These eight art picture books with craft ideas for kids are sure to keep your toddlers and preschoolers busy having fun (and learning, of course)! Each book includes an artistic element of its own - colors, drawing, painting, etc.
Book Inspired Kids Crafts Roundup - I Heart Crafty Things A big hello today to all of you lovely Glued to My Crafts fans! My name is Rachel and I blog
Ever wondered how to make a book? This little tutorial will show you how to make one with just 1 single piece of paper! This is perfect for kids!
These 15 picture book activities go great with your preschooler's favorite stories. Great hands-on activities that help to further explore the books!
Last summer I added Mo Willems' The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to my classroom library. Of course, this addition was a no-brainer. Willems' books are always super popular, especially Pigeon books. Just as predicted, my students loved this book. It is the perfect length for the beginning of the year, when attention spans are extra short and students need a little break from all the procedural training they are receiving. Since I knew this book would be a hit, I decided to make it the centerpiece of back to school. I created some basic "Pigeon themed" math and literacy activities, as well as a simple craft. I used these activities intermittently during the first week and was able to glean some great info about my new students' basic math and literacy skills, as well as their fine motor skills and listening skills. One of the Pigeon themed activities was a number/number word/counting mini book. Students traced and wrote the numbers 1-10, as well as the number words 1-10. Then students illustrated a picture to go with each number. We broke this activity up over a couple of days. Students took part in a listening activity. Students had to complete a picture according to a series of questions/statements that I read aloud. (If you've every made a glyph with your students, this activity feels really similar.) Students also put together their first puzzler for the year. This puzzler focused on number representations. Students cut and glued the puzzler pieces to tell what number is represented in the box. By the end, students have a completed picture that they can color. I use various puzzlers throughout the year. This the Pigeon puzzler is a great introduction to how to complete a puzzler. Students loved making their simple, one-page craft Pigeons. All that was required was the Pigeon pattern (I used white card stock), scissors, and glue. The class Pigeons made a really quick and cute back to school bulletin board. In addition to these activities, students worked on counting/cardinality, geometry, place value, number bonds, handwriting, the alphabet, rhyming words, sight words, and more. The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! is a perfect springboard for a variety of skills. For a math freebie (from the printables featured above), click on the picture below. This freebie provides practice with ten frames, counting, and number identification. If you have not added, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to your classroom library, I highly recommend it. There are so many directions you can go with this book. More importantly, your students will love it and be totally engaged. What a great way to start the year, by reading a book that students truly enjoy. :) For more details about the all of the Pigeon inspired activities I used with my students, be sure to click on the picture below. Of course (like most), I'm not certain what this year's back to school days will look like. Whatever the setup, I know I'll be using The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to help me kick off the year. Thanks for stopping by. School Is a Happy Place is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associated Program, an affiliate program that allows this site to earn advertising fees. Please know that all of the recommendations on this site are authentic and come from personal experience.
Express your creativity and love of reading with these unique DIY crafts with old books! Included are upcycled books crafts like a literal pocketbook, book knife block, book page roses, book plant holder, repurposed books coat rack and more!
We're combining two of our favorite things: crafts and children's books! Make your favorite books come to life.
Now that it's time for the kids to go back to school, why not use these free book covers.
Crafts are a great way to visualize stories! In the classroom or homeschool, use these 25+ crafts that were inspired by children's books!
Are you wondering what to do with a stack of old, unwanted books gathering dust on your shelves? Look no further! These are our favorite DIY home decor projects using old books.
Here's a very special Mini Passport Book, which you can print out and assemble with the kids for your learning journey when you travel!
We love connecting projects to books, and we're always inspired by the amazing group of bloggers who participate in the Virtual Book Club for Kids (you can also check the club out on Facebook) as the group comes up with some great extension activities each month. This month's author was Leo Lionni. We chose to read and do a project using a book we've really been enjoying lately, A Color of His Own. This is the sweet tale of a little chameleon who is looking for one color to stay all the time, but keeps running into that challenge that chameleons change color. In the end, he winds up finding a friend to always be with so they can at least always be the same color together. I've used this book in the past as a primary teacher. It's a great way to talk about friendship and also about what makes us each unique. My boys have been loving the simple tale and the colorful illustrations this spring. For our activity extension we decided to use cray-pas and watercolors. I love how colorful this art technique can be. I sketched several chameleon outlines onto white drawing paper using permanent marker. (I'm including a printable copy here in case you just want to print one out, or use the printable to trace onto thicker paper.) Afterwards the boys and I each colored in a chameleon using the cray-pas. Big Brother and I thought about ways to create different patterns. Little Brother focused on just coloring his in, using mostly one color. After we were done coloring, we watercolored on top of the cray-pas. The watercolor doesn't stick to the cray-pas, and fills all the white spaces around it. We all had different strategies for painting. When they were done I cut the three chameleons out and we hung them in our play room. I love how they are a set but each one unique. That's part of what can also make this project a great classroom activity, especially for the start of a school year. Or turn it into a fun family project, with each family member creating a chameleon to represent themselves. What Leo Lionni books does your family enjoy? Have you read this one yet? This post may also have been shared at some of these terrific link parties.
Oh, the first day of school! It's such a fun, but chaotic day. Most of my first days are a little bit of a blur. This is why I have to write very detailed lesson plans or I'll forget everything from that day. I always try to have the same activities for that first day
Is your child ready for Kindergarten? This post will help you decide plus free worksheets focused on kindergarten readiness skills like...
Join me for today's Folio Flip Album Tutorial where I share how I created this cute Folio with Recollections card stock and Colorbox paper.
We LOVE activities to go with books! This Free Printable Mouse and Cookie Hat is a fun activity for your kids to recall and retell the story.
These small, square books “explode” into a series of square and triangular pages when you open them. But… this lesson began as a mystery project! Before they even knew we were making books,…
A blog about how a failed painting made me rethink the theories of composition in my painting of Donegal, Ireland.
Jill of Homemade by Jill is sharing her templates for an appliqued “quiet book.” Run over to her blog and get them. This original post needed some expansion so we have added some…
Wild Thing Book Activities! This unit is fantastic for Maurice Sendak's book Where the Wild Things Are. Writing worksheet and craft included. Perfect for kindergarten or first grade!
Book week or halloween, here are 27+ awesome teacher group costume ideas that any teaching team would love to dress up as. The children will love it too.
Get creative with your crochet skills with these 36 free bookmark patterns. Perfect for book lovers and crafters alike!
Upgrade your wall and make your own book art with these bestseller acrylic paint markers that Amazon reviewers swear by! I had been wanting to do a painted…
Easy to follow step by step amigurumi frog bookmark crochet pattern. Make reading an unforgettable experience with this frog bookmark by Supergurumi. #amigurumi #crochet
This comic strip template is a free printable that is perfect for kids. Kids of all ages, particularly preschoolers, elementary aged kids, even middle
Fun and easy "About Me" booklet to make from one sheet of paper and no glue!
Class books are a wonderful writing activity for preschool and kindergarten students! This post has tons of great class book ideas to use with your students. These class-created books cover the beginning of the year, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Valentine's Day, Easter, and more! Students will love writing and illustrating their own books to be enjoyed by the class!
We are currently doing a short study of the human body. We recently finished up our unit on the Brain and Nerves, and here are some of the activities we did and resources we used.
A collection of letter of the week crafts to do with your preschooler. The craft includes free printables and step by step instructions for A-Z.
Creative furniture projects from The Crazy Craft Lady - how to paint furniture, furniture flips, and easy furniture build projects.
Blank books provide a great way to encourage kids to write. Here are 3 easy ways to assemble blank books for your writing center, literacy center, and beyond.
crochet Polar Quiet Book easy pattern - Easy Crochet Amigurum Pattern for Beginners. Click to Get the Pattern #Amigurum #crochetpattern #crochet
If you have little ones or are a teacher of little ones, I’m guessing you probably have at least one (if not many) Eric Carle books in your collection. We certainly do– like, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider,and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see”. These are some of the boys’ very favorite […]
Students will enjoy making a Halloween book as they learn new vocabulary.
Use these free printable Parts of a Book Poster & Worksheet to teach your pre-readers about book awareness and concepts of print.
These hands-on farm activities for preschoolers will be loved by toddlers kindergarteners too. Includes math and literacy activities.
Amazing things can happen with just one dot.
You really can't have enough activity books. We're adding this printable colourful quiet book to the collection of our activity books and you are going to love it. From teardrop bugs matching to sorting colorful
Fun STEM activity for outdoor play and makes a great science lesson! (Includes a printable rocket template).
Whether as a non-candy Halloween treat, an animal habitat lesson in the classroom, or just for fun, kids will love this Animal Habitat Diorama Craft!
When we started working our way through all of the letters of the alphabet, we decided that we wanted to create something that we could hold onto and look