You can imagine my girls’ excitement when they found a box delivered outside our front door – with reading activities for their enjoyment!  This summer we participated in the Summer Book Exchange over on The Educator’s Spin on It and Toddler Approved was our exchange partner who sent us the book Owen.  We love Kevin Henkes books and this was one we had never read before, so my girls cuddled close with excitement as we read through the story.

This Caldecott Honor Book is story about a mouse who takes his blanket everywhere. No matter what his family does to make the blanket unpleasant, he refuses to give it up. But, when it’s time to start school, something has to be done…and what his mom figures out – works!  I’ll leave you hanging so you can discover the solution with your own children.

My girls enjoyed the activities we were sent surrounding this book.  First, they make a special book “treasure box” to keep a small yellow fuzzy blanket as the treasure from this story.  Having a treasure box is a great idea to make connections to stories, while building comprehension!  As the child holds the treasure, such as the blanket in this case, they retell the story and/or why the treasure is important in their own words.

Next, the girls used bubble wrap to paint!  The idea was to paint “hanky” squares and assemble into a quilt.  We ended up painting the larger cardstock first and then cutting out the paintings for assembly into a quilt.  Our neighbor was so impressed with the bubble wrap paintings that she suggested we have them framed.  What a compliment for my girls’ first time bubble wrap painting!

Finally, the girls enjoyed a play dough treasure activity.  For this activity, they made picture frames out of craft sticks and using play dough to create special things/people in their lives.   This opened discussion to the special things and people we hold close, just as Owen loved his special blanket.

My 3 year old created her uncle and Mommy…

While my 5 year old spend a lot of time creating a framed picture of her dog Bella.

We enjoyed our activities!  Thanks Toddler Approved and special thanks to The Educator’s Spin on It for coordinating the exchange!