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Activities for Print Motivation

Activities for Print Awareness

Activities for Phonological Awareness

Activities for Vocabulary

Activities for Narrative Skills

Activities for Letter Knowledge

Activities for Print Motivation

Make Your Own Rebus Story (Vocabulary and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Cardstock cut in half
• Crayons
• Markers
• Stapler

To Make:
1. Choose a familiar story, or make up your own
2. Write it out, using pictures for some of the words (for example, if you choose “The Three Bears,” use pictures of bears, chairs, bowls and beds to fill in those words in the story)
3. Staple the pages together to make an easy book for your child to read!
(From: The Storytime Craft Book by Kathy Ross; Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press, 1997).

Make Your Own Mailbox (Print Awareness and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Tissue boxes
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Markers
• Paint
• Crayons

To Make:
Have kids decorate their own mailbox to use at home to write notes to family members
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Story Puppets (Narrative Skills and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Construction paper
• Craft sticks
• Glue
• Scissors
• Markers/Crayons

To Make:
1. Cut out shapes of familiar story figures (i.e., 3 bears, 3 pigs, brown bear, etc.) or make your own with construction paper and markers
2. Color figures and then glue each figure onto it’s own craft stick
3. Use as puppets to retell a favorite story or make up a new story!
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Measuring Footprints (Vocabulary and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Construction Paper
• Pens/Markers/Crayons
• Scissors

To Make:
1. Have children trace and cut out one footprint for each foot
2. Use the feet to measure different objects around the house to see how many “feet” they are
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Pizza Box or Shoe Box Flannel board (Narrative Skills and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Clean, empty pizza boxes (possible donation) or empty shoe boxes
• Pieces of felt cut to the shape of the top of the box you are using
• Glue

Directions:
1. Glue the piece of felt onto the top of the shoe box lid or to the top of the pizza box lid
2. You can also glue the felt to the INSIDE of the pizza box lid so that the felt won’t be on the outside of the box where it is more likely to get ruined
3. Make characters from a story out of felt or copy pictures, laminate them and glue felt on the back
4. store the pieces inside of the shoe box/pizza box and you have a flannel board that’s ready to travel!

Making an Animal Matching Book (Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Multicolored cardstock cut into strips (4” x 8”)
• Multicolored cardstock (8” x 8”)
• Pictures of animals (4 animals per book, 2 pictures of each animal)
• Glue
• Scissors
• Crayons and markers
• Velcro buttons
• Stapler

Directions:
1. Choose one piece of 8” x 8” cardstock and 4 pieces of 4” x 8” cardstock
2. Fold the piece of 8” x 8” paper in half and staple it along the short left-hand side to the other 4 pages to make a book.
3. Next, staple along the opposite short side of the 8” x 8” paper to make a pouch. This pouch is the front cover of the booklet.
4. Color and cut out one set of animals, then glue one animal onto each page of the book.
5. Color the other animals, then cut them out and glue them onto a separate sheet of cardstock.
6. Cut out each of these animals so that each one makes a small matching card.
7. Attach one half of a Velcro button to the back of each matching card
8. Attach the other half of the Velcro button onto the page of the book with the corresponding animal.
9. Now you can match each animal card to the animal glued on to each page of the book and use the pouch in the front cover to store the matching cards.

Making a Finger Book (Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Cardstock in 8” x 8” squares
• Pictures of animals from clip art or other sources (books, google, etc. — they should be no smaller than 5” x 5” so that you can make holes big enough for the child’s fingers)
• Glue
• Scissors
• Yarn or string
• Hole puncher

Directions:
1. Glue the picture of the animal onto the piece of cardstock
2. Use scissors (or an exact-o knife) to cut a hole so that the child can stick their fingers through the book to complete the animal picture (i.e., their finger becomes a dog’s tail, a penguin’s legs, a monkey’s arms, or whatever else you can come up with)
3. Make as many pages as you like and attach pages by punching holes in the sides of the cardstock and using yarn, string or rubber bands

Lift the Flap Book (Print Motivation and Vocabulary)

Materials:
• Cardstock cut into 8” X 8” squares
• Clipart or pictures cut from magazine that will fit on the square
• Material cut into approx. 7” x 7” square
• Glue
• Rubber bands or yarn
• Hole puncher

Directions:
1. Choose a picture and glue it onto the cardstock square (color the picture if you want)
2. Then glue the top edge of the material onto the top of the cardstock so that the material completely covers the picture
3. Make as many pages as you want and then attach them by punching holes in the top and attaching with yarn or rubber bands.
4. Lift the material to reveal the picture underneath for a fun reading experience
5. You can also cut a small hole out of the material to reveal a little of the picture underneath to create a guessing game, or make the fabric smaller than the picture to reveal the edges of the picture

Activities for Print Awareness

Make Your Own Mailbox (Print Awareness and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Tissue boxes
• Construction paper
• Glue
• Markers
• Paint
• Crayons

To Make:
Have kids decorate their own mailbox to use at home to write notes to family members
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Making Menus (Print Awareness)

Materials:
• 8 ½ x 11 sheets of cardstock
• Pictures of various foods (save flyers from newspapers or catalogs)
• Glue
• Scissors
• Crayons and markers
• Fake food for playing restaurant after the menus are made

Directions:
1. Cut out different foods that your child likes and glue them onto the cardstock. (You can fold the poster board in half to make it like a book, or leave it as is-your preference).
2. Label each food item on the menu with the crayons and markers-this helps your child associate meaning with symbol.
3. Feel free to decorate your menu and use it at home for meal times or to play restaurant.

Cereal/Food Box Books (Print Awareness)

Materials:
• Food and cereal box fronts (i.e, the front of a Mac & Cheese box; fronts of small boxes of cereal work really well for this)

Directions:
1. Cut the front off of cereal, mac and cheese, frozen food, cookie or any other food boxes you use in your house.
2. Find about 5 to 8 box fronts that are approximately the same size and punch a hole in the top left-hand corner of each box front
3. Then just thread the rubber band through the holes to attach the box fronts to each other and you have a flip book ready to read!

Environmental Print Matching Cards (Print Awareness)

Materials:
• Cardstock or cardboard cut into 3” squares
• Pictures (from clip art or the internet) of various environmental print signs (i.e, street signs; stop signs; restaurant signs; exit signs; anything you see around you in everyday life)

Directions:
1. Make sure environmental print pictures are cut so that they fit onto the cardstock cards
2. Glue pictures onto the cardstock, making sure you have 2 of each picture
3. Use the cards to play a memory game or a simple matching game

Activities for Phonological Awareness

Making Shakers (Phonological Awareness)

Materials:
• Empty plastic eggs
• Dry beans
• Dry rice
• Tape
• Marker

Directions:
1. Have each child pick 3 pairs of eggs (6 total).
2. Fill 2 with beans and tape them closed; fill 2 with rice and tape them closed; and tape 2 empty eggs closed.
3. The children can then work on matching which eggs make the same sounds and which eggs have no sound.

Rhyming Cards (Phonological Awareness)

Materials:
• Cardstock
• Rhyming pictures PDF Printout (English / Spanish)
• Glue

Directions:
1. Cut the cardstock into 3” x 3” squares
2. Cut out the rhyming pictures and then glue them onto the cardstock
3. Play fun games with the rhyming cards! 

Say It Fast/Say It Slow (Phonological Awareness)

Materials:
• Say It Fast/Say It Slow PDF Printout

Directions:
1. Cut the pictures and glue them onto cardstock or tagboard
2. Then cut the pictures along the dotted lines indicated to divide the word at the syllable
3. Play the game by putting the 2 halves together and saying the word “fast”; then separate the two halves as you say the word “slowly”

Activities for Vocabulary

Changing Face Cup Puppet (Vocabulary)

Materials:
• Scissors
• 2 plastic cups
• Masking Tape
• Permanent markers

To Make:
1. Cut out a circle, about the size of a half dollar, on the side near the bottom of one cup.
2. Wrap the bottom half of the second cup with the masking tape.
3. Turn the wrapped cup over and place the cup with the hole over the wrapped cup. The hole will be the head. Draw a body under the head with permanent markers.
4. Draw a happy face on the masking tape showing through the hole for the head. Turn the outer cup just enough to hide the happy face and draw a sad face on the tape. Turn the cup again to draw a mad face and once more for a sleepy face. You will have room to draw just 4 faces. Do not turn the cup too far past each face or you will run out of space for the fourth face.
5. You can sing “If You’re Happy and You Know it” and turn the cup for each verse.
(From: The Storytime Craft Book by Kathy Ross; Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press, 1997).

Measuring Footprints (Vocabulary and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Construction Paper
• Pens/Markers/Crayons
• Scissors

To Make:
1. Have children trace and cut out one footprint for each foot
2. Use the feet to measure different objects around the house to see how many “feet” they are
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Nature Baggie Books (Vocabulary)

Materials:
• Twigs, leaves, grass, flowers, dirt, other items from nature
• Sandwich Baggies
• Duct tape or masking tape
• Construction paper
• Pen/crayons/markers

To Make:
1. Attach nature items to pre-cut construction paper that will fit into the sandwich baggie
2. Label each item, then put the paper with the item attached into the baggie
3. Close each bag (items can be on both sides of the paper — one baggie can make 2 pages)
4. Attach bags together with duct or masking tape along one side to make a book
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Weather Mini-Book (Vocabulary and Narrative Skills)

Materials:
• Pictures of different kinds of weather
• Mini books
• Glue
• Crayons/markers

To Make:
1. Glue pictures into book and label each picture
2. Talk about the different kinds of weather that can happen

To Make the Mini-Book:
1. Take an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper or cardstock and fold it in half the long way (“Like a hotdog”)
2. Next, open the paper back up and now fold it in half the short way (“Like a hamburger”)
3. Open the paper back up — it should be divided into 4 sections
4. Now open he paper back up and lay it on the table as though you’re going to write on it
5. Now fold the bottom of the paper up to the center fold
6. Then fold the top of the paper down to the center fold
7. Open the paper up again — the folds should divide the paper evenly into 1/8 sections
8. Now fold the paper in half the short way (“Like a hamburger”)
9. Using scissors, starting at the folded edge of the paper, make a cut, along the center vertical fold just to the horizontal fold (only cut halfway to the other edge of the paper)
10. Now open the paper back up and fold it the long way (“Like a hotdog”) again
11. Now push the edges of the paper together so the cut you made forms into a diamond shape
12. Keep pushing the edges of the paper together so that the opposite ends of the diamond shape touch
13. Then fold the paper around so it is the size of 1/8th of the paper, and you have a 6 page mini book!
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Emotion Cards (Vocabulary)

Materials:
• Cardstock cut into 4” x 4” squares
• Pictures of people expressing different emotions or drawn pictures of various emotions
• Glue

To Make:
1. Glue emotion pictures to cards and then label each emotion on that card
2. Feel free to make a matching card for each emotion so that you can play matching games with the cards
3. Have child turn over one card at a time, or attach them together as a book and discuss each emotion — remember when they last felt angry? Sad? Happy? Excited? Nervous?
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

My Word Book (Vocabulary)

Materials:
• 8 ½ x 11 sheets of cardstock folded into mini-books
• Clip art or magazines with pictures of all sorts of things cutout
• Glue
• Scissors
• Markers or Crayons

Directions:
1. Let your child chooses 6 pictures that they really like and glue one to each page in the mini-book.
2. Label each picture and then talk to your child about the pictures, adding description and new vocabulary whenever you can.

Make Your Own Rebus Story (Vocabulary and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Cardstock cut in half
• Crayons
• Markers
• Stapler

To Make:
1. Choose a familiar story, or make up your own
2. Write it out, using pictures for some of the words (for example, if you choose “The Three Bears,” use pictures of bears, chairs, bowls and beds to fill in those words in the story)
3. Staple the pages together to make an easy book for your child to read!
(From: The Storytime Craft Book by Kathy Ross; Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press, 1997).

Activities for Narrative Skills

My Story (Narrative Skills)

Materials:
• One sheet of half-lined 8 ½ x 11 paper (can be found here)
• Colored sheets of construction paper
• Pens
• Markers
• Glue

Directions:
1. Have your child draw a picture on the blank part of the paper,
2. Next, have them tell you a story about their picture.
3. Write down EXACTLY what your child says and then mount it on colored construction paper for a beautiful frame!
4. You can also have them tell you the story first, then draw the picture.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Finger Puppet (Narrative Skills)

Materials:
• Unwanted CD
• Scissors
• Red permanent marker
• White glue
• 2 Large Googly Eyes
• Masking Tape

To Make:
1. Draw the shape of a star on the back of the CDand then cut it out (use adult scissors for this).
2. Draw a smile with the red marker on the shiny side of the disk just below the hole.
3. Put a strip of masking above the hole. Put a small piece of tape on the back of each googly eye — this helps create a better gluing surface between the disk and the eyes. Glue the eyes onto the star on top of the masking tape.
4. Put your finger through the hole from the back of the disk, so that your finger forms the nose for the star.
5. Song “Twinkle, Twinkle” and other star songs!
(From: The Storytime Craft Book by Kathy Ross; Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press, 1997).

Story Puppets (Narrative Skills and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Construction paper
• Craft sticks
• Glue
• Scissors
• Markers/Crayons

To Make:
1. Cut out shapes of familiar story figures (i.e., 3 bears, 3 pigs, brown bear, etc.) or make your own with construction paper and markers
2. Color figures and then glue each figure onto it’s own craft stick
3. Use as puppets to retell a favorite story or make up a new story!
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Life Cycle Cards (Narrative Skills)

Materials:
• Pictures of stages of a life cycle for an animal or plant (i.e., seed, stem, bud, flower,etc.)
• Index cards
• Stapler/hole punch and rubber band

To Make:
1. Glue life cycle pictures onto index cards
2. Attach index cards to make a book, keeping life cycle cards in order
3. Talk about each stage of the life cycle with your child as you read the book together
4. You’ll be surprised how fast they can “read’ the book themselves!
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Weather Mini-Book (Vocabulary and Narrative Skills)

Materials:
• Pictures of different kinds of weather
• Mini books
• Glue
• Crayons/markers

To Make:
1. Glue pictures into book and label each picture
2. Talk about the different kinds of weather that can happen

To Make the Mini-Book:
1. Take an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper or cardstock and fold it in half the long way (“Like a hotdog”)
2. Next, open the paper back up and now fold it in half the short way (“Like a hamburger”)
3. Open the paper back up — it should be divided into 4 sections
4. Now open he paper back up and lay it on the table as though you’re going to write on it
5. Now fold the bottom of the paper up to the center fold
6. Then fold the top of the paper down to the center fold
7. Open the paper up again — the folds should divide the paper evenly into 1/8 sections
8. Now fold the paper in half the short way (“Like a hamburger”)
9. Using scissors, starting at the folded edge of the paper, make a cut, along the center vertical fold just to the horizontal fold (only cut halfway to the other edge of the paper)
10. Now open the paper back up and fold it the long way (“Like a hotdog”) again
11. Now push the edges of the paper together so the cut you made forms into a diamond shape
12. Keep pushing the edges of the paper together so that the opposite ends of the diamond shape touch
13. Then fold the paper around so it is the size of 1/8th of the paper, and you have a 6 page mini book!
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

My Story (Narrative Skills)

Materials:
• One sheet of half-lined 8 ½ x 11 paper (can be found here)
• Colored sheets of construction paper
• Pens
• Markers
• Glue

Directions:
1. Have your child draw a picture on the blank part of the paper,
2. Next, have them tell you a story about their picture.
3. Write down EXACTLY what your child says and then mount it on colored construction paper for a beautiful frame!
4. You can also have them tell you the story first, then draw the picture.

Pizza Box or Shoe Box Flannel board (Narrative Skills and Print Motivation)

Materials:
• Clean, empty pizza boxes (possible donation) or empty shoe boxes
• Pieces of felt cut to the shape of the top of the box you are using
• Glue

Directions:
1. Glue the piece of felt onto the top of the shoe box lid or to the top of the pizza box lid
2. You can also glue the felt to the INSIDE of the pizza box lid so that the felt won’t be on the outside of the box where it is more likely to get ruined
3. Make characters from a story out of felt or copy pictures, laminate them and glue felt on the back
4. Store the pieces inside of the shoe box/pizza box and you have a flannel board that’s ready to travel!

Activities for Letter Knowledge

Patterning Activity (Letter Knowledge)

Materials:

• Long strips of white paper
• Colored shapes cut out of construction paper (can be holiday-related shapes, like pumpkins, hearts, trees, etc)
• Glue

To Make:
1. Have the parent begin a pattern on the strip of paper with the colored shapes
2. Let the child finish it by either gluing the rest of the pattern on the card, or by taking the shapes home to play with again.
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Letter Trees (Letter Knowledge)

Materials:
• Construction paper
• Magazines/newspapers/pre-printed letters of the alphabet
• Glue
• Scissors
• Crayons/markers

To Make:
1. Draw a tree with branches on the construction paper
2. Have kids find the letters of their name of just the first letter of their name in magazines, etc.
3. Cut out the letters and glue them onto their tree
4. Look at and talk about the way the same letter looks different — capitals and lowercase, different typeface and font, etc.
(From: The Big Book of Pre-K Learning Center by Ohanesian, Diane C.)

Making a Name Necklace for Your Child (Letter Knowledge)

Materials:
• Colored foam letters
• Hole punch
• Yarn

Directions:
Punch holes in the letters of your child's name and string the yarn through so that your child's name can be read when they wear the necklace!

Name Books (Letter Knowledge)

Materials:
• 8 ½ x 11 sheets of cardstock cut into quarters
• Pictures of objects that begin with all letters of the alphabet
• Glue sticks
• Crayons or markers

Directions:
1. Select sheets of cardstock so that you have one per letter in your name plus a cover sheet (i.e, for “Trish,” I would need 6 sheets)
2. Staple the sheets together to make a book
3. Select one picture for each letter in your name (i.e, for “Trish”. I might pick out a table; a radio; and igloo; a seal and a hat)
4. Glue one picture per page and write the name of each picture under it, emphasizing the first letter of each picture.

Alternate directions for younger children:
Simply find pictures that all begin with the first letter of the child’s name (i.e., for “Trish,” I would choose, a train; a table; a telephone; and other things that begin with “T”)

My Letter Book (Letter Knowledge)

Materials:
• 8 ½” x 11” cardstock cut into halves
• Stapler
• Pictures of various objects that begin with different letters (from clipart, magazines, etc.)
• Glue Stick
• Markers, crayons

Directions:
1. Write your child’s name on the front of the book.
2. Find or draw pictures that begin with the first letter of your
child’s name.
3. Paste the pictures into their “Letter Book”.
4. Write the name of each object under each picture.
5. Read the book together, emphasizing the first letter sounds
of each word.

Adaptation for older children:
Create a page for each of the other letters in their name, or create an entire alphabet book, one letter per page.

Adaptation for younger children:
Make a book of shapes and colors-recognizing differences in shapes and colors helps prepare their vision for letter recognition.