Most young children love books and often have their favourites. My five-year-old likes not only to read his favourite books but also to act them out, to role play with them. He will get out toys and retell the stories. This feels like important play and important for his development.
To make it easier, and to encourage this interest, I often present toys or materials alongside books. The additional materials can also have an educational benefit; they act as an extension. They allow the child to act out the story, to retell the story possibly in another way and they can allow the child to further explore the topics involved. With non-fiction books this can work really well. With a book about shells you can present some shells for the child to explore, a book about light can be presented with a torch or light crystal. There are no limits. The items I present with books varies a lot but here are a few things we enjoy using:
Natural Items – feathers, leaves, sticks, shells, rocks
Model Animals – (TOOB, Schleich, Collecta), Life Cycle Sets
Colour Samples
Toy Trucks and other vehicles (planes, garbage trucks)
TOOB Sets – (the flower set is one of our favourites)
Living Things (I would love to have the Fish book near our fish tank or one of our Leaf books by our indoor plants)
Science Materials – a torch, light crystal, magnets.
Pictured books include: Feathers: Not Just for Flying, Light (My First Discoveries), Digger, Green, Various Montessori External Parts Books, Little Honeybee (with TOOB Flowers).
I’d love to hear if you have tried presenting books with materials or toys and if your children enjoy it!
grapefruit / 4361 posts
At the preschool I used to work at, we had themed weeks, which influenced our book-of-the-day, as well as craft-of-the-day.
olive / 58 posts
@DesertDreams88: Themes are good ideas!