Activities
Fun activities you can do with families when delivering Bookstart Corner.
Open-ended questions
A great activity to give parents more ideas to make reading with their child more engaging. For this activity, use one of our interactive storybooks, Jez Alborough's uplifting tale Some Dogs Do.
Before you start the book, be sure to uncheck the box that says, 'Read the book with top tips'. Read through the story and think of up to four open-ended questions that you could ask when sharing a story.
When you've written these down, try and think of any of ways you might get children actively involved in the story.
Now read the book again, this time with the top tips enabled - these might be handy for thinking about how you can ask questions when you get the Bookstart Corner books!
Match the rhyme
This is a great activity to do with parents to encourage them to reflect on the impact of singing rhymes with their child.
Reassure parents (and yourself) that it doesn’t matter if you forget the words or don’t have a perfect singing voice – children are a forgiving audience! Most of all, have fun – the most important thing is that families to have fun and enjoy rhymes.
Download the Match the Rhyme activity sheet
Mark-making
Fill a tray with different textures. You could use:
- Porridge oats/polenta
- Food colouring drops and yoghurt
- A mixture of water and baby lotion with a few drops of food colouring
Let the children use their fingers to make shapes in the tray. Be aware that this activity can get messy. Put some newspaper down or a plastic sheet and give the children aprons or bibs before you start!
Puppets
You can make puppets with your families from a range of materials found around the house or in pound shops:
- Cardboard tubes
- Lollipop sticks
- Plastic spoons
- Paper cups
- Paper plates
- Socks
- Rubber gloves
You could draw pictures, print clipart or even add photos of the child to decorate them.
Put on a show
Make a puppet theatre for children to perform their favourite stories or nursery rhymes. This could be a fun way for children to showcase what they’ve done in Bookstart Corner sessions to their family.
You will need:
- A cardboard box
- Puppets – use the Bookstart Bear puppets supplied in your Superbox resources or make your own (see above)
- Paper, pens, glue and paint for decoration
- Cut a rectangular hole in the front of the box – make sure it’s in the middle as it will be the front of your theatre
- Cut holes at either side of the box, and on the top, large enough for little hands and puppets to go through - these are the wings of the theatre
- Decorate the box and get ready for the show