Author: mlbookcorner

Some Pumpkin-Themed Play and Learning Ideas

Getting to hold and touch a pumpkin is a brand new exciting experience for a little one, so it’s important to follow children’s lead and go at their pace and let them savor the wonderful moments of new experiences like these. Young Children love holding, touching, carrying, and feeling things, they learn best when their […]

Reading Anna Llenas’ The Colour Monster Story Book with Preschoolers and Sensory Play Extension Ideas

I love children’s stories that lend themselves to multiple ways for the children to engage with the story such as sensory play, whole body movements, pretend play, art activities, and more. I have especially enjoyed The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas to help children gain a gradual understanding of emotions. Each emotion is beautifully represented […]

Reading Martin Waddell’s Owl Babies Story Book With Preschoolers and Play Extension Ideas

Young children are active learners who learn with their whole bodies. I love children’s stories that lend themselves to multiple ways for the children to engage with the story such as sensory play, whole body movements, pretend play, art activities, and more. Martin Waddell’s Owl Babies story (published 1992 by Walker Books) beautifully lends itself […]

Owl Babies Story Book and Young Children Processing Emotions

I learned so much from reading book Margot Sunderland’s book Using Storytelling as a Therapeutic Tool with Children (2000 published by Routledge). She explains that when it comes to feelings and emotions, children’s natural language is that of metaphors, stories, and imagery rather than words. She explains that when children can identity with the feelings […]

Bugs and Play-based Learning

Bugs are such a fun topic that little ones just love and I always enjoy this theme alongside children as well.  A set of plastic bugs is a really great resource to have in a classroom and can be incorporated into endless learning and play activities including sorting, matching, finding, describing and guessing, feeling and […]

Sharing and Turn-taking in Free Play

I love emergent curriculum opportunities that present themselves during outdoor play, which provides such a rich context for learning social skills such as turn-taking, problem solving, negotiating, joining a game and practicing being inclusive. Sharing and taking-turns can present a challenge for a preschooler who may not yet have the language or social skills to […]