By Kathy Stemke

If you encourage reading from an early age and couple it with fun activities, your child will develop a love for reading that will last their entire life. The following four book recommendations are complete with great activities to do with children either at home or at school. Most of these activities can be modified to fit the educational needs of your child right now.

"Wiggling Worms at Work," by Wendy Pfeffer, teaches kids about worms, and the many benefits that they provide in the garden. Here is an excerpt: "Down in the ground, under your feet, thousands of worms wiggle around flower beds and tunnel under trees."

MAKE A BOOKWORM
1. Start with a head that has a mouth.
2. On each segment of the body write the title, author and date of a book that your child has read.

"The Great Pancake Escape," by Paul Many, is told in rhymed verse. This is the story of three children who chase after the pancakes that their magician father has mistakenly brought to life. The pancakes try to hide by taking the form of tires, roller-skate wheels, Frisbees and miscellaneous other objects. The kids return home empty-handed, and realize that the book their father used was a magic book not a cookbook. Using one of the book's spells, they call the pancakes back.

RHYMING MATCH

1. Make several pancakes with rhyming words on the back.
2. When you flip the pancake over with a spatula and match up two words that rhyme, you get to keep the pancakes.

SIGHT WORD RECOGNITION

1. Write a sight word on the back of each pancake.
2. Use a spatula to flip the pancake over.
3. If you can read the word, you put it on your plate.

"Behind the Mask: A book about Prepositions," by Ruth Heller is a wonderful book of rhymed verse that introduces prepositions and their rules. Here is an excerpt: "Prepositions have no fear. They help to make directions clear."

HULA HOOP ACTIVITIES: PREPOSITION RECOGNITION

1. The parent or teacher holds up the word IN.
2. The child jumps IN the hoop to recognize IN as a preposition.
3. Continue with the following prepositions:

Jump OUT of the hoop, stand UNDER the hoop, sit NEXT TO the hoop, walk AROUND the hoop, hop ACROSS the hoop, step THROUGH the hoop, crawl INTO the hoop, lean OVER the hoop, hide INSIDE the hoop, step ON the hoop, lean AGAINST the hoop, sit BESIDE the hoop, lie NEAR the hoop, slide OUTSIDE the hoop, balance ON one foot WITHIN the hoop.

"The Pear Tree that Bloomed in the Fall," by Will D. Campbell is a story of two children who find truth in an old friend's words that "everything happens for a reason." Unlike her brother Wiley, Mary Virginia sympathizes with a pear tree that seems to have its seasons confused. Its late blooms do end up having a purposeone that saves a hummingbird's life. This book can open up conversation about the purpose of events that went wrong in the child's life.

SPELLING WORDS ON PEAR TREE

1. Draw a large tree on a poster board.
2. Make several pears large enough to write on.
3. Time the students to see how many (pear) words they can write and hang on the tree.
4. Or write a sight word on each.

RUBBERBAND STRETCH FOR BLENDING SOUNDS

1. Use a large rubber band to show how to stretch out a word as the word is said. Ex. /rrrrrrrrrrrrr-/aaaaaaaaaaaa-/nnnnnnnnn/.
2. Bring the rubber band back to its original length and says the word fast: /ran/.
3. Have the children pretend to stretch rubber bands as they say the sounds in different words from the story.

Read with your child everywhere you go. Read signs, food cartons, magazines, and even toy boxes. There are words all around you. Kids naturally want to please their parents and teachers. So use a reward system. With every game or activity there should be verbal praise or some kind of reward. Most of all, have fun.

Author Bio:

Kathy Stemke has a passion for writing, the arts and all things creative. She has Bachelor degrees from Southern Connecticut State University and Covenant Life Seminary, as well as graduate coursework from New York Institute of Technology and Columbia University. Hanging her hat in the North Georgia Mountains, she has been a teacher, tutor, and writer for many years.

As a freelance writer and ghostwriter, Kathy has published hundreds of articles in directories, websites and magazines. She is a reviewer for Sylvan Dell Publishing and a former editor for The National Writing for Children Center. As a retired teacher, Kathy has several activities published with Gryphon House Publishing. Kathy is also part of the team at DKV Writing 4 U, a writing services company that includes ghostwriting, copywriting, editing, proofreading, critiquing, and resumes. 

Kathy’s first children’s picture book, Moving Through All Seven Days, was published on Lulu. Her next two picture books, Sh, Sh, Sh Let the Baby Sleep, and Trouble on Earth Day were released in 2011.  Visit her book blog at 

Mrs.Stemke offers great teaching tips and children’s book reviews as well as a monthly newsletter titled, MOVEMENT AND RHYTHM, on her blog.