Book Inspired Activities for Toddlers

March 2, 2020/ Shelah Moss / Parenting, Books, Toddlers / 0 comments

Busy, Busy! Book Inspired Activities for Busy Toddlers #mosswoodconnections #picturebooks #toddlers #activitiesfortoddlers #freeprintables #coloringpage #bookunit

It is so important to find safe and simple activities for toddlers! Parents may think their toddlers are simply playing or making messes, but really they're building cities, going on exciting adventures, and creating masterpieces. The book Busy Busy! by Lucy Scott perfectly captures that enduring energy and creativity parents of toddlers know so well.

“Parents are nowhere in sight as a toddler with floppy brown hair, peach skin, and gray overalls recounts her “busy, busy day” in a narration that gives a strong sense of the largeness of the girl’s imaginative world. “I built a city!” she announces as her stuffed animals perch on tall towers of blocks. “I cooked lunch for ten!” she says while she stirs pots in her play kitchen before a crowd of plush toys. The artwork is lovely from start to finish; Scott’s illustrations have a delicacy and precision reminiscent of Helen Oxenbury’s work.” –Publishers Weekly

All artwork used in images and printables is reproduced with permission from Creston Books.

This page contains affiliate links. Please visit our disclosure page for more information.

While you read:

• Ask questions; sample questions are below.
• Ask the children’s opinion, do they like the activities shown in the book.
• Ask the children to point to different colors.
• Ask the students to point out different parts of the illustrations.
• Have the students count objects that they see in the pictures.

Book Discussion Questions:

• Where do socks really go?
• What do you like to eat for breakfast?
• Would you like to be high up like Teddy and Zebra Rabbit or stay on the floor like Doggy?
• Why does the mommy like the paintings on paper but not the ones on the floor?
• Do you like to cook? What would you cook for lunch?
• How would it feel to cross a river full of crocodiles? Is she crossing a real river or pretending?
• What happened to her face when she ate spaghetti?
• What do you like to pretend?
• What do you like to do when you feel tired?

Book Extension Activities for Busy Toddlers:

What’s in the Sock? You will need a variety of toy animals and socks.Version 1: Put an animal in a sock. Describe what is in the sock and have the kid guess which animal it is. Let a child choose an animal to put in and have the child give the other children clues about what they put inside.
Version 2: Put a variety of animals in socks. Pass the socks with the animals inside around and have the children guess what is inside by feeling the animal through the sock.
Block Cities: Have a tower building contest. Who can build the highest tower?
Coloring Page: Give the children the coloring page found after the Activity section.
Lunch Time! Give the kids some pretend kitchen items and have them cook lunch.
Go on a Treasure Hunt! Hide something. Play “Hot and Cold” or give some clues on where the treasure is hidden. Do the maze activity page.
Cross a River full of Crocodiles: Put a pile of animals on one side of the room. Make a “bridge” out of random items, pillows, blocks, etc. Have the kids get all their animal friends safely across. Pretend to be a crocodile ready to munch them up while the kids are crossing the river.
Make Some Spaghetti:
Use the Spaghetti Cutting Activity to make some paper spaghetti. Then you can turn it into a Rainbow Spaghetti Art Wall.

Click on the pictures below to download our fun activity pages!

Tags Parenting Child Development Printables Pretend Imaginary Play Picture Books Book Extension Activity Toddlers