Homemade Book About Nature

This post was contributed by Mary Catherine of Fun-A-Day!

Make a Homemade Book with Your Child!

I love homemade book making with children!  The benefits of book making are many:

• Children have ownership over the words and illustrations.  This makes them more likely to read and reread the books.

• I usually use repetitive text, which helps children as they are learning to read.  They can predict what comes next, practice their sight words, and learn about letter sounds.

• I can discuss the different parts of the homemade book as we’re making them together.

• Since I can control the size of the text, it’s easier to show the children the difference between a letter and a word.  Spaces are easier to illustrate this way, as well.

• It’s just plain fun, which gets kids more excited about reading!

 

A Homemade Book About Nature

This week, Engineer and I took a nature walk.  We brought my camera so we could take pictures along the way.  Engineer already knows the rules regarding my camera, so we were both able to take some pictures on our walk.  As we walked, we talked about what we saw outside. This led to a great discussion about plants, insects, and spring weather.  It was so fun for me to hear his thoughts on what we were seeing, as well!

When we returned home, I loaded the pictures on the computer.  Engineer and I sorted through the pictures, deleting the out of focus ones.  Then he picked his favorites, and we worked together to make a homemade book.  We decided to keep the text simple, since Engineer said he wanted some of his younger friends to be able to read it too.

 

Once the book was finished, we printed it out and stapled all of the pages together.  We’ve had fun reading it together.  He’s looking forward to reading it to some of the younger children I watch after preschool, as well!

More homemade book ideas:

• Apple Taste-Testing & Book

• “Monsters” Book-Making

• Name Books

• Book-Making with The Gingerbread Man

• “On the Farm” Book-Making

Mary Catherine is mama to a budding engineer whose favorite question is “why?”   She is a pre-k teacher with a background in teaching kindergarten and a passion for early literacy.  Mary Catherine loves lazy days with her son, messy art projects, science fiction books, and dark chocolate.  You can find her blogging at Fun-A-Day!  Come connect with Mary Catherine on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

I LOVE this homemade book activity for early readers.  It offers the opportunity for so many different types of learning; environmental science during the nature walk, photography, and literacy.  

More Kids Activities from Fun-A-Day!

Have you and your little one ever made a homemade book together?  If so, what was it about? 

 

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