Sturdy for Common Things

Storytime Anytime: Blocks

Storytime Anytime is a simple storytime experience that parents and caregivers can recreate at home. Each storytime focuses on a book about a specific interest, a song, rhyme, or fingerplay that complements the story, and then a few, simple extension activities. Storytime doesn’t just happen in the library, storytime can be anytime! 

READ: Moving Blocks by Yusuke Yonezu (public library|local bookstore) is a book I came across at our local bookshop. Even though the shop’s  children’s section is small (it’s a teeny tiny store in itself!), they do a fantastic job keeping a variety of children’s books that are on the bestseller list and gems you wouldn’t typically find shopping online or at a mainstream bookstore. Moving Blocks is a brilliant board book for toddlers and preschoolers. The bold cover was what caught my attention and I’m pretty sure I let out an “ooh” when I opened the cover.

The story alternates playfully between large patterned pictures of block shapes and an assortment of transportation vehicles that can be built with those shapes. The bright, primary colors and guessing game cutouts of this book are visually appealing for kids to explore and encourages readers to let their imaginations beep, toot, whizz, and soar.

SING: My go-to storytime singing librarian duo, Jbrary, has a fun song to learn after reading this book called “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom”. Moving Blocks ends with a block rocket ship blasting off to the moon, so this easy movement song is a natural transition after reading. Is your child into trains more than rocket ships? They have a large collection of transportation songs on their YouTube channel that will satisfy any child’s transportation interest!

PLAY: These are no-stress activity ideas to enjoy with your little one after reading Moving Blocks:

• Get out the blocks and play! Build your own rendition of one of the many moving vehicles mentioned in Moving Blocks, or build something of your own imagination. Knock it down and build it again!
• Repurpose cardboard boxes as building blocks for an entirely different take on building play. Use smaller boxes like cereal boxes or use large moving boxes for supersize building fun.
• Cut a variety of simple shapes (circle, rectangle, square, triangle, etc) out of colorful construction paper. Using a glue stick and a blank piece of paper, prompt your child to build a shape collage of the colorful, cut-out pieces. “What are you building? What can it be?” The collage doesn’t have to be anything in the end. The construction of gluing pieces together and exploring shapes is the fun part!
• Pretend to be a transportation vehicle! Can you float like a boat? Stretch out your arms and fly like a plan? What about crouching down low and blast off like a rocket ship? What vehicles can you pretend to be that are in this book?

MORE BOOK SUGGESTIONS:
When I Build With Blocks by Christy Hale
Changes, Changes by Pat Hutchins
Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale
Away We Go!: A Shape and Seek Book by Chieu Anh Urban
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Yusuke Yonezu’s Squares , Triangles, and Circles books