr. Wolf?
Wolf: 1 o’clock
Others: What is the time Mr. Wolf?
Wolf: 2 o’clock
Goes on until…
Others: What is the time Mr. Wolf?
Wolf: It’s dinner time (then chases and tries to catch the others)

If you have a baby (about 7 months and older) with older siblings, you could strenghten their bonds by having them play together. Baby can be the wolf and chase the other sibling(s) round the room (with Mommy carrying baby of course) or have them chase baby.

3. FREE LEARNING TOOL: MAKE YOUR OWN CLOCK

I made this homemade clock for my kids to play with. Here you see them arranging the numbers correctly on the clock. The hands are attached with a paper fastener so they can move around.
I’ve already done the printable for you. So, if you want to make your own clock, just right click and save the file below:
HOMEMADE CLOCK PRINTABLE

I haven’t thought about this book in a while until my daughter reminded me about it. We were talking about the upcoming Moon Cake Festival and she asked if this book was still around or already sold. To her delight, I said it is still with us. I’m surprised that she remembers it. It’s been a long time since I read it to her. So, what does that tell ya? It’s an unforgettable book I guess

The story is not about how the Moon Cake Festival came to be. But rather, a peek into a grandmother’s memory.

Here is what the story is about:
A grandmother (Ying-ying) has three grandchildren griping about being bored stucked indoors because of rain. One wished the rain would stop, another wished they could get wet and another wished they had something to do. She decides to tell them about a time when she told the Moon Lady about her secret wish. She was seven years old at that time and the family was celebrating the Moon Cake Festival. As the day progressed, she had put it in her mind several wishes she could make to the Moon Lady. She wished she didn’t have to wear the “hot” clothes her mother had made for that special day, she wished she could eat a rabbit moon cake by herself without having to share with her cousins, she wished to fly like a dragonfly and she also wished to be carefree like the boy on the raft next to her boat. During the course of the celebration, Ying-ying gets separated from her family. The only wish she has then is to be found. The story is very captivating with colourful descriptions that capture time and culture.

This book is memorable in many ways. First would be the beautiful and colorful illustrations that help the reader visualize and feel the excitement of the story.

Second would be the rich vocabulary that exemplifies the emotions and thoughts of the child so wonderfully. I’m sure my daughter could connect with Ying-ying’s feelings of boredom and “I-don’t-want-to-share” attitude.

The way we celebrate the Moon Cake Festival is different than what is related in the story. You could probably do a quick activity with your child listing down differences/similarities of how we celebrate it these days compared to Grandma Ying-ying’s days. Another followup discussion topic would be “what to do if your child got lost”.

As of today, The Moon Lady is available at Value Bookshop for RM20.00.
This book is suitable for fluent readers and for kids who can sit still for more than 10 minutes
If you have read this book, please share what you think of it.

I got my children this foam puzzle mat with alphabets a few years ago. At that time, K was still very young (about 3-4 years old) and all she did was try to put the puzzle together - matching the parts. After a while I put the foam mat away as it was messing up the house. A few days ago, the foam mat found it’s way out of the ratan basket where I stored it and the kids had fun with it again. And it is interesting to note that the kind of fun they had this time round was different.

This here is K 2 years back doing a funky dance with the foam alphabets. She would also use them as fancy dress props.

This here was a few days ago. With the number foam, she put the numbers together and then try to figure out the name e.g 1062 = One thousand sixty two.

Instead of just pulling it over her head, this time she made it into a crown first.

Other games and activities they created for themselves with these foam alphabets and numbers:

• They would fold it to resemble a book and then pretend to read it.
• They would put it down like a mat and make up game rules such as no jumping on certain colors or alphabets.
• They would pretend the foam were pieces of bread and make sandwiches. Coins were made into jam and a toy plastic butter knife was used to spread it.

So I guess these foam mat was a good buy after all. They have played with it over the years. And this is another fine example of how playing encourages creativity. I would never have come up with such games. Maybe now you can teach them to your children. Heheheh.

Here is something you can do with all those pesky fliers you get in the mail. Cut them up, recreate your own handout and then integrate it into your children’s play.
A flier from McDonald found its way into my home and we cut it up to recreate our own menu. My daughter then opened her own McDonald restaurant. Sometimes it is difficult for children to create something on their own. Like this menu thing, my daughter would throw the idea out the door if she had to draw out the food. Plus at this stage (6 years old), she still hasn’t acquired the idea of how much things cost. So the flier in the mail helped the creative process.
If you have a younger child, you could use the pictures to teach categorization. The next time you go to the hypermarket for some shopping, just grab their picture flier — the one where they list out all the things they have on special offer. Cut out the pictures and have your child stick them into different groups - vegetables, fruits, electrical, clothes etc….

So next time you get swamped with fliers, don’t throw them out too fast. See if it could somehow contribute to your child’s learning.

I found a GREAT website that I’m really, really, really sure you’re going to LURVE! I’m so excited, can you tell?
It’s called BookPALS Storyline Online.

They have different celebrities reading different books. One of the books read is A Bad Case of Stripes

(This book is available at my bookshop as of today. Click here to go to A Bad Case Of Stripe’s Product Page.)

They have a good list of books to choose from. AND they also have suggested activities to go along with the book.
So, can’t find time to go to a library for a storytelling session? Here’s your chance to bring the storytelling session into your home. Another great way to encourage love of reading in your children