Creative Family Fun

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Reading Activities for Kids

The Three Snow Bears: A Compare and Contrast Game

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One of the most read books in our house over the past month has been The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett.

The Three Snow Bears is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the classic fairy tale, The Three Bears, except this story takes place in the Arctic with polar bears and a young Inuit girl named Aloo-ki.

To extend the story, we decided to play an easy-prep game where we compared and contrasted The Three Snow Bears with Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Before reading the stories, I prepped the game.

I took three sheets of construction paper and labeled them at the top. One was labeled The Three Snow Bears, another was labeled The Three Bears, and the last was labeled Both Stories.

I then took 15 index cards and wrote down several elements of the story. Some were specific to one of the stories and some were elements of both stories. I’ve listed the elements below.

The Three Snow Bears

Boots
Igloo
Aloo-ki
Dog sled
Polar bears

The Three Bears

Chairs
Porridge
Goldilocks
Cottage
Brown Bears

Both Stories

Papa, Mama, & Baby
Beds
Too hot!
Just right!
Bowls

Before playing the game, read both The Three Snow Bears and a traditional version of The Three Bears (we like Goldilocks and the Three Bears by James Marshall).

Once you’ve read the story, hand your child one card at a time. Ask them to determine whether it came from one of the two stories or if it was in both stories.

Have them place the card on the correct sheet of paper. That’s really all there is to it.

This is a simple game, but it helps with reading comprehension as well as learning how to compare and contrast two different stories.

For more learning fun:

Download and print the Goldilocks and the Three Bears mini book at Scholastic.com. Let your little ones color the pictures and put together the book. (Plus, you can use it for this activity if you don’t already have a copy of the book!)

Make a mural all about The Three Snow Bears. Jan Brett’s website has all the pieces you need. Print, color, cut, and create your own mural about the story.

Tell the story with props. Learn Create Love has a free, printable storytelling set for Goldilocks & the Three Bears. Turn them into puppets and let your child tell the story.

Word Family Slam

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We’re still working on reviewing word families at home.

In order to review and have a little fun at the same time, I made this simple game for Miss 1st.

The best part about this game is that it’s so flexible. You can do this for any word family or do as we did and review several word families at once.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

To Make the Game:

Using one or more index cards, write the word families you want to review, for example “ap” or “ill.” I often use this list of word families from EnchantedLearning.com for reference.

Next, take a pile of index cards and write the beginning letters. I used single letters (almost all the consonants) and letter blends (sh, sl, th, etc.)

Again, use a word family list to help you decide on the letters to use. You will want to have some cards with letters that will not make a word. Ex: “th” plus “ap” is not a word!

To Play the Game: 

Deal each person 3  beginning letter cards.

Lay down a word family card (ex: “ap”). Lay the extra beginning letter cards face down in a pile above your word family card.

The first player looks at her beginning letter cards to see if she can make a word. If she can, lay that card in front of the word family card. If not, she needs to discard (face up) a card that does not work and draw a new card. She will continue drawing and discarding until she finds a letter that makes a word.

Each play in turn tries to make a new word from the word family card.

At the beginning of each turn, the player will draw a card from extra pile. Each player should have 3 cards at the beginning of his turn.

Continue playing until there are no more beginning letter cards.

Note: Not all beginning letter cards will work for each word family. I wanted to add an additional challenge to the game by having Miss 1st determine if her combinations were a real word or not. Your child may pass by an combination that is an actual word, but not one they are familiar with. That’s okay. Let it pass if it’s an uncommon word or use the time to teach your child a new word. No matter what, have fun. Use the game as a fun way to sneak in a little extra review time!

Let me know if you play this game and if you like it!

Sight Word Islands

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As parents, we all want to help our kids be successful in school.

My daughters’ teachers will often let us know some of the things we can work on at home to complement the things they are learning in school.

If you have a child learning to read, one big thing you can do to help is to practice sight words at home.

Sight words are integral when learning to read. These are the words that are found in just about everything you read. They are best learned by memorization, since many cannot be sounded out.

Of course, no one actually wants to sit and memorize words, especially not your average 5 or 6 year old.

So, why not turn it into a game?

Since my girls love playing driveway games, I thought I’d bring some of our sight word review outside.

We got out the sidewalk chalk and took over the driveway with a game of Sight Word Islands.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

To set up the game: 

In the center of our driveway, I drew a large star with a circle around it. This was the island we were trying to reach.

I then wrote sight words coming out from the star in all directions. Each word had a circle around it. These were our islands.

I used both words that my first grader needs to work on as well as words that she is already quite comfortable reading.

I then added three different starting points on the outer edges.

To play the game: 

Each girl stood on one of the start islands. Their goal was to jump from island to island all the way to the star.

But, in order to jump onto an island, you had to say the word out loud.

The shortest way to the star wasn’t always the easiest way!

My preschooler played along with us and took a lot of help from both Mom and big sister.

She has not reached the level of sight words yet, so we gave her a pass on actually knowing the words. Instead, she just had lots of fun jumping!

I love to turn learning into a game. Plus, anything that involves gross motor skills such as running and jumping is a hit with just about any child. Movement can go a long way in helping your child learn and remember. This post at Moving Smart explains why movement is so important. So, get moving and get learning!

What are some creative ways you’ve used for teaching sight words?

Practice sight words on the driveway by playing Sight Words Islands. It's a fun way to learn and move at the same time.
 

You May Also Like One of These Sight Word Activities:

DIY Sight Word Memory Game

Sight Word Tallies

Sight Word Pick and Spell

Frog Hop Sight Word Game at Mom Inspired Life

Sight Word Bracelets at Kitchen Floor Crafts

10 Ways To Use Your Public Library

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Happy National Library Week! This week, April 8-14 is National Library Week. According to AtYourLibrary.org, National Library Week is “a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use.”

I love our public library and we visit it at least once a week. It’s a gem in our community and I couldn’t ask for a better library.

This week I wanted to salute my public library with a list of 10 ways to use your public library. And, believe me, it was hard to stop at 10!

I’m doing something a little different this week and linking to many activities provided by AtYourLibrary.org which is the public website for the American Library Association’s public awareness campaign, the Campaign for America’s Library.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

So here are my 10 favorite ways to use your public library.

1. Story time. We hardly ever miss story time at our library. The girls get to spend time with other kids their age, they hear several books read aloud by a wonderful storyteller, and get to play games. What’s not to love? Check with your local library for story times and stop by. I guarantee your kids will love it!

2. Expand your book collection. Find that list of all the books you want to read, save yourself some money and borrow them from the library. Are your kids suddenly interested in dinosaurs? They can find all the books they want at the library. Is the book you want to read not available at your library? Most libraries are part of a local county or multi-county association and will allow you to request books from nearby libraries. It’s time to start reading!

3. Research a subject you’ve always wanted to know more about. Do you want to know more about the bird’s stopping by your bird feeder? Check with the library. You can research science, history, and more! Curious about Native Americans? Check out this fabulous list of resources!

4. Learn a new skill. Sewing, baking, crochet, photography, or even knot tying. You can find resources at your local library to teach you any of these. Learn about the art and science of cooking or learn about gardening. It’s all at your library.

5. Learn manners and respect. Your local library is the perfect place to learn about behaving in public. Learn about using a quiet voice, being polite, waiting your turn, and other manners at a welcoming and friendly space.

6. Enjoy a movie. The next time you have family movie night, go by your public library. They’ve got a huge collection of new and classic movies, tv shows, and documentaries. And the best part, they’re free to check out.

7. Experience new music. Not only does your public library have movies, they also typically have a large collection of cds. Here’s your chance to experience opera, folk music, bluegrass, or music from all corners of the world.

8. Meet an author or see an interesting speaker. My public library has had opportunities to see poets, authors (of both adult & children’s books), local art exhibits, zoo presentations, family fun nights, and many more fun opportunities. And, I don’t live in a big city! Check with your local library’s website, follow them on Facebook or Twitter, and find out all the fun opportunities in your community!

9. Find a quiet place to unwind on a rainy or snowy day. If you don’t want to be stuck in the house in bad weather, go to the library! Read a book, work a puzzle, learn some new jokes, or even play a game. Find a  fun new cookbook and take it home to experiment in the kitchen. Or, find a craft book and spend the afternoon getting crafty. A trip to the library will cure the stuck-in-the-house blues!

10. Experience a new culture. If you can’t travel someplace, do the next best thing… find books and other resources to bring that culture to your home. Find books about festivals, food, clothing, history, crafts, geography, and literature from another culture. Find music and movies from that country. Bring it all home and immerse yourself. It’s an amazing experience! Here’s a list of the top 10 Spanish books for kids and here’s a list of winter festivals around the world.

*Bonus Activity: Do you have an e-reader? Guess what? Your local library may have e-books available to borrow. Ask and find out!

More library fun

Library Books We Keep Renewing at Mama Smiles.

Weekly Visits to the Library from Rainy Day Mum.

Now it’s your turn! Tell my something cool about your local library. What do you enjoy best about it?