Beyond the Book: "Planes Go" by Steve Light

 After a recent visit to the Virginia Air & Space Center, S was enthusiastic about doing a story stretcher with an airplane theme. Steve Light is one of my favorite authors and illustrators when it comes to transportation themed children's books. His book Planes Go has bold and brilliant illustrations featuring a different type of plane on each page and very simple text that encourage repetition and some really fun (and funny) sound effects!

 This board book and its transportation themed counterparts are a fabulous resource for transportation loving toddlers! Although the text is simple and repetitive, it introduces a variety of fabulous vocabulary words so your toddler can appropriately correct the next time you confuse a jet plane with a propeller plane.

Air travel and a child's imagination can take
you as far as the moon and beyond! We had a
great family visit to the Virginia Air & Space
Center that inspired our most recent story stretcher...

S has really looked forward to our story stretcher afternoons each week. (So have I!) We've done a lot of play activities with a transportation theme prior and even a great Around the World unit earlier this year. I see no need to reinvent the wheel (pun intended) every time we bring out a book with a common theme. While adults crave novelty, children thrive on repetition in addition new experiences. In setting up our story stretcher, I did a bit of preparation and Pinterest perusing. I also dug out some of our old favorites.

I introduced our target book at our afternoon snack time while Y finished his nap. When reading books with limited text like this, I like to use the opportunity to track the words with my pointer finger as I read so that children can begin to associate the letters with words and the words with the story that is being told. We read through the book once and then I asked S if he had a favorite plane in the book. He asked to read through it again and picked the jet plane because his Tatty works for a company that manufactures jet engines. I picked the blimp because I love making the sound! Next I told S that I had a book we both could read.

 He loves using emergent readers. At three years old, he is a bit young to be working on sight words in my opinion. I first offered the opportunity to him last year when I was preparing for and teaching an early literacy class to pre-k aged children. S took to it right away! He enjoys the opportunity to mimic me as we track the text from left to right with our pointer fingers. He knows what I tell all my early readers: there are many ways to read a book. You can read it through recognizing pictures, letters and eventually words and sentences. There are always many clues on a page and in some way or another, we are all readers no matter how much we already know and how much we have yet to learn. Fostering confidence in reading and inspiring interest is always the most important goal I have in mind. Since we are reading Planes Go this week and will be reading Cars Go as well, I printed and provided us each with copies of "You Can Go!" available for free at Hubbard's Cupboard. I pointed out the word "Go" in Planes Go and in the emergent reader. S loved finding it with his pointer finger on each page and identifying through the illustration what type of transportation ended the sentence "You can go in a_____."

Before we continued with some table activities related to our book, it was time to get up and moving. I always like to get a good stretch in during a story stretcher using theme related songs and action rhymes.

We brought back a favorite song from our previous Around the World unit, sung to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?"

S and Y both loved singing "I'm a Little Airplane" available for print at DLTK's Crafts for Kids.
Next it was time for a fun learning activity to introduce prepositional language. I love using games and fun activities to expand language development and vocabulary. We recently had a great time acting out the prepositional language in Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins. For this activity, I printed out and laminated these adorable templates available at No Time For Flashcards. I used a magnet to affix the pages onto a cookie sheet and hot glued a magnet to the back of an airplane mini eraser. I found this in a set from the Dollar Tree, but if you do not have a little plane on hand, the free printable set does come with airplane graphics as well. I love expanding S's vocabulary when it comes to position words. It's hugely helpful when it comes to telling him to "put his book on the shelf" or that his "toy screw driver is next to the kitchen set." The more ways our toddlers and preschools have to communicate with us, the better!
Some of the words in this activity were new to S and he seemed a little unsure of himself at first but felt very proud and confident to correctly place his airplane beside, above, below and between the clouds on each page. I am being mindful to use these new words in conversation throughout the day as well.

Now it was time for a craft! S has really been working on using liquid glue from a squeeze bottle and is doing so well with it, so I set out a shape collage to create his own airplane along with some cotton ball clouds to glue on.

He also had a lot of fun with this sticker sorting activity to identify things that "can fly" and things that "cannot fly:"

We were finally joined by an awake little brother who was ready to take our story stretcher to the skies in some fun air travel themed dramatic play!

I popped on some John Denver in the background, starting with the classic "Leaving on a Jet Plane." S was very busy enjoying the flight snacks! Y was put in charge of collecting tickets (raffle tickets that are super fun to tear and dole out to your little brother). 

Almost ready for lift off...

Please keep your trays in upright position and your seat-belts fastened at all times until the captain turns off the fasten seat-belt sign...

Some empty bags, backpacks and lunch boxes inspired S to think about what he might pack on plane ride.

He deciced we'd need plenty of snacks from his toy kitchen in case we landed in a place without kosher food!

Our story stretcher closed with some free time to play in this airplanes and clouds (cotton balls) sensory bin while I heated up our dinner. After dinner S and Y had a great time playing outside with a Styrofoam plane and my two little travelers were sufficiently tuckered out. (So were their parents.) Luckily, when you read Planes Go, you get all the fun and benefits of air travel without any of the jet lag!

We'll be back on the ground with some fun and themed play with the book Cars Go also be Steve Light next time.
Until then...happy playing!