Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Change up your weekly trip to the library....

I am a big lover of the library.  My boys enjoy going.  They have backpacks or bags that they snag on the way out the door to fill with books.  I don't typically have limits or strict parameters on what they can and can not check out...

Well, I must admit to a certain type of book that I dislike...cartoon/StarWars/movie books...you know the ones that are basically a cartoon but in a book.  I think the stories are lame.  I guess, if they are going to read a cartoon book they mine as well watch the cartoon.  I HATE reading them.  Lately, the boys gravitate towards these books, and I know it is totally normal.  Our book bag coming home from the library is full of Hulk, Superman, StarWars, Dora, Arther, and other cartoon books. 

I refuse to read them at bedtime.  I will read them during the day but I will not read them before bed.  And this causes tension at times. 

So this week I told the boys we were going to play a game when checking out our books this week.  They were all excited. 

Book Hunt: 

I brought along a pen and a pad of post it notes.  On a post it note I wrote a word...

animal, boy, cartoon, food, tree, blue, holiday, snow, car, happy, scary, mystery...etc. 

I would tell the boys one of the words and send them off hunting for a book that they think matches that word...

For example:  if I said boy...they went and looked for a book about a boy.

They had a blast!  It made our library outing a little longer.  And along the way they found other STORY books that I would be thrilled to read. 

Oh, and I stuck the post it note on the top of the book so when we read it we can decide if their prediction was correct.

This summer when the library becomes a weekly outing...and I hope it does because it is a resource to definitely tap into ...change things up and do book hunts!  The kids will love it! 

10 comments:

The Tompkins Family said...

What a great idea!

Barb said...

What fun! Did they stay together or hunt separately? I LOVE IT!

Anonymous said...

I love that idea!!! Now the trick is going to be remembering this when Tommy is old enough to do that.

Kim

Raina and Andy said...

great idea! colleen and i were just talking about taking our LITTLE boys to the library hoping it would be special but they are too little. eli just grabs books off the shelf and runs. soon enough! i can't wait until we can read REAL stories and not just lift the flap or rhymers! RR

Stacey said...

I love scavenger hunts almost as much as I love the library! This is an ingenious idea!!

Paula said...

Have I told you lately how much I LOVE your blog Sarah???

Danielle said...

How fun!!
I can't wait until Hadley is old enough for things like this - though I'm sure when she's big I'll wish she was small :)

Anonymous said...

Great idea, Sarah!
I don't particularly care for the books that are based on TV shows, but I have to say that I've loosened up on that as I have had to try to get my older child to read more. If it means that he practices his reading with a Lego book, so be it. Arthur was originally a book series by Marc Brown and the stories are actually good and at a level of a 1-2 grader. The tv series came later. So we enjoy those. I also enjoy seeing his illustrations and what the characters originally looked like.
Our library has a seperate play room, filled with great dress up clothes, a full kitchen, dinos and more. So the kids like to go there to do other things than just pick out books. I actually end up picking most of the books. I think we'll try your scavenger hunt idea and see if they engage in that. Thanks for the idea!

Kim S. said...

I may have to use that idea next time we vnture to the library...all my boys ever seem to want is starwars. I bet they've checked the same books out multiple times.

CB said...

This is an absolutely brilliant idea! We were just there yesterday and Peyton picked 4 Scooby Doo books. I like the cartoon but the books are SO dumb. And kind of long for bedtime, too. I always try to encourage new types of books but he is reluctant - I think this will work though! Can't wait to try it out.

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