Description

Participants will enjoy an interactive storytime, where they will work together to read a wordless picture book and then do a related activity or craft.

NOTE: This activity is designed to give libraries options so they can customize their program. There are several books and crafts/activities to choose from. We recommend choosing one wordless picture book + one craft/activity. You can also have passive activity sheets for families to take away.

Book options:

Blanket by Ruth Ohi
The Book from Far Away by Bruce Handy and Julie Benbassat
One Giant Leap by Thao Lam

Craft/activity options:

Crafts

Passive activity sheets

Snapshots from space activity worksheet (One Giant Leap)

Ruth Ohi’s Blanket colouring page (Blanket)
Open book colouring page (The Book from Far Away)

Sensory activities

UFO Sensory Bag
Sensory bin
- Create a sensory bin with objects related to the theme of the story.
- Include tactile books if possible.

Number of Participants

Any number of participants

Space Considerations

An indoor space where participants can be seated to do an activity

Competencies

Creative and imaginative thinking
Literacy
Logic and sequencing
Oral communication skills
Reading comprehension

Materials

Reading the story

Microphone (recommended)

A book to read (can order the other two for families to look at)
- Blanket by Ruth Ohi
- The Book from Far Away by Bruce Handy and Julie Benbassat
- One Giant Leap by Thao Lam

Other wordless picture books for a book display, like
- Pre-readers
  - A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
  - Lines and Wave by Suzy Lee
  - Red Sled by Lita Judge
  - Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith
  - School age
    - Chalk and Fossil by Bill Thomson
    - The Line in the Sand, Skunk on a String, Wallpaper and The Paper Boat by Thao Lam
    - Flotsam, Mr. Wuffles! and Tuesday by David Wiesner

Activity/craft

Crafts

Please click on the links to access the list of materials needed for these activities.

Passive activity sheets

Snapshots from space activity worksheet (One Giant Leap)
Ruth Ohi’s Blanket colouring page (Blanket)

Open book colouring page (The Book from Far Away)
Dialogue activity sheet
- Photocopy/scan a picture book spread
- Add speech bubbles to the characters in the book spread so participants can write dialogue
Computer or laptop with access to a projector or screen for dialogue activity (optional)

Pencils, pencil crayons, markers or crayons
Foam stickers
Googly eyes
Stickers

Sensory Activities

UFO Sensory Bag (please click on the link to access the list of materials needed)

Sensory bin objects

For Blanket

A small blanket
Plushies
Tactile books

For One Giant Leap and The Book from Far Away

Space-related toys (e.g., rockets, spaceships)
Star- or planet-shaped objects
Tactile space-related books
Glow-in-the-dark stars

Preparation

Prepare for a standard storytime with 10–15 minutes allotted for the wordless story and 15–20 minutes for the activity/craft.

Reading the story

Place a hold on the wordless title you will read and other wordless titles for display.
Look through the title and write descriptions of the spreads, while generating questions for the audience.

Suggested questions

a) Describe a character. If the character doesn’t have a name, ask the audience what you should name it/them.

b) Describe the setting and ask the audience what the character might be doing in that setting (e.g., There is a child on the beach. What is happening? What are they doing? Are they going somewhere?).

c) Where is this story happening—inside or outside? Where is this place? Have you been there before? Who has visited this place before?

Optional questions

d) Shapes: What shapes do you see?

e) Counting: How many _____ do you see? Let’s count them.

f) Sounds: What kind of sounds do you think we can hear? What kind of sound does _____ make?

g) Smells: What kind of smells can you smell? What does _____ smell like?

h) Language: What would we call _____ in another language? [e.g., fish: in French (poisson), Tagalog (isda), Japanese (sakana), Spanish (pez)]

i) Other aspects of the book that you can bring up to get conversations going (e.g., have any of the kids seen/experienced what is happening in the book?)

Activity/craft

Choose activity/activities and prepare accordingly.

Print passive activity sheets.
Prepare sensory bins.
Set up craft stations.
Set up computer or laptop with access to a projector or screen for dialogue activity (optional)

Implementation

Reading the story

“Let’s read a wordless picture book together! This book does not have words, so we will look at the pictures to find out what is happening in the story. All I know from looking at the title and the cover is…”

Guide them through each spread, describing the images on the pages. “Oh, what do we see here? It looks like there are ________ and _________. There is a _________ wearing a ________.” While exploring the pages, ask them to raise their hands to answer your questions about what is on the pages, then summarize what happened before you go to the next spread. Feel free to ask follow-up questions as well.

If you find they are not really participating, start asking silly questions or make up an inaccurate storyline to get them to correct you. (e.g., Is the story happening underneath the bed or in the washroom? I’m guessing this story is about a sneezing zebra…)

Activity/craft

Distribute activity sheets.
Distribute materials.

Accessibility Considerations

Reading the story

Use a microphone (optional).
Use a loud voice and speak slowly.
If possible, place hold on multiple copies of the wordless book so participants who need it can flip through the book along with you.