Hanging on Your Every Word

All Three of Them…

T’s verbal skills are taking their time to manifest themselves. I know the age range of “normal” development is a wide one, and I know that he demonstrates his cleverness in a variety of other ways, and I know that each child develops in his or her own unique way. However, I am a read-aholic, book-collecting, literature-degree-holding, language-arts-teaching mother of an outrageously verbal first child. Can you understand my preoccupation with words? Usually after much cajoling but occasionally in a direct address, T will refer to my husband as “Da-da.” (Why do dads always get to be first?) T’s second word is really just a vowel sound with meaning, but leave him in his shoes or jacket much more than 30 seconds through the door and you’ll hear “aahh!, aahh?” (His version of off.) And finally the most recent development was last weekend, when he began parroting the phrase “Hop, hop, hop!” while reading a book at Grandma’s. While it warms my heart that any book would be the impetus to express some more language, I can’t help wishing we had a little bit more 2-way communication going on.


Inviting a Response

Perhaps T’s lack of appreciation for most books, coupled with my eagerness for some verbal interaction, makes me enjoy barking my way through Doggies, by Sandra Boynton, over and over again. It’s a counting book, but it’s so much more. The bulk of the text is variations on a bark: woof, arf, ruff, grr, yip, etc. What a unique way to conceptualize numbers! Children are exposed to both a visual and auditory representation of each number. The five dogs shown on the page correspond to my “bow wow wow wow wow!” A Boynton book is not complete without humor, and I’m sure you can guess how a cat fits in a book of 10 dogs. Doggies has been in our library since B’s babyhood, and Mommy’s silly barking was a big hit with him back then as well. Like T, he enjoyed participating in the story by mimicking some of the sounds I made. Back then, I was already aware of the literacy foundation being laid by his involvement in reading and his association of pleasure with books. What I have only come to realize with T’s experience is that this unassuming counting book can also play a role in social development skills of conversation and turn-taking. I’ll never get tired of barking, as long as one of my little guys is barking back.
Appropriate for babies, toddlers, anyone who loves to bark!
Do your children have a book that seems simple on the surface but has come to mean something more? Hope you’ll share about it by linking up and/or leaving a comment!

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(Purple Socks!)

Why We Love Boynton

If you’re a Little Sprout facebook fan you may have noticed that earlier this week I got excited that T wanted to be a part of B’s bedtime story. (If you’re not a facebook fan yet, go click that “like” button in the right sidebar!) This excites me for two reasons: First, as much as T likes to look at pictures, carry books around, and pet the touchy-feely ones, he hasn’t shown a whole lot of interest in stories up till now. Second, if they’ll both snuggle in and listen to a story, bedtime will be soooo much more pleasant and easier to handle. So yesterday, T brought me a book and willingly sat in my lap and listened to THE WHOLE THING! Which book did he find so intriguing, you ask? One of Mommy’s favorites too: Moo, Baa, La La La, by Sandra Boynton.

Irresistible! (And Good For You, Too!)


We have a wide selection of Boynton board books, because they are super fun to read AND have super developmental and literacy-building qualities. All (or at least all I’ve encountered) are rhyming and rhythmic, which help pre-readers memorize, predict, and become involved in the story. Just a few of our favorites (in no particular order):


Moo, Baa, La La La: T’s recent pick. As you can guess, the focus in this one is animal sounds, but some humor is infused by the 3 singing pigs. This contradiction adds both comedy and a cognitive challenge as babies and toddlers begin to process categorization and generalization.


Barnyard Dance: This one was actually B’s early favorite. Could have had to do with the fact that I usually read it with him on my lap and bounced along with the cadence of text and performed along with the motions of the dance with his little arms and legs. It is a great vocabulary development opportunity as well as a chance to work on fine motor skills. You can also read my full review and game suggestion.


But Not the Hippopotamus: This one is a series of couplets, each of which is punctuated by the line: “But not the hippopotamus.” Plenty of laughs in the actions and illustrations, and pre-readers will be chiming right in. Extra twist at the end for a giggle!


The Going to Bed Book: One of the best-loved books in our house. Was a nightly part of bedtime for B for a long time. Daddy actually memorized it after reading it so many times, so he was able to “read” it to B over the phone while away for work. Nice for rehearsal of bedtime routines, like bathing, tooth-brushing, and pajamas. After some mid-book silliness, the conclusion is peaceful and relaxing – just what a bedtime book should be.


Snoozers: Speaking of bedtime books – this one is a tabbed collection of bedtime selections. We often read the whole thing (it is after all, just a board book) but sometimes add just one of the little poems or mini-stories after finishing another book when B is asking for, “just ONE more???”


Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs: A fun romp with rhymes, opposites, and vocabulary, with great illustrations to go with the language!






Hippos Go Berserk: A count-up and count-down story for numbers and number-correspondence practice. Who could help but love a berserk hippo party in the middle?






Doggies: Also an early favorite of B’s. It’s a simple counting book, but as the dogs increase, so does the silliness of making all the different barking noises!

 
What’s Wrong Little Pookie: Little Pookie is a recurring character for Boynton, but this one is a favorite of mine because it is great for bringing out the giggles when we’re experiencing an unexplained funk. Pookie’s mommy tries a long list of suggestions to figure out his bad mood before he reveals he forgot what he was upset about to begin with – sound familiar?


Blue Hat, Green Hat: Anybody notice my post title is my favorite line from this book? B found it hilarious in toddlerhood. The animal characters put on items of clothing in various colors, but each time, the turkey puts his item on incorrectly, resulting in an “Oops!” I would read the text for the appropriately dressed animals, and B would respond with the “oops!” (which was sometimes difficult between belly laughs). At the end of the book, the turkey finally gets his clothes on correctly, and the purple socks appear, (which are not mentioned elsewhere) but he stands poised to dive into a pool fully clothed! Oops! More belly laughs. What is great about this one is that the pictures match the simple text exactly, so B has “read” it to me many times, and has tried to read it to T (despite T’s inattention). Now that T is showing a little more interest, I’ll have to encourage B again!

Are you a Boynton lover too? Do you have a favorite? Or is there another author that you just can’t get enough of? I’d love to hear about it!


Link up any book recommendations of your own and stop by and visit a few others!

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Barnyard Dance and Backyard Crabwalk

Grab Your Partner…

“Stomp your feet! Clap your hands! Everybody ready for a barnyard dance?” The bouncy rhythm of Sandra Boynton’s Barnyard Dance is nearly impossible to read without dancing right along with it! T discovered clapping this weekend, which is an amusement in itself, but it prompted me to fish out Barnyard Dance from our board book bin in the living room. B loved listening to this one as an infant too, I think especially because I couldn’t help bouncing him in my lap and acting out some of the movements with his little hands. The book is not so much a story as a narration of a silly square dance caller in a barnyard full of animals where pigs twirl, ducks strut, and everybody promenades!

Physical Fun

All the action in Barnyard Dance lends itself to great physical development for your little one! Infants will love the rhythm, and by six months or so will likely bounce along on their own. “Helping” them with the movements as I did with T’s hands (and B’s before him) may help children learn about their muscle movements and the control of their limbs. Toddlers and preschoolers can practice both large muscle coordination and language processing if you read the book as directions for them to follow and complete the dance for you. B loved this activity, which prompted me to come up with a new game (see below).

If you don’t already have a shelf of Boynton books like I do, you might check out this pack from Amazon. It’s a good deal for a lot of fun!

Appropriate for babies, toddlers, preschoolers.

Roll the Dice…

 B had so much fun acting out the dance movements as I read to T that I decided to turn it into a game we could play beyond the book. Together, we came up with 6 movements he could do and 6 locations in our backyard. Our choices for actions were crabwalk, run, spin, flap, hop, and waddle. Our locations choices were sandbox, swing, gate, garden, playhouse, and basketball net. (You could just as easily make these locations in your house for a rainy day, or the classroom, or a park, etc.) I used a Dice Template from Sparkle Plus resources and cardstock, but he enjoyed this so much I may make a more durable version using foam cubes from the craft store or some other cube shaped object destined for the recycle bin. I made one cube for action and one cube for location. Complete directions for the dice are below. Once I completed the dice, we took them outside to play. We had a blast being silly, and we both got our hearts pumping! I can also see this game keeping B busy while I fix dinner or get a little clean-up done around the house by modifying the location cube for indoors (Most of our chores would allow for occasional breaks to roll the dice, right?)

How to Create the Game:
Materials Needed: Sparkle Plus dice template, cardstock or heavy paper, scissors, pen/marker, glue or tape.

1. Print the template on plain paper for tracing (what I did) or directly onto your cardstock.
2. Trace the template onto at least two pieces of cardstock (expansions are endless!)
3. Cut out each traced template.
4. On the first template, write and/or draw an action on each surface. I chose to write the actions accompanied by simple drawings to help my pre-reader.
5. On the second template, write and/or draw a location on each surface. Note: be careful to keep your pictures and labels from flowing onto the flaps which will be folded in during assembly.
6. Fold in flaps and edges of each of the cube surfaces (a straight edge is helpful if your paper is really stiff).
7. Glue or tape flaps to secure.
8. Go Play!

Options and Benefits:

If you wanted to avoid the crafty part of this game, or if you were working on number recognition, you could play the game with a pair of standard dice and a numbered list of actions and locations. Then your child would count the dots on the die and match them to the corresponding numeral before completing the action. This game can contribute to physical development much like Barnyard Dance noted above. Children practice large muscle movements for the various actions as well as language processing. Depending on how you prepare your materials, they can also practice word/picture correspondence or numerals.

The Game in Action:

Give it a try and let me know how it goes! If you think of some other fun actions to add to your dice, please share! I can see this game growing and growing!

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