As things start to warm up at the very beginning of spring, the farm is a busy place. Smaller children can work on learning animal sounds (did you know when your toddler says “moo” for cow, that counts as a word?) and older children can focus their favorite farm animal. When I was in grade school, my father helped me learn how to draw horses with a few drawing books from the library, for instance. Search your local area to see if there’s a petting zoo nearby, so your child can see farm animals up close!
Multi-age activity:
This time of year, those little plastic Easter eggs can be found everywhere, from your local grocery store to a dollar store, or even online. Toddlers can work on fine motor skills by trying to take them apart and put them back together, while talking about the various colors available. Using a permanent marker, write halves of sight words that can be matched up. For example, put an “s” or “m” on one half, and on the other half write “at” or “ill.” Then have your child match the halves to make their sight words. For even older children, you can write little clues in each egg and have a family scavenger hunt!
Song list:
Books:
Infant: Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton
Sandra Boynton has so many awesome board books, and this one has a song that goes along with it!
Toddler: Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
What happens when the cows get ahold of an old typewriter? They demand a better working environment from the farmer! Things get even sillier when the chickens and ducks get involved, too.
Beginning reader: Little Red Hen by Byron Barton
This retelling of the classic story about the Little Red Hen and her slightly lazy friends who won’t help her bake bread. While this book may seem a bit simple, these types of books with a lot of repetition can help new readers actually finish a book. If you have multiple children, this is a great book to start an older sibling reading to the new baby.
School aged: Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
Mercy Watson is a pig, but definitely doesn’t live like most pigs. Mr. and Mrs. Watson treat Mercy like their child, much to the chagrin of their neighbor Eugenia. One morning, the Watsons end up in a dangerous situation and send Mercy out to find help, but Mercy only wants to find snacks. But through a few hilarious mishaps, Mercy saves the day.
These books are a great choice for a child just starting to read chapter books, but want something sillier than some of the more adventurous stories. Also these books have full color illustrations to help keep the child’s attention.
