How can picture books help children’s development?
The joy children can get from picture books has no limits. Children are attracted by the fun and colourful illustrations on each page that help to enhance the words of the story, allowing children to create further imagery in their minds, letting their imaginations explode. Children are amused by the funny anecdotes in stories and the repetition and rhymes, which they soon learn and repeat along with the story. Picture books go further than just a source of enjoyment for children, they can be a tool within their and as a muse within creative development, inspiring a range of activities for children meeting all different areas of their development.
The books children read and experience do not need to be current and modern, they can be old classic picture books that have gone through generations of family members and are still a big hit with children today. This doesn’t mean to say however that the classics are best, give new books and authors a chance, one day they might be the classics!
Three children’s picture books that could be considered classics are ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’. Each one of these classic books will be explored and examined for the fun activities they could inspire practitioners to carry out.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
This book is a well-known family favourite for those of all ages. Published in 1989, this could have been a favourite of parents when they were children, and who have passed it down to their children today. The adventurous wording in the story and the use of repetition on each page offers the opportunity for children to join in with the book as it is being read aloud. Practitioners should encourage this joining in and create an activity from the story telling where children can make actions along to the story. For example, children acting out scenes of dragging their legs and wellies from the ‘squelchy’ mud, imagining the strength it would take and the noises they would make.
Another activity practitioners could create from the famous story ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ is a teddy bear tea party or a teddy bear picnic. The story ends with the children hiding inside the house, after running from the bear, and the bear outside. This could be perceived as scary by some children, but try to turn the story around, practitioners can ask children what could happen if the children let the bear in, if perhaps he was a misunderstood bear and was friendly, and just wanted to be friends with the children. Encourage the children to think of scenarios that could happen if the bear was let into the house, or if the children went to play with the bear, perhaps they would have a tea party or a picnic.
This activity could then be extended by having the actual tea party or picnic itself! Encourage the children to bring their own teddy bears as friends for the bear, and discuss possible food options the bear might like. Bear themed games such as ‘pass the teddy bear’ and reading the story aloud at the picnic or tea party is a great way to remind children of the book and emphasise the story further.
Practitioners could also create a bear/animal hunt for the children using ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ as inspiration. Played like a scavenger hunt, children must find images of bears that have been hidden around a classroom, or even outdoors where bears live! Add in other animals for the children to find for bonus points. This game can be played individually or within teams which will help to promote and encourage social development and team work for younger children. Click here to buy the story Going on a Bear Hunt
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Another classic picture book for children involving another exciting and mysterious animal to children is ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’. The story involves a tiger coming into a house and eating all of the food. It is a fun and simple storyline that is guaranteed to have children in giggles and hoping for a tiger to come to tea!
An activity practitioners could carry out using ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ is a discussion about the type of food a tiger would eat. At the end of the book, the little girl buys some tiger food for the tiger from the supermarket. Practitioners can have a discussion with the children after reading the book, about what food they would buy for the tiger, whether it be pizza or ice cream! This activity can be extended into a group activity where the children sing a rhyme together about food they are adding in to the tiger’s tea and motioning stirring the food.
‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ can inspire various creative activities for children to complete such as drawing their own version of what the tiger looks like, creating tiger print using various resources and media’s or finally drawing a picture of who they would like to invite for tea! Whether it be pink and green tiger, or not even a tiger at all, whichever animal they choose. Click here to buy the story The Tiger Who Came to Tea
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
This is the story of a hungry little caterpillar who munches his way through a variety of foods until finally he turns into a butterfly! The story has lots of learning opportunities for children, including learning the days of the week, learning about life cycles and even opportunities for practising counting!
Using the life cycle aspect of the book, practitioners can create activities where children have fun acting out the life cycle of a caterpillar. The children can wiggle around on the floor like a caterpillar, thinking about the different movements caterpillars do and trying to mimic these, curling up into a cocoon and finally flying away as a beautiful butterfly, spreading their arms and soaring around the classroom. Practitioners can add music to this activity, turning it into an almost dance, even more fun for the children!
There are plenty of art activities for creative little minds that practitioners could carry out. From simple colouring in activities to large mosaics or models of the caterpillar himself or as a butterfly!. Click here to buy the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar