Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Birthday napkins are not just for wiping messy mouths



Here's what I do with left over birthday napkins. Open and glue a napkin to a piece of tag board or shirt board, that lightweight cardboard in men's shirts. Children learn about sequencing, continuity, staying on topic for four related sentences. They develop observation and verbal skills, creative thinking and higher level reasoning. They see THEIR words in print and begin to make the connection between, letters, words and reading: emergent literacy.

Reading and story telling are two of the greatest gifts we can give children. They love having their own books. Some kids are more verbose and will tell more than two pages, so you could also add more paper and encourage an ongoing story for a week. Be sure to read each book aloud and make that kid proud!



Tip: the book will open horizontally or vertically depending on how you glue the napkin onto the cardboard.

8 comments:

jabblog said...

What a good idea! It almost makes me want to go back to work;-)

Kim Lehnhoff said...

That could work for the kindergartener I'm going to be working with...right after he learns how to write his name.

Southhamsdarling said...

Brilliant idea Linda! Thank you.

Tammy said...

Very clever idea, Linda!

Bookie said...

What a wonderful creative idea! Love anything that gets a kid to think "story".

Val said...

A new way to self-publish!

Little S.U.N. Child Care said...

I love the idea, did you decoupage the napkin so it so not tear up since little ones will be using it often?

Lynn said...

Such a cute idea!