Preschool and Kindergarten Reading Fun

My girls have been reading books on their own for several months now. Listening to my children read brings me so much joy. During my teaching years and also as a mom I purchased a bunch of the "I Can Read" books. You can choose the level that is right for your child. A few years ago a friend gave me a complete set of Magic Castle Reader books. Her son outgrew them and she knew that we would enjoy them. They are fun and easy for young readers and my girls are currently enjoying reading them on their own. Unfortunately, I noticed that these books are now out of print but I did check and you can find them from Amazon.com or eBay. You may even be able to find them at your local library. Some other fun books that my girls have been enjoying are the Fancy Nancy books and my huge collection of Dr. Seuss books.


We've been joining the library reading club every summer since my kids were three years old. This year it will be even more fun as they do a combination of reading their books to me, to each other and reading quietly. Of course, I still read to them too. I'm sure we'll be doing that for many years to come. I don't think we ever outgrow the enjoyment of sitting back and listening to another person read aloud from a good book. Check your local library to see if they offer a summer reading club. The reading club is great for pre-readers too. It helps keep you & your kids motivated and accountable for reading books all summer long. Summer reading clubs usually begin sometime in June, once most schools are out for the summer.

My Favorite Thanksgiving Day Books for Preschoolers and Kindergarten Children

I've been reading lots of Thanksgiving books to my kids this week and I wanted to share some of our favorites with you. If you get the chance, see if your local library has any of them. Enjoy!

My First Thanksgiving ~ By Tomie dePaola

Thanksgiving Day ~ By Gail Gibbons

Thanksgiving Mice ~ By Bethany Roberts

The Story Of The Pilgrims ~ By Katharine Ross

The Best Thanksgiving Day (Pooh) ~ By Ann Braybrooks

It's Thanksgiving Day! ~ By Mary Packard

Clifford's Thanksgiving Visit ~ By Norman Bridwell

A Plump and Perky Turkey ~ By Teresa Bateman

Over the River and Through the Wood ~ A Thanksgiving Poem by Lydia Maria Child

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie ~ By Alison Jackson

Three Little Pilgrims ~ By Janet Craig

Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks ~ By Margaret Sutherland

The First Thanksgiving ~ By Jean Craighead George (Note...this book is more appropriate for 5+ year olds due to the length and more in depth history lesson)

Thanksgiving Mazes

My kids love doing mazes right now so I decided to look for a few Thanksgiving themed mazes. I found some to print off from kaboose.com which saves me the time of making them up myself. They have a decent selection from simple to more difficult mazes. Here is the link for more of the mazes.

Quiet Time Activities for Preschoolers

Do you have young children outgrowing daily naps? My children are at the point where they don't nap most days. I've found that having "Quiet Time" is a good option for us. The kids can play with quiet activities in their bedroom or they can choose to sleep. Whether or not the children sleep, a little downtime during the day is very good for everyone.

When I was teaching preschool outside the home, we had a full day program, offering extended care after preschool hours. Some of the children still needed that daily rest while others had outgrown it. I had everyone rest quietly for about 30 minutes while I played quiet music or books on tape. After the 30 minutes, the children who were not asleep were given quiet activities to do for the remainder of the time.

I think it's helpful to begin quiet time or nap time by winding down to set the mood. You could do this by playing soft music and dimming the lights, by letting the children "read" books or even by reading to your children. I've found nap time to be a wonderful time to start introducing chapter books to preschoolers. It's an ideal time where you have their attention for a long stretch of time and they are happy to listen even if they can't see pictures. Reading chapter books really helps build imaginations.

Some other quiet activities that my kids enjoy:
~Listening to books on tape/CD
~Listening to music
~Using View Masters
~Coloring
~Lacing Cards (Don't leave toddlers unsupervised because of the strings)
~Puzzles
~Playing with Matching cards. I made a variety of homemade "memory type games".
~Flash Cards
~Reading books
~Colorforms
~Magnet story sets (Don't allow toddlers to play with magnets unsupervised)
~Flannel board story sets