Book Review
by Ashley Beecher
When I think back to my childhood and the books my mom read to me, one that comes to mind is Ten Terrible Dinosaurs, by Paul Stickland. The book begins with ten young dinosaurs and follows their antics as they play, but with each activity one of the dinosaurs goes away–they get bumped or taken home by their parents for various reasons. At the end, the last dinosaur falls asleep and his friends come back and surprise him.
As a kid, the rhythmic nature of the text and the fun pictures always captured my attention, but as a mom I still find things to love about this book. There are words young children may not have encountered that you can explain (elated, for example) and it also helps children develop a skill we don’t always consciously consider: counting backwards. It’s natural to introduce counting to children in daily life, but I definitely didn’t think about teaching my kids to count down after they learned to count up. (Don’t worry, they still learned the skill as well as any other kid!)
Overall, it’s silly and fun AND it teaches your child new skills. It doesn’t get better than that.
To buy this book on Amazon, click here.
Activity
Play a silly copycat game together. Make the action cards and then pick one. One person does the action and the other mimes and guesses the action.
Supplies:
Mime My Actions Printout, Construction Paper, Scissors, Glue, Optional pencil or crayons for blank template
Directions:
- Have your child cut out the action squares on the solid lines.
- Cut the construction paper into 3 inch squares.
- Glue the action squares to the construction paper squares (that way you can’t see the picture through the white paper).
- Let your child pick a square and do the specified action. Copy the action and guess the word on the action square.
Different Variations:
- For Younger Children: Don’t worry so much about the words, just do the action together and tell your child the word if you feel like teaching them some new vocabulary.
- For Older Children: Older kids can play this together without an adult. One child can do the action and the other can repeat it and guess the word.
- For Older Children: Use the blank template to come up with your own actions. Write a verb and draw a picture depicting that action.
Author: Ashley Beecher
Ashley is a mom, writer, reader, and board game enthusiast. She loves sharing her interests with her husband and two children, as well as encouraging them to pursue their own hobbies. She hopes to teach her kids to chase their dreams and do what they love (but in a realistic, quantifiable kind of way).