Back to Basics Literacy
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Back to Basics
    • Contact Us
  • Reading Aloud
    • Research
    • Book Lists >
      • Ballet Books
      • Board Books
      • Alphabet Books
      • Number Books
      • Interactive & Sensory Books
      • Manners & Etiquette Books
      • Stories about Books, Reading & Libraries
      • Fables, Folktales & Fairy Tales
      • Nursery Rhymes & Poetry
      • Holiday Books
      • Graduation Books
      • Baking & Cooking Books
      • Gardening & Farm Books
      • Nature Books
      • Thankfulness & Gratitude Books
      • Pirate Books
      • Books Discussed in Our Handbook
    • Workshops
    • Literacy Events & Attractions
  • Bookworm Bakers
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Toy Recommendations

 Back to Basics

Reading and cooking with kids

Hap-pea Peas in a Pod

4/26/2020

0 Comments

 
*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
Picture
     The humble pea has never seemed to be a child’s vegetable of choice but when it comes to The Peas Series by Keith Baker, peas stand out in a big way and are adored, complete with rhythmic text and humorous illustrations filled with engaging details.
     These are not identical peas in a pod. No, these little green peas are unique and have diverse interests, hobbies and jobs. Their distinctness is highlighted in a colorful animated way as they roll through the alphabet. Not only do they take a child on a fun exploration of the ABC’s in LMNO Peas, they are also featured in a book of numbers (1-2-3 Peas), colors (Little Green Peas) and months (Hap-pea All Year).  LMNO Pea-quel finds the little green peas bouncing through the lowercase letters with new jobs, activities, hobbies and roles. Though the series is simple and appeals to the younger crowd, older children might find their humor appealing and the books can be used to further build and expand skills. Again, if you don’t have the books, check on YouTube for a read aloud.
     When we looked up LMNO Peas activities online, the first entry was worksheets. Not an activity we wanted to start with so we came up with our own. Here is a list of some of our ideas to use with Baker’s books to have fun and build skills:
  • Letter Jar – Get a glass jar and fill it with dried peas and letter beads. Have your child shake it up and identify the letters they see and then think of a word that starts with that letter or have them look around the house for objects that start with that letter. For older kids you can have them write down words that start with that letter or change it up and have them write down words that end with that letter.
  • Pea Pod – Have your child paint a paper plate green and then fold it in half to make a pea pod. You can either staple it or to work on small motor skills, punch a few holes at the ends and have your child sew it shut with yarn and a plastic yarn needle and tie it off. Then find an ABC letter chart and print it off on card stock (we used green.) Have your child cut the letters out and place them in their pod. Have your child then pull letters out of their pod for identification and then you can continue with the theme of the book and have your child come up with jobs, interests or descriptive adjectives. Add extra letters for a pea-gram spelling game ala Bananagrams.
Picture
  • Counting Carton – Take a cardboard egg carton and have your child paint it green. Place numbers in the bottom of each cup and then have your child count out marbles, beads, peas or anything green for each. Use it for simple math by asking if you combined the 2 cup with the 3 cup, how many would you have altogether? Using a manipulative helps children learn math because it gives them a visual.
Picture
  • Color Wheel – Take a paper plate, section it off like a pie and have your child color in each section with markers, crayons or colored pencils using the colors from the book. Use a round head fastener or a paper clip to create a spinner and have your child spin to see what color it will land on. Identify the color and then come up with all the things they can think of that are that color. You can even have them think of what foods from the farm or garden are that color. Turn it into an I Spy game looking around the house for objects in that color.
  • Celebrate the Months & Seasons – Print off a blank calendar page for each month and help your child to fill in the days. Then use colored pencils, markers, crayons or stickers to decorate each month for events, holidays and seasons. Refer to the book for additional creative ideas and see if your child can find the pea of the month (holding the number of the month) on each page. Mark off the day each morning, helping to teach your child the days of the week, and discuss the month and the season, perhaps including the weather.
     With literacy and math scores being such a concern, especially in Michigan, and with the coronavirus making the school year so short, it never hurts to play letter and number games, making their learning fun. The more you work with something, the better it will be absorbed and working with letters and their sounds will only enhance literacy skills. Reading books aloud to your child leads to better concentration, an increased attention span, greater empathy, increased vocabulary and background knowledge that can be drawn upon when needed. A total win-win situation. So, get out those magnetic letters, foamy letters and letter tiles or make them yourself and see how many imaginative ways you can use them to increase your child’s literacy skills. 
Happy reading and learning!

-Kate @ BTBL

Author

We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 4) for Kate, and two sons (now 1 and a newborn) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    We are mom Sandra and daughters Amanda and Kate, all with backgrounds in literacy and education, who want to share our philosophy of taking the basics of life; books, simple toys that encourage play, imagination and creativity, and using cooking and baking to teach math and real life skills to raise happy, inquisitive children. Join us in exploring the old and the new and sifting through the myriad of research to consider what is best for our children.

    Archives

    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All
    ABC Books
    Alphabet Books
    Arbor Day
    Autumn/Fall
    Background Knowledge
    Back To School
    Ballet Books
    Banned Books Week
    Board Books
    Book Advent Calendar
    Book Finds
    Book Quotes
    Books
    Book Sales
    Bookworm Bakers
    Boredom
    BTBL Rocks
    Bugs/Insects
    Calendars
    Censorship
    Children's Book Week
    Christmas
    Coloring
    Cooking
    Creativity
    Dewey Decimal System
    Dr. Seuss
    Early Literacy
    Earth Day
    Easter
    Environmental Print
    Extended Activities
    Fairy Gardens
    Fairy Tales
    Family Literacy Month
    Farmers Markets
    Flowers
    Gardening
    Get Caught Reading Month
    Gratefulness
    Halloween
    Hands-On
    Hanukkah
    Holidays
    Homeschooling
    Imaginative Play
    Inspiration
    Intellectual Freedom
    Kids In The Kitchen
    Kindergarten
    Kindness
    Kindness Rocks Project
    Language
    Learning
    Libraries
    Library Card Sign-up Month
    Magnets
    Manners & Etiquette
    Math
    Natural Playgrounds
    Natural Reader
    Nature
    New Year Resolutions
    Number Books
    Nursery Rhymes
    Outdoor Play
    Picture Books
    Play
    Poetry
    Puzzles
    Read Across America
    Reading
    Reading Aloud
    Reading Comprehension
    Reading Month
    Repetition
    School Libraries
    Screen Free Week
    Spring
    STEM
    Storytelling
    Storytime
    Summer
    Summer Slide
    Teaching
    Tell A Fairy Tale Day
    Thanksgiving
    Toys
    Unplug
    Used Books
    Valentine's Day
    Vocabulary
    Winter
    Winter Books
    Words & Word Play
    World Read Aloud Day

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Back to Basics
    • Contact Us
  • Reading Aloud
    • Research
    • Book Lists >
      • Ballet Books
      • Board Books
      • Alphabet Books
      • Number Books
      • Interactive & Sensory Books
      • Manners & Etiquette Books
      • Stories about Books, Reading & Libraries
      • Fables, Folktales & Fairy Tales
      • Nursery Rhymes & Poetry
      • Holiday Books
      • Graduation Books
      • Baking & Cooking Books
      • Gardening & Farm Books
      • Nature Books
      • Thankfulness & Gratitude Books
      • Pirate Books
      • Books Discussed in Our Handbook
    • Workshops
    • Literacy Events & Attractions
  • Bookworm Bakers
  • Blog
  • Shop
    • Toy Recommendations