Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of print and pictures
A toddler participates in a shared book reading focused on farm animals.
[Invite a toddler to join you to read a book. Show the cover of the book. Point to the words and picture on the cover as you introduce the book.]
Our book is called Big Red Barn. There is a picture of a red barn on the cover of our book.
[Point to the barn.]
This book is about animals that live in the big red barn!
What animals do you think are going to be in our book?
[Pause for the toddler to respond. Repeat and extend each response. Example: “You said ‘cow.’ There might be a cow in our story!”]
Let’s read our book and find out!
[As you read the book, point to and describe items on the page that toddlers may be interested in, such as the big red barn, colorful flowers, tiny butterfly, and peeking sun.
Also, use strategies, such as the following, to engage the toddler in the story:
Our book was about animals that live on a farm. When the sun comes up the animals come out of the barn to play! When the sun goes down, the animals go back in the barn to sleep. We had fun looking at all the different animals in our book!
The rhyming text and pleasing illustrations of familiar animals make this book a favorite of many toddlers. Talking with the toddler about words and pictures on each page can strengthen language and communication skills. In addition to animal names and characteristics, this book provides an opportunity to support a toddler’s familiarity with the concepts of in and out (of the barn) plus up and down (the sun). At this age it is not appropriate to provide explicit instruction on these concepts, but it can be helpful to give the concepts some emphasis as you read and discuss the book.
Pay attention to whether the toddler notices some picture details that may be easy to miss or not fully understand. Examples: a duck peeking around a corner, a single egg under a hen, the bats flying out of the barn at night. Point to and describe picture details as appropriate.
Extra support
Enrichment
Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of print and pictures
Toddlers participate in a shared book reading and a follow-up activity focused on how toy farm animals are the same or different.
Be Prepared: Secure a larger and a smaller version of the same types of farm animals. Example: a larger cow and a smaller cow.
Invite several toddlers to read a book with you about farm animals. As you read the book, pause on each page to talk about the pictures. Point out the parent animals and their babies on each page. Describe how the two animals are the same except for their size (one is larger, one is smaller). Acknowledge and extend toddlers’ pointings and comments, and use other book reading strategies suggested in Option 1.
After the book sharing, give each toddler a larger farm animal to hold. Name (or invite the toddler to name) the animal he/she is holding. Find, display, and discuss the same animal in a book picture. Then put the smaller versions of the toy animals held by toddlers on the floor. Name (or invite toddlers to name) each toy animal as you place it on the floor. Explain these are the baby animals. We are holding the parent animals. Invite toddlers to find and pick up their animal’s baby. After all toddlers have picked up a baby animal, describe how each pair of toy animals held by a toddler is the same. Example: “The mama pig is pink with a curly tail. Look, the baby pig is also pink!” Explain (or ask) how the animals are different in size. The baby animal is smaller, the parent animal is larger.
If time permits after helping toddlers compare the two toy animals each is holding, invite toddlers to play with their toy animals any way they wish. Some toddlers may want to carry them to another area of the room, such as the block area or toy barn. Other toddlers may prefer to move on to another activity. Describe what each toddler is doing with the animals. Example: “Alyssa is playing with the mama horse and the baby horse in the blocks. I think she is building a home for them. Tell me about what you are doing with the blocks, Alyssa!”
The book and follow-up discussion of how things are the same or different are ways to foster language and communication skills. Look for opportunities to foster discussion. The follow-up activity is not about finding the correct baby animal. The activity plan focuses on the concepts of same and different, which are essential to the more advanced concept and task of matching things that are the same or similar.
Extra support
Enrichment
Receptive language, Expressive language, Awareness of print and pictures
Toddlers participate in a shared book reading and a follow-up pretend play activity with farm toys.
Be Prepared: Place shredded paper or several layers of crinkled tissue paper in the sensory table or a large tub. Add a toy barn and an assortment of animal figures to create a farm scene. If available, you may wish to select yellow (hay), brown (dirt), or green (grass/pasture) paper for the activity.
Invite several toddlers to read a book and play with farm toys in the sensory table. When you read the book, emphasize the concepts of animals coming out of the barn during the day and going back in the barn at night. At the conclusion of the book, introduce items in the sensory table, especially the barn. Show the book cover and explain how the toy barn is like the barn in the story. Invite toddlers to play with the new materials. As they play, talk about connections to the story. Example: “Some of our toy animals are the same as the animals in our book. Here is a picture of a cow in our book. And here is a toy cow we can touch and play with.” Also, talk with toddlers about what they are doing. Example: “Emilio is holding a cow. It is a brown cow like the picture of the brown cow in our book.”
During the play activity, ask questions that encourage more than a yes or no response. Example: “Jacob, you are making the dog move up and down. What is your dog doing?”
Repeat and extend a toddler’s comments. Examples:
Offer to enter into a child’s play. Examples:
The relatively open-ended play opportunity is likely to generate different types of participation. Toddlers who are beginning to engage in pretend play may enjoy moving the animals around the sensory table. Some may move the animals in and out of the barn or hide them in the paper. Others may be more interested in the materials, such as exploring the texture of the paper. Some toddlers may prefer to watch and listen to what is happening around them. Toddlers can benefit from your descriptions of what you see happening and from questions that invite descriptions of actions or plans. As always, be careful not to direct the play or talk all the time. Accept and positively acknowledge all forms of participation.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown and other books with pictures of farm animals, farm animal figures, toy barn
Arrange the book, animal figures, and toy barn on the floor or low table. Invite toddlers to interact with the materials in ways of their choosing. Some toddlers may enjoy looking at pictures of farm animals in the books, others may play with the animals and toy barn. Talk with toddlers about their ideas and actions as they interact with the materials.
Materials Needed: Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, farm animal figures in a basket
Children of all ages will enjoy this book with rhyming text and interesting pictures of familiar animals. After the book reading, invite children to pick a farm animal from the basket. Sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” with each child’s animal in a verse. Encourage the child to hold up the named animal in the song. Children who are familiar with the song may join in, whereas others may prefer to watch and listen.
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