Keep reading for some fun preschool activities based on the book Ish. These activities are part of our Storytime Club, which includes 10 weeks of book-inspired activities. To learn more about our Storytime Club, click here!
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ISH ACTIVITIES
One of my favorite books is Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. The first time I read this book, it totally made me tear up! I love the message behind this story, and I think it’s one that every child (and adult!) should read.
In this story, Ramon LOVES to draw! He draws anywhere and everywhere, and it brings him joy. One day, his older brother makes fun of his drawings, and Ramon is crushed. He’s ready to give up on his art altogether, but his younger sister is able to show him that his art is perfect, just the way it is.
If you’re looking for a book to teach little ones about having a growth mindset or how to “just be you,” then this book is just what you’re looking for!
Click on the picture below to learn more about this book!
Check out all of these fun Ish book activities that can help bring this story to life for your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten littles!
These activities are all part of my Ish printable pack, which can be found in my shop here!
LITERACY: SHORT VOWELS
Part of our goal in preschool education is to help students have a strong understanding of letter sounds. When teaching vowel sounds, we start with the short vowel sounds first, and then move on to the long vowel sounds.
In this activity, students will slide a strip of pictures up and down on the art easel to reveal one picture at a time. They will have to determine the vowel sounds they hear in that picture’s name, then move the strip of letters on the paint palette to show the correct letter. In the example above, the picture is mom and the short vowel is o.
MATH: PAINTING PATTERNS
Patterning is one of the main math standards for the Arizona Early Learning Standards. According to the AELS, students should be able to: recognize patterns in the real world, fix simple patterns, duplicate/extend/create patterns, and describe similarities and differences in patterns. So the math activity for Ish is all about patterns!
Students have a few different ways to practice patterns for this activity. They will duplicate patterns, extend patterns, and create their own patterns using paintbrushes and tubs of paint. Perfect for this art-inspired story!
FINE MOTOR: COLOR BY NUMBER
As our little ones get ready to write, we want them developing the muscles in their hands, fingers, and wrists, and coloring is a great way to do this. And combining coloring with number identification also sneaks in some math skills, too!
This activity comes in a few different ways:
- Color words written in the correct color (to help our littlest learners)
- Color words written in black
- Color words blank (so students can choose their own colors for each number)
- Entire picture blank (so students can choose where the numbers go and which color goes with each number)
GROSS MOTOR: SIDEWALK CHALK HOPSCOTCH
We love taking learning outside as often as possible. Getting our littles up and moving will help solidify the information they’re learning. One of our favorite ways to do this is with a hopscotch board!
Once you create your hopscotch board outside, you can decide which skill you’d like to practice with it! The possibilities are endless, but here are a few ideas: letter names, letter sounds, number identification, skip counting, addition, subtraction, shapes, vocabulary words, opposites, and synonyms.
CRAFT: WATERCOLOR REVEAL
The craft idea this week is simple but fun! Have your little one color a picture on a white piece of paper with a white crayon. Then have them color over it with watercolors and watch the picture reveal itself!
Another idea would be for you to draw or write something secret and have your little one paint over it to reveal it…what a fun surprise that would be!
SNACK: PAINT PALETTE CRACKERS
For our Ish book-inspired snack, I decided to create a simple (and delicious!) paint palette cracker. All you need are crackers, frosting, M&Ms, and pretzel sticks.
We loved the sweet & salty combo of these snacks, plus they inspired imaginary play, too!
YOU TUBE: WE CALL IT ART
This You Tube video is the perfect song to play before doing any of the art-inspired activities for this book!
READING RESPONSE: JOURNAL WRITING PAGE
Teaching our little ones to reflect on what they’ve read is a skill we want to start from the beginning. These journal writing pages allow them to draw and write a response to this story.
ISH PRINTABLE PACK
All of the activities in this pack can be found in our Ish book printable pack, which can be found in my shop here!
Do you love this story, too?! Do you have any fun activities that would be great for it? Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog] and let me know!
love these ideas? pin for later!
To check out more book-inspired activities, head over to our Storytime Club!
Happy Learning!
